Ag Seems Expensive,am I Missing Something

[QldKev]

Its all true..... now........can we get back to talking about (.Y.)

ok, what about ( . ) ( . )

 

[bignath]

numm numm numm numm.........

 

[beerdrinkingbob]

getting ready to try my first AG, but my calculations shows i need about 5kg of grain, approx , plus the hops, this seems to be around the 30 dollar mark for a 23 litre batch , plus the cost of gas and time involved, although i am anxious to try AG i thought it was supposed to work out cheaper than buying kits and bits. maybe i missing something here.

fergi

Hey Fergi,

You raise the same point that I asked myself at the start, It does cost the amounts you have quoted at the start and it makes you think, however you learn ways to say cash as time goes on ass other members have pointed out.

After some serious tastings of some of my mates awesome AG brews it got me across the the line. Although I do it on the cheap ($30) with the Big W pot etc etc, i love my beer compared to my kits worth every penny.

As for your time that is a big one, unfortunately that's free, the reason you do it is because you love the tastes, the smells, the creation and the difference in your beer and friends reactions.

The ongoing expenses are a bit scary, in the last two weeks I'm bought a couple of party keg's and a mill, $350 sssssshhhhhhhhhh don't tell the wife!!!

Happy brewing mate :beer:

 

[Crusty]

ok, what about ( . ) ( . )

View attachment 43786

:icon_drool2:

 

[fergi]

ok well i have looked through the ag data base , lots of great looking recipes there so i have decided to go with smurtos golden ale, the main reason is it uses fairly basic ingredients for a first off brew,i was going to use the biab method but since i have accumulated a large stainless pot, an esky for mashing and i am going to use a fowlers vacola electric boiler for my hlt.i am going to beerbellys tomorrow to buy my ingredients but i will only be getting what i need to do a single batch at first, i know you guys said bulk is cheaper but i want to see what ag is like first.,,,one question, is the mash the most critical part of the process, is it better to go slightly higher temp rather than a bit low, this is the bit that i might find the hardest to hit the correct temp for the mash, anyway i will see what happens.
fergi

 

[Hatchy]

That's a fair drive for some grain & hops. Getting it delivered may be cheaper & would be quicker.

I reckon most blokes would agree that the ferment is the most important bit. If yr brewing DSGA as yr 1st beer then I'd say to mash at the temp that the recipe suggests. If you don't get yr desired mash temp immediately it's easy enough to adjust with hot or cold water. Don't be heavy handed with it though, it's pretty easy to overcompensate.

Best of luck mate. The worst thing that can happen is you'll make beer.

 

[bignath]

is it better to go slightly higher temp rather than a bit low, this is the bit that i might find the hardest to hit the correct temp for the mash, anyway i will see what happens.
fergi

Go you good thing!

Best of luck mate, beer will happen.

just regarding the quote i've attached above, once you are familiar with your setup, you can expect to get the temp pretty much spot on all the time. However, equipment permitting, if i had to choose between just being under expected mash temp or a bit over, i personally would take the lower option. I have an immersion element that can come in very handy for this (and other things too.)

Aiming at 66 and get 65 instead? A quick stir with the element turned on will fix that. I'd rather do that than add extra water (in this example would be cold obviously) and run the risk of not getting my volume calculations right. Others may differ in opinion.


Also agree with Hatchy about ferment being the most important part of brewing. Once you've done it, i think you'll agree that it's not necessarily hard to do AG brewing. Time consuming and requires a heightened level of attention to detail sure, but it's not HARD. Once the fundamental processes of AG brewing are learnt and put into auto pilot, you still have to ferment it, and it doesn't take much in the ferment stage to completely **** it all up. There are a lot of things that can go wrong in any fermentation regardless of method to produce the wort.

I am actually of the opinion that my beers that are all grained, taste better for more reasons than just the method that produced it.

I swear i've become much more careful during the fermentation phase of brewing due to the fact i don't want to have got to that stage (5 or so hours of brewing in the garage) and then stumble at the last hurdle by doing something stupid - like leaving the fermenter tap open whilst holding my chilled cube at shoulder height pouring it into said fermenter to aerate.......
I pay much more attention to the temp, and my all around control of the ferment phase is much more detailed since i've gone AG. And that is a good thing.

You'll be right mate, enjoy the process of making your first beer from scratch!

 

[pbrosnan]

That's not off topic at all, you just don't agree. Why are you being an :icon_offtopic: nazi?

Because you comment was condescending ******** perhaps?

 

[ashley_leask]

ok well i have looked through the ag data base , lots of great looking recipes there so i have decided to go with smurtos golden ale, the main reason is it uses fairly basic ingredients for a first off brew...

I just did the same one, just plan it out have all the steps written down beforehand (helped me anyway) and run with it. Good luck with it, it's fun!

Cheers,

Ash

 

[Zizzle]

AG beer: a few $$$ per batch.

The d!ckheads you meet via this forum? PRICELESS.

Nah seriously, I've made some great mates here. And I wouldn't have been allowed into clubhouse if I was just doing K&K. You gotta know the secret hand shake.

 

[fergi]

ok well i went to beerbellys today and got all my bits and pieces, got the malt/hops/yeast/whirflock. now i am ready to go, questions,what is saccharification rest @60, mins mean,mash out temp @78 deg??does this mean the temp of the sparge water . , .not doing it for a couple of days as its too hot outside here at the moment.
fergi

 

[fcmcg]

ok well i went to beerbellys today and got all my bits and pieces, got the malt/hops/yeast/whirflock. now i am ready to go, questions,what is saccharification rest @60, mins mean,mash out temp @78 deg??does this mean the temp of the sparge water . , .not doing it for a couple of days as its too hot outside here at the moment.
fergi

Cause I'm on an iPhone , I'll be quick...
Sacchrification rest is basically your mash time...so "dough in"...pour your grain into your mash tun , with your hot water and let it sit covered for 60 mins...it's a kind of rest..now I'd have your "strike water " or mash water at about 72 /73 degrees..when you put your grain in , the temp will drop to about 66 degrees..if you don't hit the mash temp for this recipe..you can adjust it with small amounts of hot or cold water to hit your target temperature...make sure you stir your mash to stop dough balls , too...especially as you dough in...
Mash out temp is when , after your 60 min rest , you raise the temp of the mash to 78 degree ...personally I do not do a mash out step before I sparge...but what it means is you raise temp to 78 and then do recirulation and then sparge...I just recirc off the mash and then sparge...
Woo sore iPhone thumbs ...was longer than I though...good luck !
Cheers
Ferg

 

[bradsbrew]

ok well i went to beerbellys today and got all my bits and pieces, got the malt/hops/yeast/whirflock. now i am ready to go, questions,what is saccharification rest @60, mins mean,mash out temp @78 deg??does this mean the temp of the sparge water . , .not doing it for a couple of days as its too hot outside here at the moment.
fergi

Sacrest is mashing time that gets the sugars out of the malt.

Mash out is the temp you raise the mash to before draining to kettle. So your sparge water needs to be hotter 85-90 degrees to bring the temp up.

I personnally dont raise the temp before draining the first runnings because of my set up but I do fire up the Rambo (on low) just after starting to drain.

I sparge twice one at mash out temp and one at sparge temp. Normally to get this I get the water to 85-90 turn HLT off and run to mash tun, drain and repeat.

Cheers

 

[beerdrinkingbob]

what is saccharification rest @60, mins mean,mash out temp @78 deg??

It's the business end of mashing, so for your ale 66 or 67 degrees. Mash out will stop the enzyme activity and you generally leave it at that temp for 10 to 15 minutes, however for your first brew personally i would just stick to the single mash temp for the first couple, the KISS system. See the links below for more info.

Saccharification rest

mash out

 

[Hatchy]

I've never bothered with a mashout but my missus did a decoction mashout for her 1st batch. She had a better brewers assistant than I normally have though.

 

[chopdog]

haha yes i like to take my mrs through dans sometimes and point out that this is cheap alcohol, but compared to my expensive ways of brewing its still truckloads cheaper than buying beers.

I went to the pub the other day for the first time in a long time and payed $4.70 for a schooner of VB, it was cold and pretty clean but pretty boring as well..

i bloody paid $8.70 for a schooner of fat yak in the city the other day WTF :angry:

 

[Ross]

ok well i went to beerbellys today and got all my bits and pieces, got the malt/hops/yeast/whirflock. now i am ready to go, questions,what is saccharification rest @60, mins mean,mash out temp @78 deg??does this mean the temp of the sparge water . , .not doing it for a couple of days as its too hot outside here at the moment.
fergi

Hi Fergi, firstly welcome to AG mate, you won't regret it & as others have pointed out, the cost gets cheaper the more seriously you get into it.

.......but please.... this thread was about AG costs. It got derailed by the usual suspects & you've now totally derailled your own thread with questions on mashing. Makes it very difficult for future brewers searching for info when this happens.
Just start a new thread or preferably look for one that is relevant & if you can't find the answer, add your question to it


Cheers Ross

 

[tavas]

i bloody paid $8.70 for a schooner of fat yak in the city the other day WTF :angry:

Come to Perth. You'll get charged $11 for that.

 

[Lord Raja Goomba I]

Come to Perth. You'll get charged $11 for that.

I thought $9.60 a pint was bad enough in Bris-vegas - it's further to ship here and still cheaper!

 

[fergi]

Hi Fergi, firstly welcome to AG mate, you won't regret it & as others have pointed out, the cost gets cheaper the more seriously you get into it.

.......but please.... this thread was about AG costs. It got derailed by the usual suspects & you've now totally derailled your own thread with questions on mashing. Makes it very difficult for future brewers searching for info when this happens.
Just start a new thread or preferably look for one that is relevant & if you can't find the answer, add your question to it


Cheers Ross

yes your correct ross i got caught up in the excitement, sorry.
fergi