Alan Batchelor Posted September 27, 2020 Author Report Share Posted September 27, 2020 9 hours ago, xpsTech said: Hey Alan, The pics show a lot of yeast sediment so may be it was a combination of yeast and hops that blocked your tap. In the bottom of the BeerDroid a thick layer of sediment develops, even though tap is a bit higher a similar layer of sediment ends up in the bottom of the tap. Fitting the bottling valve will slow the flow so increase the chance of sediment blocking things up. So this is what I do. Before bottling/kegging I flush the sediment from the tap so it doesn't end up in the beer. Put a glass under the tap, open the tap fully and let out about 2/3rds of a cup. Use this to do your smell and taste test as BrewArt recommends so it is not wasted. It's unfortunate you had to dump the last batch, Better luck next time. Hi @xpsTech I did 3 small glasses as a taste test. First one was very cloudy, second and third seemed normal. Fitted the bottling tap and started the first bottle. Filter was clogged very quickly, with 30 seconds. Emptied filter and started again but flow was very slow and the bottling tube never really filled with liquid. So there was also and air lock. Eventually it just stop by a trickle.. Alan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Batchelor Posted September 29, 2020 Author Report Share Posted September 29, 2020 (edited) @Dustin Frothman I really do think I’ve been cursed by the beer gods. Skipped a dry hop beer and thought I would attempt a simple cider. Found the recipe on the Facebook group. Pretty simple, apple juice and yeast. Started 3 days ago and has not detected start of fermentation. Normally I am with in a few hours after entered fermentation. Bad yeast I am thinking . I did open the lid and I see bubbles and activity so might be working just slowly 🤨 I do have more yeast but not sure if adding extra will help or exacerbate the situation. Fingers crossed. ~Alan Edited September 29, 2020 by Alan Batchelor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dustin Frothman Posted September 30, 2020 Report Share Posted September 30, 2020 10 hours ago, Alan Batchelor said: @Dustin Frothman I really do think I’ve been cursed by the beer gods. 😔 I think you have been. Is the opposite set of actions for bad luck to climb up a ladder, repair a mirror and feed the local stray black cat? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain 3 Droids Posted September 30, 2020 Report Share Posted September 30, 2020 10 hours ago, Alan Batchelor said: @Dustin Frothman I really do think I’ve been cursed by the beer gods. Skipped a dry hop beer and thought I would attempt a simple cider. Found the recipe on the Facebook group. Pretty simple, apple juice and yeast. Started 3 days ago and has not detected start of fermentation. Normally I am with in a few hours after entered fermentation. Bad yeast I am thinking . I did open the lid and I see bubbles and activity so might be working just slowly 🤨 I do have more yeast but not sure if adding extra will help or exacerbate the situation. Fingers crossed. ~Alan I wouldn’t be worried Alan, ciders in general take a while to get going and generally are slow and long in the fermentation process. You have confirmed that it is fermenting due to the bubbles and “activity”. Sit back and relax, your not cursed just learning. Cheers, Mark 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Batchelor Posted September 30, 2020 Author Report Share Posted September 30, 2020 Mark, interesting. I thought it was an older yeast was the problem. Activity is not aggressive but is there. Maybe it will speed up soon. Still a little surprised it not detected fermentation yet! I will wait it out 👍 Alan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xpsTech Posted September 30, 2020 Report Share Posted September 30, 2020 1 hour ago, Alan Batchelor said: Mark, interesting. I thought it was an older yeast was the problem. Activity is not aggressive but is there. Maybe it will speed up soon. Still a little surprised it not detected fermentation yet! I will wait it out 👍 Alan Hi Alan, Bubbles can sometimes be a misleading indicator of fermentation activity. Did you say the yeast may have been suspect? The longer it takes for fermentation to start vigorously the more opportunity there is for wild yeast or infections to take over. If you saw bubbles, the fermentation could be very slow and the yeast health/viability may not have been sufficient to get to a critical mass during the propagation phase, which is what is implied by the Droid not detecting a fermentation start after three days. I'd encourage you to call the BrewArt Tech line to find out the fermentation profile logged by the Droid on this cider. There still may be time to save your cider by getting some fresh yeast going in yeast starter and then adding it. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Batchelor Posted September 30, 2020 Author Report Share Posted September 30, 2020 Seems I am cursed.. now an error no fermentation detected. It’s odd because is see something but certainly not vigorous. I lost my last brew because of clogged tap which seems odd since that is what the filter is for. 75g is only a little more than the 50g the brewprint suggests. Now no fermentation and possible a second brew in a row that might need to be trashed. I could add more yeast but am I wasting yeast on a bad brew. definitely been hit by the ugly stick on the beer brewing world. I might try some more yeast.. Alan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Batchelor Posted September 30, 2020 Author Report Share Posted September 30, 2020 Activity for sure... but maybe I’m making bread 🤪 Alan 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain 3 Droids Posted September 30, 2020 Report Share Posted September 30, 2020 17 minutes ago, Alan Batchelor said: Seems I am cursed.. now an error no fermentation detected. It’s odd because is see something but certainly not vigorous. I lost my last brew because of clogged tap which seems odd since that is what the filter is for. 75g is only a little more than the 50g the brewprint suggests. Now no fermentation and possible a second brew in a row that might need to be trashed. I could add more yeast but am I wasting yeast on a bad brew. definitely been hit by the ugly stick on the beer brewing world. I might try some more yeast.. Alan Hope this helps from the manual- “End of Fermentation (EOF) not detected If eof has not been detected during the ferment zone then: k eof not detected will appear on the display screen, and k check the sg then press to resume or to end program in the user prompt panel. End of fermentation will need to be tested manually with a hydrometer over two consecutive days to determine if fermentation is complete – go to brewart.com/101 for information on how to use a hydrometer when EOF is not detected.” Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Batchelor Posted September 30, 2020 Author Report Share Posted September 30, 2020 Mark, it’s only been 4 days so well short EOF , this seems to be fermentation start not detected even though It looks to me that something is happening since this is apple juice and yeast. Something created the bread like crust. If I get to 20 days and EOF not detected then yes maybe I need to purchase a hydrometer. The point is something is happening just not sure what since the crust on top got there somehow. I will just leave until the max days. Alanm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain 3 Droids Posted September 30, 2020 Report Share Posted September 30, 2020 1 hour ago, Alan Batchelor said: Mark, it’s only been 4 days so well short EOF , this seems to be fermentation start not detected even though It looks to me that something is happening since this is apple juice and yeast. Something created the bread like crust. If I get to 20 days and EOF not detected then yes maybe I need to purchase a hydrometer. The point is something is happening just not sure what since the crust on top got there somehow. I will just leave until the max days. Alanm Good move. Sorry confused myself with start and end of fermentation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xpsTech Posted September 30, 2020 Report Share Posted September 30, 2020 Hey Alan, you might want to consider bumping up your ferment temperature to encourage those yeast cells to multiply faster for a day or two. 22-24C (72-75F) is generally the sweet spot to encourage yeast propagation. What's your Ferment target currently? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Batchelor Posted October 1, 2020 Author Report Share Posted October 1, 2020 @xpstech Liam at brewart also suggested a higher temp. I changed it to 72 yesterday. I missed the higher temp requirement for cider.. Thanks Alan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xpsTech Posted October 1, 2020 Report Share Posted October 1, 2020 (edited) On 27/09/2020 at 10:49 AM, Barrelboy said: It’s a learning curve, sadly sometimes at the expense of some good brews. What might help a bit is that I raise the front of the Droid a bit (about 10mm-nearly 1/2”) so it slopes to the back away from the tap. Not much of a angle is needed. I find the sediment then thin at the tap compared to the back. When adding the hops, slowly trickle them down the back wall of the droid. Cheers, Mark. Hey Mark, that's innovative and very pragmatic. The only thing that causes me a little concern would be the long term effects of running the compressor at an angle even if it is very slight, perhaps @BrewArt Team could provide some guidance on this. Edited October 1, 2020 by xpsTech 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain 3 Droids Posted October 1, 2020 Report Share Posted October 1, 2020 5 hours ago, xpsTech said: Hey Mark, that's innovative and very pragmatic. The only thing that causes me a little concern would be the long term effects of running the compressor at an angle even if it is very slight, perhaps @BrewArt Team could provide some guidance on this. Obviously hope a small angle will cause no harm. I actually based it upon the fact that 1) fridges are generally on a lean for door closure reasons 2) many mini portable fridges like Engel will tolerate a lean of 30 degrees 3) suspect an angle tolerance for the unit, a 10mm lift at the front is small. However a check with BrewArt Tech would be a smart thing to do so will await response. (out of interest have done 60 brews in my first unit, 44 in second and 36 in third) Cheers Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrewArt Team Posted October 2, 2020 Report Share Posted October 2, 2020 14 hours ago, xpsTech said: Hey Mark, that's innovative and very pragmatic. The only thing that causes me a little concern would be the long term effects of running the compressor at an angle even if it is very slight, perhaps @BrewArt Team could provide some guidance on this. Thanks @xpsTech, You're spot on with your concerns, I have spoken to our tech wizards and can confirm that a small tilt on the unit will not have a long term impact on the compressor, however tilt can change the dynamics of the fermentation algorithm. If you are going to tilt the unit, keeping the angle less than 1.5 degrees will still achieve optimum fermentation detection performance. (1.5 degrees means don’t raise the front by more than 10mm). However, this doesn't answer why @Alan Batchelor's batch clogged the tap. I have gone as high as 150g without an issue. Normally the Hops should break up into small particles and flow through the tap and into the filter. So I'm still a little stumped how it's blocked the tap. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain 3 Droids Posted October 2, 2020 Report Share Posted October 2, 2020 41 minutes ago, BrewArt Team said: Thanks @xpsTech, You're spot on with your concerns, I have spoken to our tech wizards and can confirm that a small tilt on the unit will not have a long term impact on the compressor, however tilt can change the dynamics of the fermentation algorithm. If you are going to tilt the unit, keeping the angle less than 1.5 degrees will still achieve optimum fermentation detection performance. (1.5 degrees means don’t raise the front by more than 10mm). However, this doesn't answer why @Alan Batchelor's batch clogged the tap. I have gone as high as 150g without an issue. Normally the Hops should break up into small particles and flow through the tap and into the filter. So I'm still a little stumped how it's blocked the tap. Cheers Thanks Brewart team, a check of my 3 units show 8mm max, so happy with that I haven’t had any fermentation detection problems due to this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Batchelor Posted October 2, 2020 Author Report Share Posted October 2, 2020 Hi all, just wanted to let you know the Temp increase did the trick. My cider is up and running. Thanks for all those that suggested this increase. I also noticed the videos for the blocked tap I posted do not work on the website. Only seems to work in my iPhone. Must be apples proprietary video and not all websites having the ability to use 🤬 Alan 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Batchelor Posted October 2, 2020 Author Report Share Posted October 2, 2020 @BrewArt Team However, this doesn't answer why @Alan Batchelor's batch clogged the tap. I have gone as high as 150g without an issue. Normally the Hops should break up into small particles and flow through the tap and into the filter. So I'm still a little stumped how it's blocked the tap. I am puzzled as well. The hops at the bottom where extremely thick. So much so that with out bottling & filter attachment it was a dribble at best. When I gave up and unplugged bottom plug the liquid oozed out rather than poured until a huge amount of the hops escaped, then it flowed a bit better. My only thought is normally I am around when it goes from Storage to Keg mode and will bottle as soon as it get to keg temp. But this time it happened late in the night and by the time I got around to bottling it was close to 12 hours at keg temp. Not sure if this allowed it to become more like molasses. ~Alan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Batchelor Posted October 2, 2020 Author Report Share Posted October 2, 2020 @BrewArt Team I do have one other thing to share about the blocked tap. I was not using the brewart ingredients. I used 1/2 a can of Briess Pale Ale Liquid Malt Extract and Yeast only. Added 25g of dry hops after about 6 days and the rest when app told me to add hops. ~Alan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain 3 Droids Posted October 2, 2020 Report Share Posted October 2, 2020 3 hours ago, Alan Batchelor said: @BrewArt Team I do have one other thing to share about the blocked tap. I was not using the brewart ingredients. I used 1/2 a can of Briess Pale Ale Liquid Malt Extract and Yeast only. Added 25g of dry hops after about 6 days and the rest when app told me to add hops. ~Alan Mmm, Alan did you dissolve the liquid malt in water before putting it into the Droid or did you pour it direct into the droid? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain 3 Droids Posted October 12, 2020 Report Share Posted October 12, 2020 On 03/10/2020 at 6:21 AM, Barrelboy said: Mmm, Alan did you dissolve the liquid malt in water before putting it into the Droid or did you pour it direct into the droid? What are you brewing now? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Batchelor Posted October 12, 2020 Author Report Share Posted October 12, 2020 Hi Mark, I dissolved the malt extract in a big pot at room temp for a few hours before adding to the Driod. It was thoroughly dissolved. I just bottled my cider which I slightly dry hopped with a small amount of Citra. Maybe 10 or 15g. No issues bottling. I am thinking my about next brew carefully start it tonight or tomorrow. Not sure if to amount the brew that the tap clogged again or a stout. If I do the Heavily hopped Ale I will have some loose and some in a hop sack to be in the safe side.. Alan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain 3 Droids Posted October 12, 2020 Report Share Posted October 12, 2020 9 hours ago, Alan Batchelor said: Hi Mark, I dissolved the malt extract in a big pot at room temp for a few hours before adding to the Driod. It was thoroughly dissolved. I just bottled my cider which I slightly dry hopped with a small amount of Citra. Maybe 10 or 15g. No issues bottling. I am thinking my about next brew carefully start it tonight or tomorrow. Not sure if to amount the brew that the tap clogged again or a stout. If I do the Heavily hopped Ale I will have some loose and some in a hop sack to be in the safe side.. Alan Thanks Alan. Do the one that blocked the tap so you can “beat it”. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Batchelor Posted October 18, 2020 Author Report Share Posted October 18, 2020 Just cracked the only beer I saved from my blocked tap issue. It is pretty good but perhaps a little too hoppy. Maybe I added a little more than 75g but thought I measured correctly. I have the same brew going right now but will use the brewart dry hop sachets to be sure of only 50g. Only around 3 weeks in secondary, drink fresh I say 🤪 Alan 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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