![]() However, with BeerSmith knowing all the grains will not fit in your current brewing vessel, just plugging in 25.5lbs of a grain’s recipe will throw the needed sparge and mash water all off. This software will also calculate out how much water you need for the mash as well as how much sparge water to reach the desired pre-boil volume. Using BeerSmith, a software where you can input your recipe, it will tell you all the info that you need as well as what your starting gravity, IBU’s, color, and if it is in style. In doing so, you create wort from your first running’s and then use it as your strike water for your second mash. My first step was to utilize a process called a reiterated mash. The first challenge I faced was, “How am I going to go about this? What technique should I use when brewing this big of a beer?” For those who have a smaller brewing vessel and only brew five gallons at a time, the necessary grains needed to achieve the desired gravity could cause some issues when you begin planning out your brew. The purpose of this brew was to see how far I can push my system, what my efficiency will be, how it will affect the wort and the end result taste. However, I worry the beer will then be too dry and not have that desired rich, deep, maltiness, and complexity from the roasted grain. It is known that you can add sugar until the desired gravity is met. It has always been a goal of mine to brew some 10 – 13% beer with my current system, and it came with some challenges. The most I ever put in a mash was about 17lbs which fills upright to the holes for the handle, which is used to lift the grain basket out of the boil kettle. With my current system being a Grainfather all in one system, it limits me to the amount of grains I can use for a single mash, so a high gravity beer was out of the question for me. We are pitching the yeast and maintaining the fermentation at 20°c for this milk stout.I am not always one to drink a lot of big beers but there is always a time and place for them. It’s not long before the wort coming out of the counterfow is close to 25°c even if the remaining wort inside the Grainfather remains high. After recirculating boiling wort through the chiller for a few minutes it should be sanitised (already cleaned prior to the boil). The Grainfather comes with an effective counterflow chiller. This is the first time we’ve used lactose so carefully sprinkled it into the boil to avoid any clumping or burning of the element. ![]() The kettle can start heating the wort as soon as you lift the basket and start sparging, saving a fair chunk of time when getting the wort up to a rolling boil. Once complete, the grain basket is lifted to drain the wort into the kettle and sparing can begin – we have a separate HLT to heat the sparge water. The Grainfather recirculates the mash with it’s integral pump and applies heat to keep it at a steady 65°c. Once we hit 65°c we mashed in the grain bill and started the process. Using the Grainfather calculator within the app we found we needed about 18 litres of water for the mash and told the Grainfather to start heating via the phone. This then opened in the Grainfather Connect App ready for action. Once I exported my recipe to the Beer.xml format I emailed myself the file and downloaded it onto the iPhone. Unfortunately the Beersmith iOS app does not allow exporting of this format so I had to fire up Beersmith on the PC. The control box is linked to the Grainfather app via Bluetooth and accepts the standard Beer.xml format. When designing the recipe I selected Grainfather as an “add-on” equipment profile. I use the Beersmith iOS app for all of my self designed beer recipes and I was interested to see how the new Grainfather control box would work in conjunction with Beersmith. Adding recipes to the Grainfather with the Bluetooth control box For more information, see our full review on the Grainfather. The pump is used in connection with a counterflow chiller to rapidly cool the wort as it transfers into the fermenter. Once a boil is reached the temperature is maintained and controlled. The mash basket is then raised and the wort easily drained into the kettle below ready to start the boil. A built in pump recirculates the wort and the mash temperature is carefully controlled to help achieve high efficiency in the extraction of the sugars from the malt. The Grainfather is a compact all in one 30Litre electric brewing system. It heats water to your desired strike water temperature and has an integrated mash basket. Welcome back to the world of brewing – we had a brewday on Saturday and brewed our first ever milk stout. We brewed on the updated Grainfather with bluetooth control box that can communicate with your phone!
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