After a second boil over after I put the lid on to try and stop some of the boil evaporation loss, we reached another key point in the brewing process. This is were we cool the wort to yeast pitching temperature. This was a challenge, unlike with batches in the past, due to the new kettle. See the kettle holds its heat a lot more than the small pots did, and it can't be immersed in a sink with ice cubes and water as well as having the immersion chiller going at the same time. Also, we had the second challenge of dealing with the FL heat and hot water down from the outside hose. I rigged up a system where I used my hot liquor tank as a cold water tank and placed two blocks of ice in them surrounded by water. I then ran this cold water through the immersion chiller. If I had a pump this wouldn't have been so bad, but it took some time.
Also, we lost a considerable amount of wort during the boil. This is to be expected, but it seemed to me we were again under a full five gallon batch come fermentation time. I added a bit of distilled water to try and bring it back up. I have to figure out why I'm losing so much water during the process.
Anyway...the brewery is cleaned up and put away. The beer is in the fermenter, and I'll pitch the Belgian Wit Yeast in a bit, just waiting to ensure we're at the right temperature. Meanwhile, it's time for a shower.
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