New to all grain -- Questions on mash/sparge volumes and temps.

[Unusmundus]

Hi all! It feels great to be back after what has been FAR too long a period without brewing (nearly a year!). Hoping to jump back in with a Wit this weekend (my second ever allgrain!) but have hit a stump. I actually bought an 'all-grain kit' at a somewhat new LHBS a dude runs out of his basement in the burbs (awesome setup he's got going), but the included directions are a bit vague... To give you some background the grain bill and hop additions are as follow;

0.40 lb Rice Hulls
4.60 lb 2 Row German Pilsner
4.15 lb Flaked Wheat
0.95 lb Flaked Oats
0.20 lb Munich Malt - 10L

0.77 oz Hallertauer [4.80%] 60 min
1.25 oz Bitter Orange Peal 5 min
0.33 oz Coriander Seed 5 min

The following information is also included;

Boil Size: 7.75 gal
End of Boil Volume: 5.72 gal
Final Bottling Volume: 5 gal

KEEPING IN MIND that this is a 5 US gallon (19 litre) batch, what is not included is how much water I should do my mash in. How long I should mash for, and at what temperature (strike, and mash). The same goes for the sparge volume/temp. I'm truly stumped. The man did mention something about varying mash temps for a dryer or sweeter Wit, but I didn't quite pick up what he was saying. I'm sorry if this is a total noob post. Am I misreading the recipe, or missing some info here? Is there some formula I'm supposed to use to figure these things out? The only other all-grain batch I ever did had this information in included. Totally confused here. Anything helps. Thanks in advance for any input. Cheers ladies and gents!

 

[Unusmundus]

Forgot to mention that I'll be using WLP400, and it calls for a 90 minute boil.

 

[Yooper]

Mash with 1.5 quarts of water per pound of grain, and hold it at 152. To get to 152, you'll probably need 165 degree strike water but that is assuming you've preheated your mash tun.

When the 60 minute mash is over, do you plan to batch sparge, or continuous (fly) sparge? Your equipment may dictate your choice on that, but you could do either depending on what you have and your comfort level.

 

[Unusmundus]

Is that US or Imperial quarts? I use a stainless steel kettle style mash tun as opposed to the cooler styles, and unfortunately am limited to brewing on a ceramic stovetop. It can take a while, but seems to get the job done. That said, I will definitely be batch-sparging.

 

[Yooper]

Is that US or Imperial quarts? I use a stainless steel kettle style mash tun as opposed to the cooler styles, and unfortunately am limited to brewing on a ceramic stovetop. It can take a while, but seems to get the job done. That said, I will definitely be batch-sparging.

I always do US measurements. I'm not only Imperial challenged, I'm metric challenged as well.

Ok, to batch sparge that's really easy! Drain your runnings from your mash and measure them. Then simply add the amount of sparge water to your MLT that you need to get your boil volume.

You'll need to know your boil volume, though. You will probably boil off 1-1.5 gallons per hour, but it's hard to say. Can you do a trial run with water before then? If you boil off, say, 1.5 gallons per hour, then you'll know what you need to start with in the boil kettle.

A good guestimate is 6.5 gallons, as most people will boil off 1-1.5 gallons per hour.

 

[Unusmundus]

I always do US measurements. I'm not only Imperial challenged, I'm metric challenged as well.

Ok, to batch sparge that's really easy! Drain your runnings from your mash and measure them. Then simply add the amount of sparge water to your MLT that you need to get your boil volume.

You'll need to know your boil volume, though. You will probably boil off 1-1.5 gallons per hour, but it's hard to say. Can you do a trial run with water before then? If you boil off, say, 1.5 gallons per hour, then you'll know what you need to start with in the boil kettle.

A good guestimate is 6.5 gallons, as most people will boil off 1-1.5 gallons per hour.

Cool, the instructions actually call for a 'boil size' of 7.75 gallons, which seems pretty damn high to me, but I just downloaded a trial for Beersmith and plugged this recipe in and it's giving and estimated pre-boil volume of 6.79 gallons.. Thoughts?

 

[Yooper]

Cool, the instructions actually call for a 'boil size' of 7.75 gallons, which seems pretty damn high to me, but I just downloaded a trial for Beersmith and plugged this recipe in and it's giving and estimated pre-boil volume of 6.79 gallons.. Thoughts?

It's hard to say. It depends on the size of your burner, your climate (high humidity vs low humidity), and even the wind.

I have a fairly dry climate most of the time, and can boil off 2 gallons per hour in the winter. Others in florida may boil off less than half of that.

If you use the same pot all the time, and the same burner, your boil off won't vary much but it will be totally different than mine.

 

[Unusmundus]

It's hard to say. It depends on the size of your burner, your climate (high humidity vs low humidity), and even the wind.

I have a fairly dry climate most of the time, and can boil off 2 gallons per hour in the winter. Others in florida may boil off less than half of that.

If you use the same pot all the time, and the same burner, your boil off won't vary much but it will be totally different than mine.

Damn... Burner is a ceramic stove top burner... Probably 35cm across, unsure of BTU... Low end for sure. No wind (as I'm inside) and humidity is extremely high here... What would you do?

 

[Yooper]

Damn... Burner is a ceramic stove top burner... Probably 35cm across, unsure of BTU... Low end for sure. No wind (as I'm inside) and humidity is extremely high here... What would you do?

I would at least try boiling 6 gallons of water on it first- you may not even be able to do that and that would put the kibosh on the full boil. There is only one way to know, and that is to boil water first.

 

[Unusmundus]

I would at least try boiling 6 gallons of water on it first- you may not even be able to do that and that would put the kibosh on the full boil. There is only one way to know, and that is to boil water first.

I have brought 6 gallons of wort to a boil on it more than once... But maybe I'll try with the water.

 

[Yooper]

I have brought 6 gallons of wort to a boil on it more than once... But maybe I'll try with the water.

Oh, if you've brought 6 gallons to a boil already, then no need! What did you boil off then? Your boil off should remain about the same.

When you know your boil off, you know how much wort you need to start with.

 

[AnOldUR]

The thing that stands out for me is that the recipe has a boat load of flaked grain. The Pils will have enough diastatic power to convert, but you might want to extend your mash to be sure. Also, if it were me, I'd up the rice hulls to a pound. What yeast are you using? Looks like a good beer. Good luck!

 

[Unusmundus]

Oh, if you've brought 6 gallons to a boil already, then no need! What did you boil off then? Your boil off should remain about the same.

When you know your boil off, you know how much wort you need to start with.

I'm trying to remember... It was a lot more than I expected... Like I said my last brew was nearly a year ago, so I can't quite remember. I think I started my boil with 6 or 6.5 gallons, and end up with less than 5, especially after fermentation it only filled 3 quarters of my keg. Perhaps I should do a test run with water after all.

 

[Unusmundus]

The thing that stands out for me is that the recipe has a boat load of flaked grain. The Pils will have enough diastatic power to convert, but you might want to extend your mash to be sure. Also, if it were me, I'd up the rice hulls to a pound. What yeast are you using? Looks like a good beer. Good luck!

Hmm, the only grains I have laying around the house are some old cara-vienne... I've used them in hefeweizens, but not sure how comfortable I would be adding them to a Wit I've never brewed before.

 

[Unusmundus]

The thing that stands out for me is that the recipe has a boat load of flaked grain. The Pils will have enough diastatic power to convert, but you might want to extend your mash to be sure. Also, if it were me, I'd up the rice hulls to a pound. What yeast are you using? Looks like a good beer. Good luck!

Oh, and WLP-400

 

[AnOldUR]

The grain bill looks fine as is. What I meant was the lack of husks and pastiness of flaked grains could make lautering difficult. Extra rice hulls would be a way to avoid that possibility without changing the final beer.

Good choice on the yeast. Be sure your cell count is good.

 

[kombat]

One thing I wanted to point out that I believe Yooper missed. This recipe includes a substantial amount of Pilsner malt, which means you'll need a 90 minute boil, not a 60 minute boil. Assuming a boil-off rate of 1.5 gallons/hr, and accounting for 0.5 gallon loss to trub/kettle dead space, I believe that accounts for the discrepancy in pre-boil volumes. I would go with at least 7 gallons of wort pre-boil, assuming your stove can handle bringing that much liquid to a boil (mine certainly can't).

 

[Unusmundus]

One thing I wanted to point out that I believe Yooper missed. This recipe includes a substantial amount of Pilsner malt, which means you'll need a 90 minute boil, not a 60 minute boil. Assuming a boil-off rate of 1.5 gallons/hr, and accounting for 0.5 gallon loss to trub/kettle dead space, I believe that accounts for the discrepancy in pre-boil volumes. I would go with at least 7 gallons of wort pre-boil, assuming your stove can handle bringing that much liquid to a boil (mine certainly can't).

Yes, I had planned for a 90 minute boil. I was pretty impressed when I was able to bring 6.5 gallons to a boil on my stove top. That said the burner is quite wide and the unit itself is only a year old, . Going to try and bring 7 gallons of water to a boil this evening. Will let everyone know what happens then.

 

[Unusmundus]

Alright guys, so I finally got around to this today. I managed to get just over 7 gallons to a boil on my stove top is about 40 minutes (super satisfied with the power my ceramic stove top can put out). In sixty minutes I only lost about 1 gallon of water. But because this is a 90 minute boil, and because wort has a lower boiling point, and I expect a more aggressive boil I think I'll play it safe with a boil volume of right around 6.75 gallons. Thanks for all your help guys. I did have just one more somewhat newby question. Because I only have 2 kettle (this includes my MLT) Can I drain my runnings into kettle #2 after my mash, measure to see how much sparge water I will need, then dump those runnings BACK over the grain bed, heat sparge water in kettle #2, dump into MLT WITH grain bed/first runnings, then after some recirculation setting of my grain bed, run it all out at once, or will I lose some sugars somewhere in the grain bed. Thanks a lot everyone, cheers!

 

[hopfool]

My first all grain brew was a high gravity IPA that I decided to go with a 90 minute boil (for reasons that escape me at the moment). Someone at my LHBS directed me to a an on-line strike/sparge water calculator and I came up with similar quantities to your own for a total grain bill of a little over 16 lbs. Anyway, following batch sparge guidelines from someone here (may have well been Yooper) I actually used 170 degree water to sparge in two batches of half each time, remembering to Vorlauf first each time (I was using a converted Gott cooler with a full screen bottom for my MLT). The rationale was that by actually flooding the grain bed in a batch sparge, as opposed to a more constant, low and slow fly sparge, you avoid issues of channeling and end up with a little better efficiency. The other thought was that the batch sparge actually floats the grains, providing a more thorough rinse, which is also part of why I used a slightly hotter sparge temp. That and the fact that the Vorlaufing and adding of the batch water allowed for some additional temp. drop. Seemed to work for me, and I am a complete all grain noob.

To answer your last question I think the concern might be that since you are already carrying sugar in solution, and when your extraction is complete there is ideally little left in your spent grains, you may be working against yourself trying to basically sparge with wort. I didn't test mine with iodine once done, but the spent grains were completely bland tasting and left no sugary residue. So far it appears that I have a very successful brew (thanks in no small part to all of the great help I received here) so I wouldn't suggest doing anything different. Can't find a couple of other small pots to work with? How about a cooler or two that you could temper with a little overly hot water and then fill with your sparge water. My big Gott only lost about 7 degres over an hour long soak even with me lifting the lid a few times, so maybe you could fill a cooler a bit at a time with say 180 degree water 'til you got enough to work with? In other words use the cooler(s) as a n HLT to then drain into your MLT. If it's a little hotter than you need just add a little cold water or leave the lid open for a few and stir it up some.

I was interested in building a fully auto electric with a HERMs, but the batch sparge worked so well that now I'm rethinking the whole thing. All I want is good beer. I really don't care how I get there.

Good luck.

 

[Unusmundus]

My first all grain brew was a high gravity IPA that I decided to go with a 90 minute boil (for reasons that escape me at the moment). Someone at my LHBS directed me to a an on-line strike/sparge water calculator and I came up with similar quantities to your own for a total grain bill of a little over 16 lbs. Anyway, following batch sparge guidelines from someone here (may have well been Yooper) I actually used 170 degree water to sparge in two batches of half each time, remembering to Vorlauf first each time (I was using a converted Gott cooler with a full screen bottom for my MLT). The rationale was that by actually flooding the grain bed in a batch sparge, as opposed to a more constant, low and slow fly sparge, you avoid issues of channeling and end up with a little better efficiency. The other thought was that the batch sparge actually floats the grains, providing a more thorough rinse, which is also part of why I used a slightly hotter sparge temp. That and the fact that the Vorlaufing and adding of the batch water allowed for some additional temp. drop. Seemed to work for me, and I am a complete all grain noob.

To answer your last question I think the concern might be that since you are already carrying sugar in solution, and when your extraction is complete there is ideally little left in your spent grains, you may be working against yourself trying to basically sparge with wort. I didn't test mine with iodine once done, but the spent grains were completely bland tasting and left no sugary residue. So far it appears that I have a very successful brew (thanks in no small part to all of the great help I received here) so I wouldn't suggest doing anything different. Can't find a couple of other small pots to work with? How about a cooler or two that you could temper with a little overly hot water and then fill with your sparge water. My big Gott only lost about 7 degres over an hour long soak even with me lifting the lid a few times, so maybe you could fill a cooler a bit at a time with say 180 degree water 'til you got enough to work with? In other words use the cooler(s) as a n HLT to then drain into your MLT. If it's a little hotter than you need just add a little cold water or leave the lid open for a few and stir it up some.

I was interested in building a fully auto electric with a HERMs, but the batch sparge worked so well that now I'm rethinking the whole thing. All I want is good beer. I really don't care how I get there.

Good luck.

Thanks friend, this is my second all grain, but the other was just about a year ago now, and kind of experimental, so for all intents and purposes this is my first as well. Just got my yeast starter all done up, and actually found a few smaller pots that should be big enough to collectively hold my first runnings. Now to go tackle the cleaning of my keggerator and general 'brew area/ pantry'... Hope to be done by 4 am, hahah. Thanks for the input. Cheers mate.

 

[kombat]

Can I drain my runnings into kettle #2 after my mash, measure to see how much sparge water I will need, then dump those runnings BACK over the grain bed, heat sparge water in kettle #2, dump into MLT WITH grain bed/first runnings, then after some recirculation setting of my grain bed, run it all out at once

No, definitely don't do that. There are other ways to skin this cat.

For one thing, you can get a pretty close approximation of how much sparge water you'll need by simply knowing that a pound of grain will absorb approximately 0.1 gallons of water. In addition, you should know how much you'll lose to dead space in your mash tun.

So if you're mashing with, say, 12 pounds of grain, and 4.5 gallons of water, you know the grain will absorb 1.2 gallons. If your mash tun has 0.25 gallons (1 quart) of dead space, then you know your first runnings will be approximately 3 gallons (4.5 gallons - 1.2 gallons for grain absorption and 0.25 gallons to dead space leaves 3.05 gallons).

Since you want 7 gallons pre-boil volume, and you know that everything you add in sparge water, you'll get back out (because the grain is already saturated and the dead space already has wort in it), so you'll need to add another 4 gallons of sparge water.

Alternative, you could mash with the prescribed amount, collect your first runnings, then try to underestimate your sparge volume a little bit. Once you've collected your second runnings, measure your volume in your boil kettle (I use a wooden dowel with notches every gallon to tell me how much wort I have), and simply sparge again. There's nothing saying you can't sparge 2-3 times (just keep an eye on the wort pH to make sure it doesn't go above 6).

Personally, I use a nice stainless steel stock pot that my wife bought for doing big stews. It has volume markings etched on the inside, so I collect my runnings in it, take a measurement, and keep track of how much I've collected so far (and how much more I need to collect). I then dump it into the boil kettle and get ready to collect the next runnings in it. I have my process down pretty well such that when the end of my second runnings start to trickle, I'm just about at the volume I need. I prop up one end of my mash tun (I use a rectangular cooler) while I head the runnings I've already collected, and right around the time it reaches a boil, I can gather another quart or so of runnings from the mash tun to get me right to my target volume.

 

[hopfool]

No, definitely don't do that. There are other ways to skin this cat.

For one thing, you can get a pretty close approximation of how much sparge water you'll need by simply knowing that a pound of grain will absorb approximately 0.1 gallons of water. In addition, you should know how much you'll lose to dead space in your mash tun.

So if you're mashing with, say, 12 pounds of grain, and 4.5 gallons of water, you know the grain will absorb 1.2 gallons. If your mash tun has 0.25 gallons (1 quart) of dead space, then you know your first runnings will be approximately 3 gallons (4.5 gallons - 1.2 gallons for grain absorption and 0.25 gallons to dead space leaves 3.05 gallons).

Since you want 7 gallons pre-boil volume, and you know that everything you add in sparge water, you'll get back out (because the grain is already saturated and the dead space already has wort in it), so you'll need to add another 4 gallons of sparge water.

Alternative, you could mash with the prescribed amount, collect your first runnings, then try to underestimate your sparge volume a little bit. Once you've collected your second runnings, measure your volume in your boil kettle (I use a wooden dowel with notches every gallon to tell me how much wort I have), and simply sparge again. There's nothing saying you can't sparge 2-3 times (just keep an eye on the wort pH to make sure it doesn't go above 6).

Personally, I use a nice stainless steel stock pot that my wife bought for doing big stews. It has volume markings etched on the inside, so I collect my runnings in it, take a measurement, and keep track of how much I've collected so far (and how much more I need to collect). I then dump it into the boil kettle and get ready to collect the next runnings in it. I have my process down pretty well such that when the end of my second runnings start to trickle, I'm just about at the volume I need. I prop up one end of my mash tun (I use a rectangular cooler) while I head the runnings I've already collected, and right around the time it reaches a boil, I can gather another quart or so of runnings from the mash tun to get me right to my target volume.

Not my thread but thanks for the number. I had already figured the dead space for my particular set up, but I was also told to figure about 1-1/4 gallon per lb. of grain and not much else, which is why I ended up going with what some on-line strike & sparge water calculator had prescribed. Much prefer having rules to figure it out myself.

For that first boil I actually collected about a quart more than I was supposed to have and started with something like 7.0 gallons instead of the calculated 6.75, but it all worked out in the end. I was using a 12 gallon s/s pot on an LP turkey fryer burner and had a really vigorous boil going for the whole 90 minutes, which left me just a shade over 5 gallons once I got it cooled (plate chiller ate a tiny bit) and into the fermenter. Traub and dead yeast drain only lost maybe a quart, but the recipe called for another quart mixed with corn sugar be added over the 2nd and third days of fermentation, so I'm hoping to bottle real close to 5 gallons. Gonna find out tomorrow.

OP, let us know how it all worked out for ya. I'm looking to start another batch myself tomorrow if all goes well.

 

[Unusmundus]

Sorry guys... What's dead space? hahahaha

 

[kombat]

The space in your mash tun below the outlet drain, where liquid will remain and not drain out with the rest of the wort.

 

[Unusmundus]

The space in your mash tun below the outlet drain, where liquid will remain and not drain out with the rest of the wort.

Ahhh, I'll have to calculate that. I just tip the damn thing anyhow, lol.

 

[Unusmundus]

So over all great brew night. Starting to get a real hang of this all grain thing. Some minor uncertainty regarding pH and and temperature that could be improved with digital meters/probes, but hey, Xmas is right around the corner Efficiency was pretty good, ended out around 1.048, with the estimated OG being around 1.050-1.052, so I'm happy with that. Started with just over 7 gallons, and finished with just over 5 gallons, however I'm using this new 5 US gallon 'wide mouth' carboy that I'm going to struggle to attempt to describe, and I'm certain a blow out is imminent, so I did the stupidest (possibly ingenious) thing. I just found a photo of the thing, which I will be sure to post with this, but basically, it's this odd wide mouth carboy, thinner glass than the Italian's, with a 5.5" mouth. As you can see on the lid, it has a dish like dip, and a post in the middle. In the picture the post bears a pink cap, which you unscrew, and replace with this included, slightly wider and transparent cap, which has holes along the bottom. You then fill the dish with sanitizer, and tuh-duh, you have an airlock of sorts. However the carboy is so full, I'm SURE it's going to blow out, and the size of the hole in the post is #5.5 which I have NO hosing big enough for, so I sanitized a garbage bag (inside, and out), filled a 10 gallon kettle with about 1 gallon of star san, and gently lowered the fermenter into it, getting star san all over my floor. It JUST fit, so I then took the garbage bag, put it over the top of the carboy, and tucked it in tightly along the sides, into the star-san, affectively created a giant air lock, LOL. Should do, no? I'll be sure to put a towel under the thing... Any how, thanks for all the help, you guys are great. I'll be kegging this one, and will be sure to post the end results, as well as my thoughts on the recipe. Thanks again everyone, cheers!

 

[kombat]

Beware - those "wide mouth" glass carboys from China have notoriously thin glass and are VERY prone to breaking. There are multiple horror stories on these forums, with some pretty frightening photos. Be very careful handling that thing.

 

[hopfool]

So over all great brew night. Starting to get a real hang of this all grain thing. Some minor uncertainty regarding pH and and temperature that could be improved with digital meters/probes, but hey, Xmas is right around the corner Efficiency was pretty good, ended out around 1.048, with the estimated OG being around 1.050-1.052, so I'm happy with that. Started with just over 7 gallons, and finished with just over 5 gallons, however I'm using this new 5 US gallon 'wide mouth' carboy that I'm going to struggle to attempt to describe, and I'm certain a blow out is imminent, so I did the stupidest (possibly ingenious) thing. I just found a photo of the thing, which I will be sure to post with this, but basically, it's this odd wide mouth carboy, thinner glass than the Italian's, with a 5.5" mouth. As you can see on the lid, it has a dish like dip, and a post in the middle. In the picture the post bears a pink cap, which you unscrew, and replace with this included, slightly wider and transparent cap, which has holes along the bottom. You then fill the dish with sanitizer, and tuh-duh, you have an airlock of sorts. However the carboy is so full, I'm SURE it's going to blow out, and the size of the hole in the post is #5.5 which I have NO hosing big enough for, so I sanitized a garbage bag (inside, and out), filled a 10 gallon kettle with about 1 gallon of star san, and gently lowered the fermenter into it, getting star san all over my floor. It JUST fit, so I then took the garbage bag, put it over the top of the carboy, and tucked it in tightly along the sides, into the star-san, affectively created a giant air lock, LOL. Should do, no? I'll be sure to put a towel under the thing... Any how, thanks for all the help, you guys are great. I'll be kegging this one, and will be sure to post the end results, as well as my thoughts on the recipe. Thanks again everyone, cheers!

While it doesn't necessarily sound all that elegant looking, like I said, who cares how ya get there as long as you end up with good beer?

Ditto the warnings on that carboy though... especially with that pattern of molded weak spots (even thinner glass). I'm not a fan of using plastic for anything, but I'm not Bill Gates, and I'm trying to stock up for the holidays all at once, so beyond my snazzy S/S fermenter (that cost me my soul in a deal with the devil... er, I meant da wife) I have no choice but to resort to the plastic bucket brigade. So far so good. Easy to clean (certainly a lot easier than carboys), easier to move, simple to poke a hole in, and best of all cheaper. Until I can figure out how to make a million posting stupid cat videos on YouTube I'll be adding my future gear a very little bit at a time. I do think however that I'll grab one of these to replace at least one of my buckets in the mean time. They're $100, but another Franklin gets ya all the bells & whistles.

https://www.thefastrack.ca/main/fastferment


Just happened across these. So far this looks like the best deal ever on a S/S conical that I've seen. Around $300 plus about $30 to ship for a 12+ gallon S/S conical:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/HOMEBREW-CO...410?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item462cd7da8a

Don't know where exactly in Pa. the maker/seller is, but it's close enough, and there are enough great breweries worth visiting up that way that I'm thinking it might make for a good excuse for a road trip.

Now I'm getting buyers' remorse over having bought my Blingmann. ;(


Whatever the case, sounds like you're well on your way to some tasty suds.
My only regret in all of this is that I didn't start brewing back when I first started drinking.

 

[Unusmundus]

While it doesn't necessarily sound all that elegant looking, like I said, who cares how ya get there as long as you end up with good beer?

Ditto the warnings on that carboy though... especially with that pattern of molded weak spots (even thinner glass). I'm not a fan of using plastic for anything, but I'm not Bill Gates, and I'm trying to stock up for the holidays all at once, so beyond my snazzy S/S fermenter (that cost me my soul in a deal with the devil... er, I meant da wife) I have no choice but to resort to the plastic bucket brigade. So far so good. Easy to clean (certainly a lot easier than carboys), easier to move, simple to poke a hole in, and best of all cheaper. Until I can figure out how to make a million posting stupid cat videos on YouTube I'll be adding my future gear a very little bit at a time. I do think however that I'll grab one of these to replace at least one of my buckets in the mean time. They're $100, but another Franklin gets ya all the bells & whistles.

https://www.thefastrack.ca/main/fastferment


Just happened across these. So far this looks like the best deal ever on a S/S conical that I've seen. Around $300 plus about $30 to ship for a 12+ gallon S/S conical:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/HOMEBREW-CO...410?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item462cd7da8a

Don't know where exactly in Pa. the maker/seller is, but it's close enough, and there are enough great breweries worth visiting up that way that I'm thinking it might make for a good excuse for a road trip.

Now I'm getting buyers' remorse over having bought my Blingmann. ;(


Whatever the case, sounds like you're well on your way to some tasty suds.
My only regret in all of this is that I didn't start brewing back when I first started drinking.

My LHBS is bringing those 'fast ferments' in for Xmas. I have a HORRIBLE track record with plastic, and infections, so I think I'd rather shell out the extra 200$ for an Ss Brew Bucket if I ever come up with the dough.

 

[Unusmundus]

Beware - those "wide mouth" glass carboys from China have notoriously thin glass and are VERY prone to breaking. There are multiple horror stories on these forums, with some pretty frightening photos. Be very careful handling that thing.

The guy at my LBHS did admit to me he imported them from China, and told me that as far as he knows he's only one of two people that regularly stocks them in Canada and the US at the moment. He said he's received one complaint of one shattering, but the guy admitted to having dropped it. In any case, after a second infection I tossed both my buckets and my carboy last winter... Probably could have salvaged the carboy, but I wasn't taking any chances, so for now this is all I'm working with (not planning on doing a secondary for the Wit).