I’ve decided just to buy a 10 gallon cooler and a wort chiller and do all-grain brew-in-a-bag. It sounds much easier to do for a beginner.
1 Like
Oh, I’m also using Fermcap-S and it’s weird stuff. Kills all the suds in the boil, but they come back when you shake the carboy to oxygenate it. Also, it didn’t kill all the krausen but I bet it cut it in 1/2 or 1/3. I’m still fermenting though so I don’t know how it does post-fermentation.
I’ve used it on two boils and it fixes the over-boil problem pretty handily though. They should call it “Suds-n-Death”.
The first starter I made I used fermcap…thought it wasn’t doing anything…gave it a shake and got an eruption 
I started with fly sparging then went to batch sparging then settled on BIAB the only difference I can tell is the simplicity and the time saved. Actually my BIAB method is actually a batch sparge without the vourlof. The other Bennie is you can crush the hell out of your grain and don’t have to worry about a stuck sparge. I use less grain and haven’t bought any rice hulls in some time. I spend my hard earned coin on fermentation control which is the most important part of the process.
2 Likes
Should I ask my kit provider to crush my grain finer? Is there a number for crush thickness I should ask for?
Well you could but until I got my mill I just went with their crush. I think they were about .030 I’m around .025 now. Ask them what their setting is and go with it after your first batch you can make changes. Make sure to keep some lite DME around if you end up to low. Gotta keep track and get consistent then you can start messing around.
I would learn to figure out how to check efficiency. From there you can find out where yer brewery stands and can then tell what you need to do to bring up efficiency. Water IS a big key, then document all aspects of yer brew. I do BIAB, one kettle, I won’t change anything I do, well, maybe to a larger kettle for even more room for a vigorous boil… Sneezles61
I’m gonna brew the same recipe four times in a row once I get my BIAB setup going. That way I can get a better idea of how all this works and get numbers and such. The first two will be no-sparge, all of the water at once then squeeze. The next two with a dunk sparge and then a squeeze. See which is best.
1 Like
When doing yer experimental runs, try one without squeezing. Sneezles61
I’ve done my biab mash/sparge process a few times without squeezing. I get very similar efficiency. Just takes a bit longer to drain if I don’t squeeze.
The lower my volume the harder I squeeze. I just can’t help myself.
I did squeeze too! and the best I got was a cloudy brew that took longer to clear… Any of you too? Sneezles61
Nope. Hasn’t affected my clarity at all but I generally use whirlfroc or irish moss to finish the boil and chill quickly.
1 Like
I have irish moss too, but sometimes I don’t put it out so I don’t add in the end… Sneezles61
I use Fermcap-S for all of my brews and throw it into the primary after I aerate since I got it with some stuff as a gift. The only difference I can tell is that I no longer have to worry about a blow off hose. No affect on the yeast, flavor, fermentation or my FG that I’m aware of.
I personally can’t get over how Fermcap looks. A bit too…bodily fluid for me. I did notice it worked though.
