Aussiedistiller, Home Distilling, Moonshine, Home Brew

Ok so thought i would try converting some malt this time without corn, just have a t500 boiler and my fermenters. Heated strike water to 73c. 20l giving a 2.5l water to kg grain ratio
Grain bill is
6kg two row "distillers malt"
1kg chocolate malt
a kilo of caramalt
Temp after grain was added was 62.5 a little low but I think that is due to transferring the water to the mash tun/fermenter.Total volume will be 25l aiming for 1.06-1.08 Plan two make one lot as all grain then do 5 gens sugarheads using same grain..Be back later with a sg. Going to ferment on the grain in all cases.

After and hourish its sitting on 16brix looks promising will let it cool slowly then pitch yeast temp 61.5c.

2ish hours brix now at 22. Wondering when adding water to adjust gravity how do i work out how much to add?

Looks good mate

Thanks :handgestures-thumbupleft: 5h later now on 23brix right on target for 25l wash +1 at 1.07 :happy-partydance:

Hey bluc, did you sparge the mash or fermenting on the grain?

usually including sparge water your looking at 4L to 1Kg of grain. your strike temp looks good 63 is about optimum.

My resent ag 1/6 of the grain bill was bairds brown ale malt this was too high(amazing biscuity caramel taste) and a big factor in me struggling with puking(unfermentable sugars) and found I had to keep the boiler to 50% capacity or lower. I've been told to keep specialty grain to 10% or less. maybe you wont have such issues otherwise looks very good and reckon it'll make a bloody good drop!!

Keep us posted as I have some caramalt here ready for the next batch and would love to hear about how it tastes. I just had to put a bottle aside as it was delicious

Awesome info i will remember to keep my specialty at lower % in future. Fermenting on the grain mate, 4l per k gives me 32l total volume was gunna go 35l will stick to 32l. I reakon it will be a nice drop too but maybe bit to much caramel/chocolate. But will use this as a starting point :handgestures-thumbupleft:

your thin mash will still have heaps of goodness as your not sparging and should also taste pretty awesome.
I didn't do a thin mash as I'm moving and didn't want to try liftin a full 44 into the back of the ute :laughing-rolling:

as a side note I've kept a stubby full of white dog so when it ages I can taste the aged side by side with the white dog to see how each of the flavours have developed and changed over time. I plan to do several different specialty grains and keep a white dog of each so I can work out how to get the end flavour profile I'm looking for.

You all grain in a 44 :music-deathmetal:

Added 8l water. Got the sg 1.056(14ish brix) not bad :handgestures-thumbupleft: Pitched the yeast. :D

What's this brix measurement you keep referring to?

When using a refractometer instead of a hydrometer. Gravity is measured in brix..

Cheers :handgestures-thumbupleft: that's the same sort of device I've used to measure coolant levels in machines

Never heard of them used for that :think:

Yeah the coolant to water ratio is actually quite important on a commercial scale.
Concentrated coolant can be very pricey (ours is $430 per 20l tub).
And if the concentration is wrong the machine will start rusting in critical places.

Also old coolant breeds bacteria which affects the workforce which means loss of production.

Which reminds me that we need to replace the coolant on some of our machines (smells like dry dog food that has gotten wet)

That the stuff used on metal lathes/milling machines etc?

bluc wrote:That the stuff used on metal lathes/milling machines etc?

No the stuff in your radiator :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Ok cool cheers

yeah I have a 105L eski/mash tun so 30kg grain twice on the same day yields 200/220L at 1067ish makes for a big day putting it on but so worth it!!

Thanks coffee will keep that it mind when buying my stuff for all grain i am thinking of a 100l stock pot with a expander/pour foam jacket for my mash tun..