Chappo Lost Virginity To First Ag Brew

[chappo1970]

Well I finally did it and I don't know what all the fuss was about?
I actually planned to do this on Saturday but got home early yesterday after picking up my grain from CB's and thought to myself why the hell not?

Everything went to plan except I missed my pre boil by 1 grav and SG by 2 or and collected more to the fermenter than my calculations. I think I have over estimated loss to tubes and cold chiller.
Pitched in at 20C with Wyeast 1056 smack pack which was an interesting little creature by itself.

Wort, to my relief, tasted spot on to what I was expecting. I had one of those little panic moments at the beginning of the hop schedule where you wonder "have I got enough bittering? 18gr doesn't seem like much? I will just quicky run it again thru BeerSmith huh?".

Other than that started at 5pm cleaned up and in the ferment fridge 11pm. So 6 hours in total but I wasn't rushing anything just wanted to enjoy the moment which I thoroughly did!

Big thanks to all the forum members, BABBS fellas and the crew at Craftbrewers for your advice and encouragement!

Recipe: Classic APA
Brewer: Chappo
Asst Brewer: DeeJay the Dog
Style: American Pale Ale
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (35.0) All american pale ale. It won 5 gold medals in the USA 2007

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 21.00 L
Boil Size: 27.70 L
Estimated OG: 1.054 SG
Estimated Color: 14.0 EBC
Estimated IBU: 36.3 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.00 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

ACTUAL
Batch Size: 22.50 L
Boil Size: 28.50 L
Actual OG: 1.052 SG
Estimated Color: 14.0 EBC
Estimated IBU: 36.3 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 69.25 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
0.50 kg Rice Hulls (0.0 EBC) Adjunct 8.40 %
4.20 kg Pale Malt (2 Row) US (5.0 EBC) Grain 70.59 %
0.65 kg Caramunich Malt (25.0 EBC) Grain 10.92 %
0.40 kg Caramel/Crystal Malt - 10L (25.0 EBC) Grain 6.72 %
0.20 kg Cara-Pils/Dextrine (3.9 EBC) Grain 3.36 %
18.00 gm Columbus (Tomahawk) [13.70 %] (60 min) Hops 28.0 IBU
14.00 gm Centennial [8.00 %] (15 min) Hops 6.3 IBU
14.00 gm Cascade [6.30 %] (5 min) Hops 2.0 IBU
28.00 gm Cascade [6.30 %] (0 min) Hops -
42.00 gm Centennial [8.00 %] (Dry Hop 3 days) Hops -
1.00 items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 min) Misc
1 Pkgs American Ale (Wyeast Labs #1056) Yeast-Ale


Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Full Body, Batch Sparge
Total Grain Weight: 5.95 kg

Notes:
------
Dough in adding water until a medium thichness mash in achieved. Hold Mash at 67C until conversion is complete. Sparge slowy with 77C water. Bring wort to boil. After hot break add first charge of bittering hops. Boil for 60 additional minutes adding as per hops schedule. Allow wort to rest for 5mins before chilling and racking to fermenter. Oxygenate and pitch yeast @ 20C. Ferment @ 18C.

The weight in

Dough In

Mash Paddle

Yummy! mash tun full on first runnings

Hops additions waiting for the call up

Boiler of Death on a rolling boil

Clean up mash tun. Yea what fun!

Is the smack pack ready Butters?

My first real baby ready to be put to nye nyes...

Anyway hope you enjoy the pictures...

 

[Jakechan]

Great pics Chappo! Good to see you have joined the esteemed clan of AGers mate, I told you it wouldn't take long .

Now comes the obsessive recipe formulation in your head as you go about your normal daily life...I tells ya its such an addictive pursuit...
Did you add the water to the grist (as the pic would indicate) or t'other way around?

Cheers,
Jake

 

[lczaban]

Looks to be all good to my uneducated eye. I'll have to try to pick your brain at some stage Chappo and get a feel for what the general process is. While I'm not in any hurry, I'll be picking up a car full of AG goodies today with a view to getting my 1st AG brew done when I get a spare day at some stage in the next couple of months. :beerbang:

What's next on the brewing hitlist??

 

[Cannibal Smurf]

Nice work, the pics are great. Looks like it all came together well for you. I did my first brew ever a couple of weeks ago, AG too, Doc's bavarian weizen. Gassed up the keg last night and hoping it's got enough for a taster this arvo.

 

[Sully]

Good stuff Chappo. :super: Congrats.

 

[Jakechan]

How'd you chill the wort Chappo?

(and I do that with the hops too, all in numbered containers )

 

[chappo1970]

Great pics Chappo! Good to see you have joined the esteemed clan of AGers mate, I told you it wouldn't take long

Now comes the obsessive recipe formulation in your head as you go about your normal daily life...I tells ya its such an addictive pursuit...
Did you add the water to the grist (as the pic would indicate) or t'other way around?

Cheers,
Jake

Cheers Jake! Yes it's now officially obsessive compulsive. I had to go and get one of those 9.5" Dell micro laptops so I can Beersmith on the train to and from work!

Added to the grist. Wanted a bed of rice hulls over the manifold so I didn't get a stuck sparge. Worked a treat and I think I collected more than I was intending too.

Looks to be all good to my uneducated eye. I'll have to try to pick your brain at some stage Chappo and get a feel for what the general process is. While I'm not in any hurry, I'll be picking up a car full of AG goodies today with a view to getting my 1st AG brew done when I get a spare day at some stage in the next couple of months. :beerbang:

What's next on the brewing hitlist??

Cheers GG. Me's thinks Tony's Little Critters Bright Ale clone (I'm addicted to the stuff). Just get into it GG you won't regret it!

Nice work, the pics are great. Looks like it all came together well for you. I did my first brew ever a couple of weeks ago, AG too, Doc's bavarian weizen. Gassed up the keg last night and hoping it's got enough for a taster this arvo.

Cheers Cannibal! Yeah I've been eyeing that one off! You did well to shoot for that one first up IMO! Well done.

Good stuff Chappo. :super: Congrats.

Your next Sullymister!!! No backing out this time my friend!

How'd you chill the wort Chappo?

(and I do that with the hops too, all in numbered containers )

Chiller plate. Dropped to 27C I then had to ice bath it for 30mins to drop it to 20C for pitching. Damn tap temp up here is 27C.

 

[raven19]

Well done on your first.

Trusting you stayed off the beers until wort was heading into the fermentor?

Interesting method putting rice hulls in first, my first Ag was water in first then pour grain in quickly from a height while stirring (2 man job).

Cheers & Beers!

 

[reviled]

Holy shit americans use alot of crystal, 21% IMO 10% is sometimes over the top, but thats me.. This beer should have heaps of body and sweetness

Looks like your brewday went without a hitch mate, congrats :super: And Jakes right about recipe formulating, im currently looking at a massive pile of memo notes with beer recipes on my desk I cant help it.. lol

 

[Supra-Jim]

Nice work there Chappo, pics all look good. Well done!!

Cheers SJ

 

[chappo1970]

Well done on your first.

Trusting you stayed off the beers until wort was heading into the fermentor?

Interesting method putting rice hulls in first, my first Ag was water in first then pour grain in quickly from a height while stirring (2 man job).

Cheers & Beers!

Cheers Raven! Honest, I stayed well away from the beers till the baby was in the fridge.

Don't know where I got the rice hulls in first, I guess somewhere on here, but at the time thought it made a lot of sense, and it worked a treat with the hulls mainly remaining around the manifild intake slits. I was and on man one dog operation last night. It would have been good if god gave dogs opposing thumbs huh? Anyway precedure went something like rice hulls, water, grains, photos (oh poophta I gotta stir it huh?) and stirred like a madman. :lol:

Holy sh*t americans use alot of crystal, 21% IMO 10% is sometimes over the top, but thats me.. This beer should have heaps of body and sweetness

Looks like your brewday went without a hitch mate, congrats And Jakes right about recipe formulating, im currently looking at a massive pile of memo notes with beer recipes on my desk I cant help it.. lol

Cheers Revknut! Yeah I really enjoyed it even the clean up! WTF? . I can see plenty more brews to come and not enough mouths to consume.

That recipe I wound back the crystal as well from the original. Apparently it was a "Classic APA" recipe? Meh? Don't try don't learn I say. It tasted pretty good with enough bitterness and with some malt there as well IMO but I am far from being an expert on that front.

 

[Bribie G]

So thats what happened to my blue hand trolley

Well done, I knew you wouldn't be able to hold off till the weekend :lol:

 

[reviled]

That recipe I wound back the crystal as well from the original. Apparently it was a "Classic APA" recipe? Meh? Don't try don't learn I say. It tasted pretty good with enough bitterness and with some malt there as well IMO but I am far from being an expert on that front.

Holy fu*k the recipe said to use more crystal?? I guess im a bit of a crystal Nazi, save me a bottle for June if you can im keen to have a taste?

 

[chappo1970]

Holy fu*k the recipe said to use more crystal?? I guess im a bit of a crystal Nazi, save me a bottle for June if you can im keen to have a taste?

I'll put a "DO NOT DRINK REVS BEER YA FAT BARSTARD" sticker on one tonight! :lol:

And BribieG if you left the roller door up a bit more often I could have got away with your Doona as well!

 

[bonj]

That dough-in piccy is great. You lose all sense of scale.... could be a bath tub... now that would be an interesting bath.....

 

[Fourstar]

Looks the goods chappo. 23% crystal malts! Wowzers! looks more like a low end AAA. (+ lower IBU)

Let us know how it goes, i usually use around 6% Crystal or Caramunich II in an APA and sometimes i think its too sweet.

Heres hoping she attenuates well for ya! Should be damn tasty either way.

 

[Pumpy]

You looked well organised Chappo

Pumpy

 

[chappo1970]

That dough-in piccy is great. You lose all sense of scale.... could be a bath tub... now that would be an interesting bath.....

hmmmmmm... bath tub you say? Sounds like a big brew day?

Looks the goods chappo. 23% crystal malts! Wowzers! looks more like a low end AAA. (+ lower IBU)

Let us know how it goes, i usually use around 6% Crystal or Caramunich II in an APA and sometimes i think its too sweet.

Heres hoping she attenuates well for ya! Should be damn tasty either way.

I'm not an APA expert so I went with it. Hope it turns out!

You looked well organised Chappo

Pumpy

Cheers Pumpy!

 

[Fourstar]

I'm not an APA expert so I went with it. Hope it turns out!

It should be ok, might end up sweeter than you expect. I usually dont exceed 5-7% of a medium Crystal for an APA. My next beer an AAA will push 9-10% medium and dark crystals which will end up quite sweet. Modeled on JZ Red rocket Clone...

 

[chappo1970]

Modeled on JZ Red rocket Clone...

:icon_drool2: All this talk of Carared I went hunting and looked at that recipe! Sounds good huh? Red lager sparks my interest as well? Soooo much beer soooo little time to brew!