20l Stovetop All Grain Aussie Lager

[Nick JD]

Once I suddenly remembered I had a batch boiling away about 2 hours after adding the hops. Luckily it was an Aussie Lager and a high-grav brew - but I'd almost made canned goop.

The beer was pretty awesome in the end - if there are undesirable flavours made by boiling high gravity then they're very hard to taste. This was probably boiled down to 1.100. No DMS issues anyway!

Drink all you want once you're familiar with your gear. And get a new 9V battery for your fire alarm, sleeping beauty.

 

[flano]

I play guitar in a band and have learnt the hard way ...don't drink before a gig.

Funnily enough if I have a few beers once we have started playing I am fine .

Maybe this rule can be used with brewing as well.

 

[Nick JD]

I call that the Pool Playing Paradox.

For me, it's between 1.5 and 2L of normal strength beer. Less, or more than this and I'm crap at pool.

 

[boriskane]

so my brewday has been postponed until wednesday night, damn weekend work.

but it also reminded me that i should ask about a hopping schedule for this recipe:

3kg BB Ale Malt
0.700kg JW Munich Malt
0.300kg Caramalt (leftovers)

US05

ive got 100g of centennial and 10g of cascade (dry hop?). ive never used centennial before so hoping someone can tell me whats good? im targeting around 35 IBU


cheers

 

[flano]

ta da!

I have my first BIAB finished and kegged.

It tastes pretty much like any beer on tap you would buy in the pub.

I am very impressed and would gladly use the same basic recipe for when I know I have mates coming around.

They are all just Tooheys new and VB drinkers and will think I am a genius when they taste this.

too easy ...scarey easy!
Thanks Nick and everyone else for putting info into this thread.

Can't really see myself going back to the fresh wort now.

 

[Nick JD]

ta da!

Nice one. If you start buying 25kg sacks of grain, reusing yeast and hops in kgs, a 19L keg will cost around $10 to fill.

Thing is though, now you can make any beer ... in the world.

 

[boriskane]

just put down first BIAB using the 20L pot!

cheers for the method instructions you posted on the previous page Nick, really simple to follow and everything seemed to fall in place as per instructions.

recipe was
3.2kg Ale Malt
0.6kg Munich
0.3kg Caramalt
US05

25g Centennial @60
20g Centennial @20
20g Centennial @10
5g Centennial @5
30g Centennial DRY HOP

i hit a strike temp of ~73, but my thermometer isnt long enough to go all the way through the tun so i was left measuring about 5cm in, and it was saying my mash temp was 60 :unsure:. so im sure deeper inside the temp was warmer (?)

i got 1.060 (20C) for my preboil gravity with 15L of wort
then during the boil i lost 5L

and once i had filled up the fermenter to 23L my gravity was at 1.045. so with that and an assumed <1.010 final gravity because of the low mash temp. i should be looking at ABV 4.6% pre bottling (which adds 0.5%?), which is pretty decent.

how do i calculate my efficiency? curious to see how i went...

well it was a great experience and cannot believe i have to wait a couple weeks to get it in the bottle, maybe ill pop over to the lhbs and get a 25kg bag... so much for this weeks pay :drinks:


boris

 

[beerdrinkingbob]

just put down first BIAB using the 20L pot!

cheers for the method instructions you posted on the previous page Nick, really simple to follow and everything seemed to fall in place as per instructions.

recipe was
3.2kg Ale Malt
0.6kg Munich
0.3kg Caramalt
US05

25g Centennial @60
20g Centennial @20
20g Centennial @10
5g Centennial @5
30g Centennial DRY HOP

i hit a strike temp of ~73, but my thermometer isnt long enough to go all the way through the tun so i was left measuring about 5cm in, and it was saying my mash temp was 60 :unsure: . so im sure deeper inside the temp was warmer (?)

i got 1.060 (20C) for my preboil gravity with 15L of wort
then during the boil i lost 5L

and once i had filled up the fermenter to 23L my gravity was at 1.045. so with that and an assumed <1.010 final gravity because of the low mash temp. i should be looking at ABV 4.6% pre bottling (which adds 0.5%?), which is pretty decent.

how do i calculate my efficiency? curious to see how i went...

well it was a great experience and cannot believe i have to wait a couple weeks to get it in the bottle, maybe ill pop over to the lhbs and get a 25kg bag... so much for this weeks pay :drinks:


boris

great work boris :icon_cheers:

You mash temp would have been higher i think just from my expreience, if you didn't leave the lid open to long it should have
been 67 to 68. Where it ended who knows depends on how many towels etc.

Would be interested if one of the members has a formula to work out efficiencies :beerbang:

 

[Nick JD]

...and it was saying my mash temp was 60 :unsure:

It's all good.

If you went in at 73C and spent about 3 minutes paddling the mash then your mash temperature would have been ~67-68C. It's also probably why you got such a good efficiency.

I would suggest to anyone starting out to err on the high side (65-70C mash, rather than a longer 60-65C) until you know your gear.

Measuring the temperature at the end of the mash is a good idea to know how your insulation is going. The least I've ever lost is 1.5C over 90 minutes, the most about 4C - and that's too much. I now use 2 towels and a "-5C" sleeping bag which if doubled over would nearly hold the mash temperature constant. Stirring can lose a lot of heat.

 

[pk.sax]

I just taste tested my first stovetop AG effort today too, even before sipping, smelt delicious - cascade and Amarillo. Thanks for the descriptions nick, method overall is a bit of too much farting around for me long term (read cleaning the kitchen instead of the equipment afterwards) but amazing for its simplicity.

And for a change, I will have to definitely cc it as it's cloudy from trub and yeast in a major effin way (no hop bag this time).

 

[Nick JD]

...method overall is a bit of too much farting around for me long term...

For sure. I don't use this method, but prefer to do 16-18L batches without sparging.

Unfortunately this has started to snowball, where as I only really wrote it to show some of what's achievable when you push Stovetop brewing.

For those who are serious about their move to AG I'd strongly suggest getting an urn and perhaps a pulley to hoist the bag. Simpler and you can punch out 25L of beer without any flippin' around.

One thing though, the intricacies of this method force the beginner to wrap their head around some complex brewing schemas, and for this it's good. Having to think about gravities and dilution and volumes and hop utilization is a great teaching tool for helping make more complete brewers earlier.

I hate to say it but sometimes things like beersmith can stunt the learning process by making it easier in an obfuscative way.

 

[Lord Raja Goomba I]

For sure. I don't use this method, but prefer to do 16-18L batches without sparging.

Unfortunately this has started to snowball, where as I only really wrote it to show some of what's achievable when you push Stovetop brewing.

For those who are serious about their move to AG I'd strongly suggest getting an urn and perhaps a pulley to hoist the bag. Simpler and you can punch out 25L of beer without any flippin' around.

One thing though, the intricacies of this method force the beginner to wrap their head around some complex brewing schemas, and for this it's good. Having to think about gravities and dilution and volumes and hop utilization is a great teaching tool for helping make more complete brewers.

I hate to say it but sometimes things like beersmith can stunt the learning process by making it easier in an obfuscative way.

+1 for articulate and insightful comment.

I use qbrew and we rely on the software to make the figures too much.

The big thing I found is that I did get my head around the theory by having some (simple) prac. I then used my equipment and experience to change my process to what suited and was easier, and now use qbrew to make sure I hit efficiencies and record notes, but not much else.

Goomba

 

[boriskane]

One thing though, the intricacies of this method force the beginner to wrap their head around some complex brewing schemas, and for this it's good. Having to think about gravities and dilution and volumes and hop utilization is a great teaching tool for helping make more complete brewers.

i definitely agree with this, actually having to work through volume losses at different stages and constantly measuring amounts of water and making notes of how much i top up and sparge etc... and then calculating preboil gravity and how topping up the fermenter alters it has provided me with invaluable knowledge.

i was playing around with a few other beer programs for a while and was met with this wall of information that no matter how much reading i did i was never going to understand until today.

 

[pk.sax]

For sure. I don't use this method, but prefer to do 16-18L batches without sparging.

Unfortunately this has started to snowball, where as I only really wrote it to show some of what's achievable when you push Stovetop brewing.

For those who are serious about their move to AG I'd strongly suggest getting an urn and perhaps a pulley to hoist the bag. Simpler and you can punch out 25L of beer without any flippin' around.

One thing though, the intricacies of this method force the beginner to wrap their head around some complex brewing schemas, and for this it's good. Having to think about gravities and dilution and volumes and hop utilization is a great teaching tool for helping make more complete brewers earlier.

I hate to say it but sometimes things like beersmith can stunt the learning process by making it easier in an obfuscative way.

Too true about the software, I have found excel more than enough to do the minor calcs and adjustments to recipes I can see on here and then, have brewpal on the phone to do quick hob sub calcs etc and not much more. The complicated softwares shouldn't be allowed to kick in until you start balancing your own beers! Which, honestly, I am not anywhere near and trying to micromanage that will only put me off at this stage.

I'm thinking of going for a more 2v setup with some way of retaining the great sparge/drain exposure the biab gives incorporated in it.

hehe.. btw, the whole tightarse mashing and boiling did make me think about possible ways to monitor the gravity of the wort during the process if I am to build any type of rig that will actually improve the beer through the hardware (not the process), something like pressure sensors at defined volume points to measure the head difference for given volume of wort to chart how the sugar concentration changes and then improving on it.

 

[theredone]

ok guys so im realy realy looking forward to moving to ag, however, i wont be getting an urn until after xmas, and i dont realy want to go and buy a bigger pot. i do have an 11.5ltr pot, so my question is, can i do half batches useing this biab method? also it does no harm to a beer having only a half batch in a 30ltr fermenter does it?

it would be great if i am able to do this, would give me a chance to get used to biabing b4 i get an urn, and also i could simple do 2 same styled beers at a time as i have a fridge big enough for 2 fermenters, this would eliminate any stock problems.

anyways what do you think?

cheers guys

 

[Nick JD]

ok guys so im realy realy looking forward to moving to ag, however, i wont be getting an urn until after xmas, and i dont realy want to go and buy a bigger pot. i do have an 11.5ltr pot, so my question is, can i do half batches useing this biab method? also it does no harm to a beer having only a half batch in a 30ltr fermenter does it?

it would be great if i am able to do this, would give me a chance to get used to biabing b4 i get an urn, and also i could simple do 2 same styled beers at a time as i have a fridge big enough for 2 fermenters, this would eliminate any stock problems.

anyways what do you think?

cheers guys

Check out this thread.

http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...showtopic=38674

 

[keifer33]

Just a quick question as im just getting ready to start my first AG as per this thread. How long can I leave the wort in the pot? In the guide it says overnight but Im planning on finishing approx 3pm today and then when I get home from work tomorrow night at around 6pm throwing it in the fermenter. Is this similar to the no-chill method or a slight variant?

 

[RdeVjun]

kiefer33, I've left the stockpot full of wort for >36hours before emptying into the fermenter, no problems, but obviously the longer it is left the greater risk of some infection finding its way in.
You're quite right, it really isn't that different to no- chill as it is just containing the wort in a sanitary vessel but still on the kettle trub, whereas no chill is off the trub. I chill mine in the laundry tub, also yields few changes of cooling water which can be put to good use for cleaning up the mess.
If you have any flying insects or dust that may get through the tiny vent hole in the lid, it would help to place a layer of cling film over the whole lid and leave it until you're ready. I do that with lager worts in particular, they need refrigeration to get down to pitching temperature, invariably there's drips of condensation inside the fridge which could spoil things if they got into the wort.

 

[keifer33]

Thanks RdeVjun, I think I will try the no-chill-kettle method this time and will invest in some extra cubes to no chill properly for my next AG. I like the idea of splitting the brew day so it doesn't take so long.

Will report back if I have any issues.

 

[boriskane]

i just put the centennial pale ale with US05 into the fermenter on thursday afternoon, and went to check the gravity today and it was at 1.008. made sure my hydrometer was calibrated correctly and it was; then i took a couple of readings from the fermenter and they were the same.

is it possible that it went from 1.045 to 1.008 in 3 days? i had heavy krausen and bubbling within 24 hours and the fermentation temp is at 18-22. would it have anything to do with a possible low mash temp?