I've been brewing for almost a year now and have been brewing alone from the beginning.
My little sister(25), after drinking many of my beers asked how it was done and if she could come over for a brew session. I was excited to have someone else show interest in the process. So we planned and set a date.
We/I settled on a recipe from Zainasheff's Brewing Classic Styles book. We went with his cream Ale Recipe. To which my sister named, "Emma's Creamy Ale". Emma's sense of humor is the result of many years of hanging out with me and my dad on the golf course. There is never a dull moment with us.
We do our prep, get our strike water to temp and start to mash in. This is where I take full blame for the start of our out of the ordinary brew day. Emma wanted to use the mash paddle and I wanted her to have a good time. Plus, I wanted her to brew with me again. So I let her do the paddling. But I failed to warn Emma of the Stainless steel braid on the bottom of the cooler, and instructed her to, "smash any clumps you see".
90ish minutes later and about 3 Warrior Pale Ales later ( 6.5 ABV) we start step 1 of our batch sparge. We recirculate the first running then open the valve to the brew kettle. WE HAVE NO FLOW! We try to stir things back up again, recirculate then let it run. Still no run off
Thank goodness I read this forum constantly. I calculate the odds of successfully completing the batch sparge without knowing whats going on inside the mash tun and decide to empty the grains into a bucket and diagnose the problem. At this point Emma is getting worried that "Emma's Creamy Ale" is going to the trash can.
We get the grains out to see that the SS braid was pulled and pinched so tight at the nipple that there was no chance for any wort to pass through the braid. Poor Emma, slightly buzzed, realized what had happened and started to apologize. I wasn't angry because I knew I didn't give her proper instructions, but I was bound and determined not to lose our wort. I tried to compact the braid so that it would expand back out. Didn't work
It was at that point I realized the opposite end of the braid was still in good shape, so I got the tools out and flipped the braid to the good side and knotted the end that Emma had stretched with the paddle. We put our grains back in MT and we were back on track.
I know that type of oxidation is not good for the wort, but for all intensive purposes the brew day ended up being a success. Emma wants to brew again, with the only request that we make the darkest beer possible.
Who knew bringing on someone else to brew with you could get that exciting. In the end we had fun then watched OSU get beat by MSU. What a fun day with my sister!
Here is the SS Braid.
My little sister(25), after drinking many of my beers asked how it was done and if she could come over for a brew session. I was excited to have someone else show interest in the process. So we planned and set a date.
We/I settled on a recipe from Zainasheff's Brewing Classic Styles book. We went with his cream Ale Recipe. To which my sister named, "Emma's Creamy Ale". Emma's sense of humor is the result of many years of hanging out with me and my dad on the golf course. There is never a dull moment with us.
We do our prep, get our strike water to temp and start to mash in. This is where I take full blame for the start of our out of the ordinary brew day. Emma wanted to use the mash paddle and I wanted her to have a good time. Plus, I wanted her to brew with me again. So I let her do the paddling. But I failed to warn Emma of the Stainless steel braid on the bottom of the cooler, and instructed her to, "smash any clumps you see".
90ish minutes later and about 3 Warrior Pale Ales later ( 6.5 ABV) we start step 1 of our batch sparge. We recirculate the first running then open the valve to the brew kettle. WE HAVE NO FLOW! We try to stir things back up again, recirculate then let it run. Still no run off
Thank goodness I read this forum constantly. I calculate the odds of successfully completing the batch sparge without knowing whats going on inside the mash tun and decide to empty the grains into a bucket and diagnose the problem. At this point Emma is getting worried that "Emma's Creamy Ale" is going to the trash can.
We get the grains out to see that the SS braid was pulled and pinched so tight at the nipple that there was no chance for any wort to pass through the braid. Poor Emma, slightly buzzed, realized what had happened and started to apologize. I wasn't angry because I knew I didn't give her proper instructions, but I was bound and determined not to lose our wort. I tried to compact the braid so that it would expand back out. Didn't work
It was at that point I realized the opposite end of the braid was still in good shape, so I got the tools out and flipped the braid to the good side and knotted the end that Emma had stretched with the paddle. We put our grains back in MT and we were back on track.
I know that type of oxidation is not good for the wort, but for all intensive purposes the brew day ended up being a success. Emma wants to brew again, with the only request that we make the darkest beer possible.
Who knew bringing on someone else to brew with you could get that exciting. In the end we had fun then watched OSU get beat by MSU. What a fun day with my sister!
Here is the SS Braid.
