Churchys First Ag

[churchy]

Hi guys yesturday I did my first AG it was very dodgy and crude for a first time.I copied the instructions Pistalpatch wrote on one of the forums for Ross's Swartzbier.I actualy started on friday but once I heated my sparge water and pored it into my mashtun I had leaks coming from my plastic fittings and so had to retighten it all and waited till saturday.Things I learnt is to buy a thermometer that goes to 100c , my electronic one only goes to 70c so when I put my sparge water in and grain I only got to a temp of 63c instead of 66c.
While I was waiting for the grain I tried to boil the rest of my sparge water but ran out of time before I had to start my first run, hence I only hit 66c but for the second run I hit 87c which was better.Because I don't have a big enough pot my fist run off I had to use my fermentor to collect the wort and once the second lot of sparge water went into my mash tun I could pore the wort into the pot and start the boil, I also used the fermentor to collect the second lot of wort.After the boil off I collected around 20L a bit short and my OG is 1040.
Two questions when boiling on the stove do you leave the lid on or off? I had mine partialy off to the side to let the steam out and by the end I had a lot of hop scum on the lid.
Second question instead of using a heat exchanger can I siphon the hot liquid into my fermentor and leave it in the fridge overnight at 17c and pitch the yeast, just seam to waste alot of water using the heat exchanger.
I guess I will see how it tastes in a few weeks time.Now I'm ready to do another one.


Cheers Andrew

 

[white.grant]

Sounds like an eventful first brewday Churchy,

Maybe you should add your location so people know where you're from, there's plenty of brewers around happy to help.

One of the effects of boiling the wort is that it acts to concentrate it. I often leave the lid half on to help reduce evaporation, but I wouldn't leave it completely on.
If you don't want to chill your wort with a plate chiller or coil, you could try the no chill method using a cube. There is an article in the wiki which is very informative. No chill is not without its critics however, so you may want to consider both sides of the debate before deciding.

I wouldn't recommend racking your wort into the fermenter and then storing in the fridge overnight as its likely you will pick up an infection before you can pitch your yeast.

Good luck with your next brewday. Practise makes perfect :icon_cheers:

cheers

Grant

 

[Goofinder]

Sounds like a fairly standard first AG brew day... or at least pretty similar to how mine went!

They reckon one of the reasons to keep the lid off is so that the boil drives off the pre-cursors to DMS, but that it's not a huge problem with the malts we get here in Australia.

My first AG brew I just got it into the fermenter, left it to cool overnight and pitched the yeast in the morning. I had some problems with diacetyl early on with that one that seems to have been caused by a lack of aeration. I've since done 'traditional' no-chill and I reckon the pouring into the fermenter to aerate helped a fair bit.

 

[bonj]

Well done Churchy, and welcome to the dark side. :super: There's nothing like the lessons you learn from doing your first couple of brews. You'll be hooked in no time!

Enjoy your first AG. It'll be heaven.

 

[churchy]

One other thing I did incorrectly was the hops, I used 100grams instead of 77gms.I did have a little taste when I tested the OG and was a little bitter but you get that, I'll see how it tastes after bottling in a few weeks.


Andrew

 

[buttersd70]

congrats on the first AG, churchy..
don't worry too much about the excess bitterness. As long as it's still drinkable, just take it as a lesson learned.

As Grantw said, no chill is an option, that has people that are very pro, and those that are very anti, and a lot of people in between. Even those that are pro NC are split in their opinions about doing it in a fermenter or kettle. The threads on NC are full of such discussion.

 

[churchy]

Hi guys I have a problem with my first AG on saturday before I pitched the yeast the OG was 1040.I pitched the yeast(brew cellar American ale 15g)and there hasn't been any action, yesturday I measured the SG and it still was 1040 so I pitched another yeast satche and today there is still no sign of the yeast working.The temp is set at 17deg.What could be the problem, noe enough sugar in the brew!!! Please help.


Andrew

 

[bindi]

Hi guys I have a problem with my first AG on saturday before I pitched the yeast the OG was 1040.I pitched the yeast(brew cellar American ale 15g)and there hasn't been any action, yesturday I measured the SG and it still was 1040 so I pitched another yeast satche and today there is still no sign of the yeast working.The temp is set at 17deg.What could be the problem, noe enough sugar in the brew!!! Please help.


Andrew

Did you? Quote from the Fermentis site:
Rehydrate using either sterile water or wort at a ratio of 10 times the weight of yeast to be used. Mix gently to form a cream and allow to stand for 15-30 minutes. Then mix vigorously and stand for a further 30 minutes prior to pitching into the wort.

Prove the yeast BEFORE pitching.

 

[buttersd70]

Churchy, did you aerate your port prior to pitching? If so, how did you go about doing it?

 

[churchy]

I did something like that yesturday but didn't have it in the cup for very long.When I did K&K I just sprinkled the yeast on top and had no problems. I just gave the barrel a quick stir to airate.

 

[bonj]

Stirring probably isn't good enough, but from all reports, necessity for aeration is much debated with dry yeasts. If it makes any difference, I have only ever rehydrated once, and have never had any problems with just sprinkling on the top. In fact, I have US-05 in the fermenter right now that is showing excellent signs of fermentation.

It is strange that you see no signs at all after 2 sachets of yeast. Was your yeast stored refrigerated?

 

[sumo]

It is strange that you see no signs at all after 2 sachets of yeast. Was your yeast stored refrigerated?

I found when my yeast was stored in the fridge, the best results came from rehydrating. Other than that I'm a sprinkler!

 

[Goofinder]

I'd be suspecting aeration too -- definitely caught me out on my first AG. I reckon it's got to do with the fact that it was the first time I did a full-volume boil which will get rid of all the dissolved oxygen. I ended up pitching a second sachet of yeast after there was no action for about 36 hours.

Was full of diacetyl (butterscotch flavour) at first, but after a bit longer in the bottle it's come good. In fact, I'm drinking one now, and if I hadn't snuck in a taste of AG #2 and #3 I'd have to say it's definitely the best beer I've made so far!

 

[churchy]

Thanks fellow brewers I gave it a big shake.We will see how it goes.


Cheers Andrew

 

[browndog]

You better name it Trial by Fire Ale Churchy.

cheers

Browndog