Brew Day

Tried out a new method. Boiled 15 litres of water the Thursday afternoon and left overnight to cool. The idea being to add the cold water to the boiled wort and so be able to pitch the yeast the same day instead of having to wait for the whole 23 litres of boiled wort to cool down and waiting until the next day before pitching the yeast. However, did not put enough water in the boiler with the hops. Ended up with about 17 litres of water so had to boil up another 10 litres and add that to the wort. This resulted in the wort being nearly as hot as previously. Will make notes and learn. The alternative is to invest in a wort chiller to fit inside the boiler. However, the logistics of running a hose from the kitchen tap and then disposing of the cold water as it runs through the chiller and emerges out the other end has defeated me so far. Though I am open to ideas and advice. They say I am a proud old bugger but I'm not really. Gathered all my ingredients together except the white sugar. Luckily the corner shop was open. Returned to the brewing. Dissolved dry sprayed malt into 10 litres of liquor (water) at 40C and transferred to the boiler. Put some crystal malt into a bag and pitched into the liquor. Waited for the liquor to come to the boil and added the hops. All went well until I misjudged the amount of time it would take for the wort to come to the boil. Having forgotten to top up the wort to about 17-18 litres. This slight miscalculation resulted in a slight over boil and some of the wort escaping over the side of the boiler. Luckily I caught it in time and not too much damage was done. 45 minutes later I added the Irish Moss and the white sugar. Left for a further 45 minutes to a rigorous boil. Turned the boiler off and let the wort to settle for 30 minutes. Added some cold water (from the batch I boiled the previously day) to the fermenting vessel (fv) and run the wort off from the boiler into the fv. Topped up the fv with remainder of the cold water and additional boiled water to 23 litres and put in the fermenting cupboard to cool overnight. Re-hydrated the yeast at about 6 this morning and pitched into the fv. Will check later to make sure that fermention has began.

Got my Wednesday purchase of  cooked faggots out of the fridge. Cut in half, sliced some mushrooms placed in a casserole dish and poured a tin of French onion soup over the faggots. Put in oven at 160C for 35 minutes. Served with mushy peas and horseradish mashed potatoes. Yummy scrummy. Thanks to Pete for the original idea. It is simple and quick and delicious. The same idea could be applied to other things such as sausages or even haggis maybe.