Tested our newly built Brew Kettle today by brewing up a batch of German Pilsener. Everything went surprisingly well, but had some small problems also. We will have to lower the inner kettle, as there was a lot of dead space with the current setup (which meant slower cooling with the immersion chiller as it wasn’t fully immersed). Also, the pump got jammed once during the mash. I brewed outdoors, which might not have been the smartest thing to do during the summer, as the sweet wort aromas attracted tons of insects. I managed to find a dead wasp in the kettle after I drained it into the fermenter, so hopefully the batch hasn’t got contaminated. I pitched two packets of W-34/70, and threw the fermenter into the fermentation fridge set at 10C. I got around 55-60% efficiency, so the prediction was quite correct. I ended up with a little less volume, but a little higher gravity, than expected. The new mill was working great, and will tighten the gap for the next crush, as I think the crush could definitely be finer. Hopefully this turns out nice! I’m hoping for a Prima Pils-like pilsner, with lots of floral hoppiness. Below are some pictures from the brewday and the recipe.

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