GladField Peat Malt

[RuddyCrazy]

G'Day Guy's,
In the group buy forum this malt was put forward so lets get down to the process of making our own version of this malt :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Now as we getting 25Kg sacks of this malt for a 50 litre keg mash tun we can get 2 mash's done for each sack :handgestures-thumbupleft:

So with 12.5Kg of crushed malt heatup 30 litres of 74C strike water, turn off the heating source and using a paint mixer add all the malt to to the strike water. Now by using constant mixing no dough balls should form :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Then seal up the mash tun and insulate with a sleeping bag etc, then after 20 minutes give it a mix and this is where a refractometer comes into it's own as we can check the SG as the conversion is going. Now one may find the temp has dropped below 64C so put the heating source back on and keep mixing while the temp is rising to prevent scorching.

After an hour or so if the SG is up there do the iodine check and see if the conversion is finished, now with the iodine check add some of the mash and if the iodine turns black the conversion is still going. Only when a sample is added and the iodine doesn't change we know the mash is complete.

As I will be using a 60 litre fermenter one transfer's the mash over and after cooling to pitching temp take a SG reading as to fill the fermenter with our target SG a couple of Kg's of Simple Syrup may need to be added.

So the target SG I'm going for 1080-1090 is the target so we get atleast a 10% wash :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Get a US-05 yeast starter going to get the first sweet mash going, let it ferment out and run the sweet mash, then cool some backset lets say 5 litres and add that to the fermenter. Now as there still plenty of goodies in the grain we do a sugar back to start off the sour mash. The yeast should fire back up again and let that ferment out and run it.

Now add 5 litres of cooled backset and scoop out 80% of the spent grain and do another mash with the 12.5Kg left, let it cool to pitching temp and add to to the fermenter.

Then for further generations it's just a case of rinse and repeat until we get enough to fill a barrel, now the barrel size will be upto ones own preference but my target will be 30 litres.

So let the discussion start

Cheers Bryan

[WoodyD40]

Thanks Bryan.

Damm - much better write up than the lousy notes I took down whilst we were chatting this morning.

I cant wait to give this a go, once i pick up the grain. I will still need to go and borrow the mill from a friend.
Can you give an indication of how long each generation will take to ferment out please? AND what temp to try to maintain for the fermentation.

[RuddyCrazy]

As far as the time for fermenting.... how long is the piece of string...... :laughing-rolling: :laughing-rolling: :laughing-rolling:

[WoodyD40]

It sounds like the same time as a Long Wait :teasing-tease:

[RuddyCrazy]

Well for members that want to try this out but don't have any gear there a few things we need. :handgestures-thumbupleft:

So in order to do a mash we need a mash tun that will hold enough for the volume of grain we use, a 50 litre beer keg with the top cut out makes for a good mash tun. After the top is cut off by welding/riveting some flat bar can make the cutout a lid so the mash tun can be sealed up. Now a 2 ring crab burner does a good job of heating the strike water and a paint mixer should be used to mix the mash. Now remember to prevent scorching when reheating to 68C keep the mixer going :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Now as the sack of malt one gets does need crushing I did have a good look around this morning and found SA is out of malt munchers :scared-eek:

I did ask the Stig if I could use another vendors name and got the OK to do so :handgestures-thumbupleft:

By far KegKing has the goods we need a 2 roller malt muncher $86 and it will come up with a seating board for $10 so grab that. Now as they are based in Vic freight charges will vary depending on your location. With the base board one can just sit the malt muncher on a bucket then take the handle off and stick your cordless drill on there and be surprised just how quick and easy it is to crush malt.

Cheers Bryan

[RuddyCrazy]

Well it does figure I would stuff up the vendor :laughing-rolling:

It is KegLand NOT KegKing :angry-banghead: :violence-smack: :violence-smack:

Ok now that is out of the way I hope I'm not over stepping so here is the link

https://kegland.com.au/products/malt-mu ... grain-mill

So for around a $100 or a bit more one can crush the grain easily.

I have read and been told the quality can vary with these and when I get mine next week I'll have a Bryan look :scared-eek: and find the best way to make this cheap malt muncher a good unit. :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Cheers Bryan

[RuddyCrazy]

Ok Guy's,
Heated up 30 litres of water to 74C and dumped in the 12.5Kg of crushed malt, now after giving it a good mix to ensure it was all broken up and no clumps took a temp reading and it was 69C so I reckon dropping that 74C to 73C should get us to 68C to start the mash. I don't reckon I'll have enough space in the keg tun to put another 5 litres in for a sparge but I will give it a go and see how much I can get in.

Got the magnetic pump all setup for transferring to the fermenter so now it's a waiting game :handgestures-thumbupleft:

3.20pm grains dumped and mixed for about 10 minutes and sealed up with a sleeping bag around it.

[RuddyCrazy]

4pm gave it real good mix and the SG via the refractometer 1105SG :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Now what has me surprised doing an iodine check no change in colour yet the mash has increase from 1085SG to 1105SG and after an hour I'll do another test.

[RuddyCrazy]

Ok time for a few pic's :handgestures-thumbupleft:

12.5kg crushed malt.jpg

12.5Kg of malt crushed and needed 2 drums to fit the crushed malt.

malt muncher.jpg

2 roller malt muncher and man did it do the trick :handgestures-thumbupleft: now that $10 base board is must to get if one buys the muncher :handgestures-thumbupleft:

mash.jpg

Now what surprised me as it is a warm day and 35C in the shed the temp in the mash hasn't dropped at all and it does look like I will have enough space to do the sparge so putting the sparge water on now to heat up.

Cheers Bryan

[RuddyCrazy]

Well as it was a warm one today went down and got 5 for 25 for a few cold longnecks :obscene-drinkingdrunk:

Gave the mash another good mixing and this is the first time I have really used that mixer I made and it really does the job :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Did another SG check with the refractometer and I did try a 5 litre sparge and found all it did was drop the SG :angry-banghead: so lesson learned don't try that again :laughing-rolling: Anyway 1100SG was the reading so I am pretty pleased this conversion has worked out nicely.

Now silly me went and cleaned up my wort chiller but forgot to get the right fittings for it :angry-banghead: so just sealed up the mash tun and in the morning I'll transfer the mash over to the fermenter. Now this will be a good test to see if my US-05 yeast is still valid :handgestures-thumbupleft: and I'll make a starter first thing and see how it goes.

Cheers Bryan

[RuddyCrazy]

Transferred the mash over to my 60 litre fermenter and made a 2Kg simple solution to bump up the SG to 1080, now the mash did fill the fermenter to about 3/4's and when topping up it dropped to 1060 so that 2Kg addition did the trick to get to 1080. :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Made up a yeast starter with my US-05 and within 30 minutes it was trying to climb out of the beaker :scared-eek: so me thinks this yeast is still good :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Cheers Bryan

[RuddyCrazy]

Can you give an indication of how long each generation will take to ferment out please? AND what temp to try to maintain for the fermentation.

Well mate it was a top of 38C in the shed today and just been up for a look and I wouldn't be surprised if what I read years ago about 96 hours between pitching yeast to running it in the still. :handgestures-thumbupleft:

The fermenter lid has domed up :scared-eek: and that little bit of water I put in has been replaced with the cap coming up and filling the second tube on the airlock and the bend is only 1/2 full as the airlock does resemble a machine gun :laughing-rolling:

Now the smell is amazing so do your ferments out in the shed if your SWMBO doesn't like the nice smell of malted grain. :laughing-rolling:

As far as time for the generations it is a matter of temperature and the warmer it is the quicker it will ferment out. :handgestures-thumbupleft:

This is the first time I've used commercial malt and I have to say for the price malting my own grain is a lot more work with my small setup.

Cheers Bryan

[WoodyD40]

Hey Bryan

Love your write up.
Using the information you have provided to do a smaller mash for a beer tonight.
I lashed out and bought the 65 litre fermzilla to do the mash in.
It took me a while this morning to get it connected to my home wifi with the phone app.

[RuddyCrazy]

Sent Woodie a text with a short video of the airlock on this ferment :laughing-rolling: and I think it is clear to see he aint ever had a ferment go off like this before :laughing-rolling:

So this sweet mash is going into that badmo barrel I have so i can sample it over time :obscene-drinkingchug: and keep adding to keep the barrel topped up :laughing-rolling:

I do think the airlock will tame down late tomorrow or sometime the next day after so this weeks job is finally giving my still a run to get it back in action. Got quite a few litres of my heart by hearts so another run won't hurt :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Cheers Bryan

[RuddyCrazy]

G'Day Guy's,
Well noticed on Tuesday the airlock had slowed down and sure enough Wednesday morning the ferment had finished :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Now as it has been awhile since I ran my still decided to do a steam run to check for leaks as I did replace a sight glass. About 10 minutes into the run saw a leak at the RC :angry-banghead: so shut it down to investigate and found the lower output from the RC had broken the solder joint :angry-banghead:

Had a look around and no 4" copper tube left so off to the Bridge to go find some, now as it has been a few years since I was there got a bit of shock when I was told the scrap copper price :scared-eek: I selected a 1.4m section of new 4" copper tube and he said the price was $120 :scared-eek: So I got my wallet out and threw a $100 note at him saying thats enough cabbage :laughing-rolling: sure enough he said no worries it is good to see you again.

So came home and took the RC off and after a few attempts got the 1/2" sealed to the RC so put the still back together only to find both the input and output plastic quick connects both decided to leak :angry-banghead:

So first job this morning I'm off the Mitre 3 to get some new plastic quick connect fittings and if time permits I'll get this run of the Gladfield peat done :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Cheers Bryan

[WoodyD40]

Is your Still fixed yet Bryan ?

[RuddyCrazy]

Is your Still fixed yet Bryan ?

Sure is mate got those new plastic water fittings this morning and fired up another steam run and no leaks :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Got the wash transferred over to the boiler today so I'll do the run in the morning and also grabbed a cheap bottle of extra virgin olive oil as I don't want any puking and I have found AG just loves to puke :angry-banghead:

Threw some water back in the fermenter to keep the yeasties alive :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Now what I'm thinking rather than do a sugar head just do 1/2 the malt so a 6Kg mash and add that along with some backset, then just rinse and repeat for the next generation.

Cheers Bryan

[WoodyD40]

Stig supplies very nice brass hose fittings for anything near the still, so i only use plastic hose fittings near the RWT pump, where I don’t care so much if it leaks (its outside)

Can’t wait to hear how you go with your run this morning.

[RuddyCrazy]

Well decided to back off the heat when my temp gauge hit 50C then a bit later all of a sudden puke :angry-banghead: So turned off the BD burner and managed to keep the puke to the 3rd plate. :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Running now on about 2psi and took 200ml of foreshots so now I have it refluxing to load up all the plates to compress the heads

Cheers Bryan

[WoodyD40]

yup - I learned that lesson the hard way, with the puking reaching the bottom plate. I now watch it very carefully at the final heating stages (no watching TV at that stage)