Raging Princess and new equipment questions

Discussion in 'Homebrewing' started by mugs1789, May 13, 2014.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. mugs1789

    mugs1789 Zealot (611) Dec 6, 2005 Maryland

    I brewed the Raging Princess (IPA w/ wit yeast) on Saturday and had some issues w/ new and old equipment.

    1. I should have taken a better look at the stainless steel braid in my mash tun. It had collapsed and I a had a stuck sparge when I started to vorlauf. I poured the entire mash into a 5 gallon cooler, ran to Home Depot for a new braid, replaced the braid, and continued brewing. At one point, I was past-my-elbow deep in the mash so be aware when you stop by for a beer next month.

    2. I thought I had 4 oz. of Amarillo but I was wrong. Instead, I had 4 oz. each of Citra and Mosaic. I used 1 oz each at 15 and flame-out. No complaints there but it's not going to be a clone.

    3. This is the first time I used my new 15 gallon kettle equipped with ball valve and bazooka screen. In the past, I used the lift-and-pour method to transfer to the fermentor. The kettle was great except I experienced more boil-off than I expected. I'll collect closer to 7.5 gallons next time.

    4. My immersion chiller was sized for my old 7 gallon lobster pot. Because of the width of my new kettle, only the bottom few loops reached the wort in the new kettle. That slowed down the cooling process. I've been considering a pre-chiller anyway.

    5. How do you all fit your IC in your kettle with a bazooka screen? Does it just sit on top of the screen and not reach the bottom of the pot?

    6. I drained the pot from the deck to the backyard with 20 feet of .5 inch ID tubing. That worked great. Now, how do I dry out the inside of 20 feet of plastic tubing? I ran Starsan through the tubing but I can see some condensation in the middle of the tubing.

    7. I used WLP410. The WLP website suggested that it might start slow and it could use yeast nutrient and oxygen. I added yeast nutrient to the boil and oxygenated the wort. I had high krausen w/in 24 hours.
     
    #1 mugs1789, May 13, 2014
  2. telejunkie

    telejunkie Savant (1,107) Sep 14, 2007 Vermont

    i have blichmann brewing gloves...I recommend them for every homebrewer. You can keep your hand in boiling water for a few seconds with those puppies on.
    As for the IC...you should be able to create a gap between lowest coils and the bulk of the coils. Something like this:
    http://morebeer.com/products/wort-chiller-immersion-25-38-brass-fittings.html
    then you can slide it around the bazooka.
    For condensation, you can run compressed air through it. Compressor are awesome to have on hand...
     
    #2 telejunkie, May 13, 2014
  3. ssam

    ssam Pundit (997) Dec 2, 2008 California

    I've never tried it for 20ft but a great way to dry tubing is to whip it around like a lasso. Its fun too. It whistles.
     
    #3 ssam, May 13, 2014
    FATC1TY, inchrisin, mjryan and 1 other person like this.
  4. inchrisin

    inchrisin Pooh-Bah (2,013) Sep 25, 2008 Indiana
    Pooh-Bah

    I'd go with a long thin chain for some weight and a pipe cleaner tied to the end of it, but it doesn't whistle that way, so.... :slight_frown:
     
    #4 inchrisin, May 14, 2014
  5. FATC1TY

    FATC1TY Pooh-Bah (2,564) Feb 12, 2012 Georgia
    Pooh-Bah

    Speaking of which.. your bazooka tube.. Did you find it helped with keeping shit out of the primary?


    I've got a SS chugger, and it just flat out pisses me off when it mucks up and wont pump. I have a bazooka I can install, but shit, I dunno. I figure the pump will pull most of the crap in worse than gravity. I just want to whirlpool better to help chill and get more from my hops.
     
    #5 FATC1TY, May 14, 2014
  6. HerbMeowing

    HerbMeowing Maven (1,295) Nov 10, 2010 Virginia
    Trader

    Insert a coiled length of #14 copper wire into the braid to prevent it from collapsing.
     
    #6 HerbMeowing, May 14, 2014
  7. SFACRKnight

    SFACRKnight Grand Pooh-Bah (3,348) Jan 20, 2012 Colorado
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    I hate my bazooka tube in my brew kettle. It always clogs up, even when using whole cone hops. I'm sure I am not cooling my wort fast enough though, so my cold break may have something to do with that. But as was stated above, I pulled my lowest loop of my immersion cooler lower so I can just slip it around the bazooka.
     
    #7 SFACRKnight, May 14, 2014
  8. mugs1789

    mugs1789 Zealot (611) Dec 6, 2005 Maryland

    The bazooka screen repeatedly clogged with hop debris. I scraped it my my mash paddle to clear it. I'm going to try a nylon bag for containing hops next time.
     
    #8 mugs1789, May 14, 2014
  9. PortLargo

    PortLargo Pooh-Bah (1,831) Oct 19, 2012 Florida
    Pooh-Bah

    I offer solace and these suggestions:

    Retire your IC and go with a plate chiller. The difference is similar to moving from chopping a tree to get wood to build a fire to boil your wort, to using to propane . . . it's a game changer. If you shop hard you can get one for a hundred bucks and another fifty for the fittings. These is the way gentlemen cool their wort.

    I suspect you will always have a clogged bazooka if you don't constrain your hops. I have used both nylon paint bags and ss mesh. My experience is the loss of acid/oil absorption is manageable . . . maybe not ideal, but a decent compromise.

    I use a homemade bazooka filter (hot water tank ss sleeve) that has the opening in the middle. This allows the filter to curve around the contour of the kettle. After whirlpooling my bazooka is picking up cooled wort from the edge of the kettle instead of the center (you know what's in the center of the kettle). The disadvantage is the jagged edges of the ends are hard to clean. But it never clogs.

    On a plus note, I use wit yeast for all sorts of pale ales with good results.
     
    #9 PortLargo, May 14, 2014
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.