Well, fired up my boil kettle yesterday at about 1:30 PM filled with my strike and half of my sparge water. Got it up to 170*F while I was grinding and prepping my brew day. Transfered via my pump/grant combo to the HLT and set the Ranco. First new feedback from the system, I need to get the incoming water a little hotter before transfer. The tun (~65*F) absorbed close to 10*F from the incoming water leaving me to wait 10 minutes for the new HLT to get it up to my wanted 165*F.
Doughed-in 7.5 gallons water at 165*F (from underneath my false bottom in a tun full of grist) at 2:00 PM on the dot and hit 156*F????? Ok, I freaked a little when I didn't hit 152*F. Then, I remembered that my MT has thermal layers when first filled and the bottom could be a little lower leaving an average temp of 152*F, my wanted rest temperature. I really need a longer thermometer. This floating dairy business doesn't cut it for my tun for anything other than leave it and read it later type stuff. I came back at 2:33 and the thermometer read 154*F (the reason my first readings aren't used for anything other than a "wanted couple of degree over-shoot"), and then the same reading before I pulled my mash-out decoction. I really can't wait to get my motorized mash mixer going to get more accurate readings right off. I simply can't stir enough, and I am scared I will release to much heat sometimes while stirring without a lid. The mixer will avoid all that and make dough-in even easier.
Pulled my decoction fraction of 3 gallons of mash, and fired it up on my kitchen stove. For my first decoction I was worried about scorching or sticking, but I think I pulled enough liquid with the grains to avoid this. I stirred with a spatula so I could scrape the bottom of the pot and it was fine the whole way through. I boiled the decoction for 10 minutes and returned to the main mash. Since I rounded off my needed fraction for temperature rise I was a little over 168, but planned for this and kept it at/under 172*F. Let it rest 15 minutes after a nice stir, and started my vorlauf.
Wow, I usually have to blow in my drain hose to get the flour and small stuff out before I can drain, not this time. It was still gunky, but seemed more broken down from usual (maybe just an occurrence). I recirculated for a couple of 1 gallon pitchers and then ran it into my kettle through a small kitchen sieve and then through the hop sack I had just filled with my first wort addition hops. I was pleased to find only a few grain pieces in my sieve and most came at the end of the drain. I then hurriedly filled the MT back up with 9.5 gallons of 168*F water, stirred, and rested for 5 minutes. Recirculated my runnings for a couple of pitchers-worth and drained the same way as before into my kettle getting just over 13.75 gallons at 10 Brix (1.041). Ouch, a little shy of my wanted 1.044 pre-boil gravity, but I do have more wort (a little bit anyways). To finish my wow, clearest pre-boiled wort I have ever seen, EVER!!! I have done mash-out with infusion before and it produces a slick wort, but nothing to compare with this decocted mash-out.
Boiled for 60 adding my hops as seen in the recipe and man, when I added my super moss it started getting chunky. 10 minutes later, I flamed-out and added steeping hops. I noticed that the wort was crystal at the top around the hop sack and started my chill. I drained the kettle through a screened funnel into my grant/pump combo and quickly learned why the wort was so clear at the top, lol. I changed up my pick-up tube to draw from the center and so now I get everything. It clogged up the funnel real quick, but I didn't want all that gunk in my Therminator. I recirculated the wort into the hop sack after pre-screening and it quickly started filling the sack. So, I finally just ran it into the kettle and removed the funnel and screen and let it go. It did just fine and I don't think the hot break and trub will be a problem next time since I have no hop particles adding to it, so I will just run right through the Therminator next time and not worry so much about the chiller. Ended my boil at 5:00 and had everything chilled and in the fermenter by 6:00. Checked the gravity with a refractometer and got 10.4 Brix (1.043) not happy. That is 7 points shy of wanted gravity, but after redoing my numbers I see my efficiency wasn't as high as I put into the program. I also had more wort than wanted, so the numbers aren't off as bad as it looks. This time I didn't aerate with my O2 because of how much splashing occurred during chilling and recirculating, and because I want to see what stir-plate yeast can do (a first for me). Got the wort down to 60*F and pitched and transfered. Checked today and the fermenter still hasn't gotten up to 65*F, but I can smell CO2. I just adjusted the
spunding valve on the fermenter so I can start to see it build. I am setting it for 5 psi this time around and will keep checking gravity to know when to start carbonation.
So, I'm off and running and love the new system. A few more additions and it will be perfect.