1st Ag Brew Today!

[jyo]

Thought I'd chuck this up to inspire all those wanting to try all grain and to give the professionals a laugh
A big thanks to all those on this site who answered my stupid questions, especially to Manticle for allowing me to stalk him via personal messages. :icon_cheers:
Well, after weeks of planning, researching, and then building may mash tun, it all went down today.
Ended up having to split the wort between my 15 litre stock pot and my 32l pot as the gas stove top just could handle 29 litres of wort...also ended up burning a nice mark on the bench top near the stove and melting the glue around the wok burner, just to keep the missus really happy h34r:

I used an american pale ale recipe, as follows:
Ale Malt ------- 4.5kg

Crystal Malt --- 0.4kg

Carapils -------- 0.3kg

Cascade --- 40g @ 6.0% for 60 minutes

Cascade Pellets 30g for 15 minutes flavour hops.

Chinook Pellets 25g for 1 minute aroma hops.

Whirlfloc ------ tablet for 30 minutes.

I used US05 yeast





Strike Water: Use 16 litres for 5.2kg grain. Strike temperature of 73C should get a strike temperature of 65C.

Mash for 90 Minutes.

Sparge water. Allow for 24 litres @ 76 80C.


I ended up with a gravity of 1042 with only 21 litres in the fermenter. Not great, but for a first go, I'm pretty happy. Out the fermenter, it tastes like mothers milk; sweet and malty, with that familiar crystal coming through :icon_drool2: and the hops are delicious....I chilled down in the laundry sink over 4 hours, with about 5 kilos of ice (re Manticle style) and 6 water changes and got it down to 19', was happy with that




Here are some pics.



Ready to start building the mash tun...



Done. 100 slots in a copper manifold with a hacksaw is a PITA.


Boiling strike water


Starting the mash. Was under 2' for my mash temp, so added about 2 litres boiling water, which got me 66' on the dot.



Time for first runnings and a cold APA (930 am but Jayse's guide said you must drink beer while brewing. I missed the Led Zep out though...hope this doesn't affect the taste...



First runnings was 1049 hydro reading
Had to split the boil and hop additions
Can't attach anymore pics...even with resizing it's not working at the moment.

For anyone wanting to have a go, if you are pedantic with your brewing already then definitely give it a go.

A few things....I need to get a burner and do this outside. A wok burner on a stove top is not the goods to boil 29 litres of wort, it took about 40 minutes to get my spage up to temp.
I didnt do a test run with the burner.
I need to either get a cube for chilling, or get an immersion chiller as I stressed out the whole time it was cooling. I wrapped the top of my kettle in glad wrap as soon as it went in the laundry sink due to my paranoia with infection.

Will add later how this little number tastes....
Cheers.

 

[manticle]

Fantastic.

Glad to be of any kind of help.

It's both fun and frustrating, like anything worth doing is.

Jayse's advice re - beer while brewing is spot on and that pint glass looks mighty tasty.

Best of luck with the brew.

Nice manifold too. I used a dremel on mine but it still took some time and effort.

 

[chappo1970]

:icon_chickcheers: Congrats yoyo! See it ain't that hard :icon_cheers:

Big up Manticle on converting yet another soul to the evil 3V!

 

[Cocko]

Well done jyo!

I hope you like LCPA! I am tipping that is the end of town your brew will end up in.... nice.

Grats mate and welcome to the AG clan, no turning back now! Wait till you taste it!

Many thanks are due to manticle I am sure, glad you did, as many thanks are due to all the major input-ers on this site!

I bet you are already trawling the recipe DB for your next!

:icon_cheers:

 

[raven19]

Another brewer drawn to the dark side!!!!! h34r:

Well done on the first of many AG brews.

Cheers to you! :icon_cheers:

 

[jyo]

Another brewer drawn to the dark side!!!!! h34r:

Well done on the first of many AG brews.

Cheers to you! :icon_cheers:

Cheers fellas. I feel an ag stout coming on... :icon_cheers:

 

[Scruffy]

Here we go!!!

 

[reviled]

I missed the Led Zep out though...hope this doesn't affect the taste...

How could you?? It may be good but without led zep itll never be great!



:lol:

 

[drew9242]

Well Done Jyo.
I just got a NASA burner the other day, after doing it on the stove 5 times. And it is a lot easier and shite loads quicker. Good investment if thats the way you want to go.

That Pint of APA looks mighty tasty. Would be good to have a better view of it.

 

[Peteoz77]

Well Done mate! You'll never look back after starting All Grain!

 

[Bribie G]

And about a month down the track you'll get up one morning, stride into your brewhouse and toss out all those kit and partial beers you had been keeping to tide you over. They won't taste all that good anymore will they

 

[Mantis]

Well done jyo. Like Pete said, you wont look back now. I couldnt beleive how good the beer tasted with my first AG brew.
I still have a few bottles of extract brew in the cupboard but plan to use that in earwig bait/traps

 

[Peteoz77]

Yeah, it's funny how much better the AG tastes.. or at least seems to taste, than the kit brews...

 

[jyo]

Yeah, it's funny how much better the AG tastes.. or at least seems to taste, than the kit brews...

Not even in the keg and I'm hooked :icon_cheers: .

 

[jyo]

Here is my update on my first All Grain brew. Fermented at 21' for 13 days. Crash chilled for 2 days, carbed at 235kpa for 48 hours....
I can't keep away from the fridge. It is slightly overcarbed, and a little cloudy (due to my innability to leave it alone) but 5 minutes in the glass calms it down. The first thing that hits is the cascade. The middle mouth is full of sweet crystal and rounds out nicely. Mango and grapefruit slice into the nostrils at the end from the chinook. I'm in love. Great head, holds up all the way through.

Again, thanks to all on this site who provide valuable input to new brewers and hopeful All Grainers. I now have some VERY interested prospective AG mates after trying this...

 

[raven19]

That is a good looking beer!

Best to brew some more straight away otherwise the keg will be empty before you know it!

 

[Fourstar]

Now thats a Moussey head! :icon_chickcheers:

Looks the goods big fella!

 

[WarmBeer]

And about a month down the track you'll get up one morning, stride into your brewhouse and toss out all those kit and partial beers you had been keeping to tide you over. They won't taste all that good anymore will they

So says the guy who got a second in the Qld comp with what? A toucan Russian Imperial Stout.