Fergis 1st All Grain Happening Now

[argon]

well i have put my first ag into the fermenter last nite after cooling it in a cube,i measured OG at 1048 @ 18 deg wort temp. how do i work out my efficiency ,i have a trial version of beersmith, grain bill was 4.4kg.

cheers fergi

Click on New recipe button; this will go to a new view
Add all your info including volumes, grains hops etc
then click on the Brewhouse efficiency button to open the efficiency detail box
Then in each box add your relevant info that you measured on your brew day
This will give you your efficiency.

 

[fergi]

Click on New recipe button; this will go to a new view
Add all your info including volumes, grains hops etc
then click on the Brewhouse efficiency button to open the efficiency detail box
Then in each box add your relevant info that you measured on your brew day
This will give you your efficiency.

thanks, i did that comes out at 76%, i am happy with that considering the blooper with my manifold.
cheers fergi

 

[fergi]

my first ag is working away in my fermenting fridge, us 05 yeast, i have it set on 18 deg, does this temp give the best results for smurtos golden ale.
fergi

 

[sav]

my first ag is working away in my fermenting fridge, us 05 yeast, i have it set on 18 deg, does this temp give the best results for smurtos golden ale.
fergi

18deg is fine mate just forget its there and leave the door closed
sav

 

[fergi]

after completing my first ag last week i am now wondering if its easy to do double batches, problem is i only have a 40 litre boiler, i gather i can do a high gravity boil then top up the 60 liter fermenter with xtra water,my mash tun is probably only a 30 liter onei suppose this would be over come by adding more grain then sparging enough through it to get the required volume to boil.
cheers fergi

 

[Crusty]

after completing my first ag last week i am now wondering if its easy to do double batches, problem is i only have a 40 litre boiler, i gather i can do a high gravity boil then top up the 60 liter fermenter with xtra water,my mash tun is probably only a 30 liter onei suppose this would be over come by adding more grain then sparging enough through it to get the required volume to boil.
cheers fergi

Congrats on the first AG fergi, well done. I have the capacity to do double batches but making a double batch would mean I would be brewing less often. I really enjoy the brewday to the extent that single batches mean I have to brew more often which suits me better. Just keep in mind too that if you manage to stuff up on the day, it's gunna hurt more, two fold. Single batches are also a great way to test run a recipe & when you feel confident you have your process honed in by all means do a double batch.
I bet you can't wait to taste that liquid gold. :beerbang:

 

[fergi]

Congrats on the first AG fergi, well done. I have the capacity to do double batches but making a double batch would mean I would be brewing less often. I really enjoy the brewday to the extent that single batches mean I have to brew more often which suits me better. Just keep in mind too that if you manage to stuff up on the day, it's gunna hurt more, two fold. Single batches are also a great way to test run a recipe & when you feel confident you have your process honed in by all means do a double batch.
I bet you can't wait to taste that liquid gold. :beerbang:

cant wait, your spot on crusty, keep going out to fermenter fridge and trying to sniff the aroma,going to give it 10 days in fermenter then transfer to a cube with final additions for 5 days.drop the temp down to 2 deg for another 2 days to chill and then keg.
fergi

 

[humulus]

cant wait, your spot on crusty, keep going out to fermenter fridge and trying to sniff the aroma,going to give it 10 days in fermenter then transfer to a cube with final additions for 5 days.drop the temp down to 2 deg for another 2 days to chill and then keg.
fergi

You gotta let us know how it tastes fergie!!!! it will be tops,im pretty new to AG but every one ive done has tasted great so i reckon!!!
Would be great to get a few from this forum to taste and give an honest opinion!!!!!!
Putting down an American Steam beer on Tues!!!!! cant wait!!
congrads on your first!

 

[fergi]

You gotta let us know how it tastes fergie!!!! it will be tops,im pretty new to AG but every one ive done has tasted great so i reckon!!!
Would be great to get a few from this forum to taste and give an honest opinion!!!!!!
Putting down an American Steam beer on Tues!!!!! cant wait!!
congrads on your first!

i certainly will get back on what i really think, i was one of those people that always stuck up for my kit brews when people were saying they were crap, get into AG, well i still say that the kit brews i make are nice, but i have tasted a couple of AG brews and they were a cut above my kits, but i now have to be able to make a descent AG brew or its a waste of time, i think the smurtos golden ale i have chosen is a pretty easy starter brew it will be good to compare it with my kit james squire ale, which is one of my best kits,it will be very interesting when the taste time comes, cant wait.

fergi

 

[Crusty]

i certainly will get back on what i really think, i was one of those people that always stuck up for my kit brews when people were saying they were crap, get into AG, well i still say that the kit brews i make are nice, but i have tasted a couple of AG brews and they were a cut above my kits, but i now have to be able to make a descent AG brew or its a waste of time, i think the smurtos golden ale i have chosen is a pretty easy starter brew it will be good to compare it with my kit james squire ale, which is one of my best kits,it will be very interesting when the taste time comes, cant wait.

fergi

I'm willing to bet your kit brewing days are over my friend. :beerbang:

 

[fergi]

I'm willing to bet your kit brewing days are over my friend. :beerbang:

i hope you are correct crusty, actually this has nothing to do with this topic but your user name, i started playing golf about 5 years ago at my local club, the very first game i played they put me with this old guy because he has a lot of patience,well for the whole game i tried being friendly and chaty, i called him by his name all the time to be respectful, i called him Crusty probably 50 times that day, he was a pleasure to play a round of golf with, very helpful, when i went back to the club my mate said who did they pair you up with for your game, i said i played with Crusty, mate says no one here by that name, sure there is i said, that old guy over there, his name isnt crusty you idiot its Salty, the old guy didnt miss a beat all day, dont know know if he was just very polite or just deaf.
cheers fergi

 

[Crusty]

i hope you are correct crusty, actually this has nothing to do with this topic but your user name, i started playing golf about 5 years ago at my local club, the very first game i played they put me with this old guy because he has a lot of patience,well for the whole game i tried being friendly and chaty, i called him by his name all the time to be respectful, i called him Crusty probably 50 times that day, he was a pleasure to play a round of golf with, very helpful, when i went back to the club my mate said who did they pair you up with for your game, i said i played with Crusty, mate says no one here by that name, sure there is i said, that old guy over there, his name isnt crusty you idiot its Salty, the old guy didnt miss a beat all day, dont know know if he was just very polite or just deaf.
cheers fergi

Thanks mate,
What was that :lol:

 

[fergi]

well guys i have done a gravity check, after 8 days its showing 1008 down from 1048, now the funny thing is when i poured the test tube to test the gravity it was like pouring a beer into a glass, it had lots of foam and was actually showing small bubbles ,lots of them like you get in your beer,this went on for at least 5 mins or more with carbonation still quite evident coming from the bottom of the test tube.good inch of head in the tube and still carbonation, after 10 mins it settled down although still had a few tiny bubbles still coming up. do you think this is ready to go into secondry as its 1008 or do i give it a few more days, also what is the xtra 15 rms of hops into secondry going to do,tasting the test tube it doesnt seem like it needs more flavour,if the hops go in do i just chuck them in dry,or soak them first.
cheers fergi

 

[cdbrown]

Your brew sounds like it's finished pretty dry at 1.008, good attenuation. Most of my dry hopping occurs after a few days of fermenting, I've never actually dry hopped after ferment has finished - probably due to not wanting to wait longer than I have to.

If you think the brew doesn't need any more fresh hop flavour then don't bother with the dry hop. Remember the flavour does decrease over time, so sometimes the dry hop provides a nice fresh hop edge. If dry hopping, you just open the fermenter and chuck in the pellets. Leave it for a few days taking a sample here and there until you are happy that the level of fresh hop flavour and any increase in perceived bitterness is what you want. Then chill and wait a few days before kegging. If not dry hopping, start chilling the brew now.

Any particular reason why you want to go to secondary? It's not exactly necessary.

 

[fergi]

Your brew sounds like it's finished pretty dry at 1.008, good attenuation. Most of my dry hopping occurs after a few days of fermenting, I've never actually dry hopped after ferment has finished - probably due to not wanting to wait longer than I have to.

If you think the brew doesn't need any more fresh hop flavour then don't bother with the dry hop. Remember the flavour does decrease over time, so sometimes the dry hop provides a nice fresh hop edge. If dry hopping, you just open the fermenter and chuck in the pellets. Leave it for a few days taking a sample here and there until you are happy that the level of fresh hop flavour and any increase in perceived bitterness is what you want. Then chill and wait a few days before kegging. If not dry hopping, start chilling the brew now.

Any particular reason why you want to go to secondary? It's not exactly necessary.

hi CD, well i think the recipe states 15gm hops at 0 mins which i think from memory it says to put into secondry. trying to stick to my first AG recipe to the instructions.
fergi

 

[Crusty]

hi CD, well i think the recipe states 15gm hops at 0 mins which i think from memory it says to put into secondry. trying to stick to my first AG recipe to the instructions.
fergi

Whoa mate, great attenuation from 1.048 to 1.008. Be careful with that beer being the quaffer it is, 5.2% is a bit bigger than what you probably aimed for.
I would rack to secondary now & toss in the hop pellets just loose & leave it in secondary for what the recipe states. I would probably leave them soak for a full week then move on to your chilling & kegging procedure. Nice work mate.

 

[fergi]

Whoa mate, great attenuation from 1.048 to 1.008. Be careful with that beer being the quaffer it is, 5.2% is a bit bigger than what you probably aimed for.
I would rack to secondary now & toss in the hop pellets just loose & leave it in secondary for what the recipe states. I would probably leave them soak for a full week then move on to your chilling & kegging procedure. Nice work mate.

ok thanks crusty,i will move it into secondry and drop the hops in, what am i trying to get with the secondry hop addition, aroma only, doesnt seem like it needs any more flavour but that might be a premature observation.
fergi.

 

[Crusty]

ok thanks crusty,i will move it into secondry and drop the hops in, what am i trying to get with the secondry hop addition, aroma only, doesnt seem like it needs any more flavour but that might be a premature observation.
fergi.

You'll be quite surprised how everything blends together after you have it kegged for a couple of weeks. The sample you are tasting, although pleasant at this point in time, will come together in the next few weeks & I think you are going to be really pleased with your hard work. :beerbang:

 

[np1962]

Sounds like you've done well Fergi.
The dry hopping will give mostly aroma, although you will get some flavour from dry hops as you are using the same hop you used in the boil it will hardly be noticible.
To get more out of your dry hopping you can put them in a bowl and pour boiling water onto them, just enough to cover. This will release some of the volatile acids and increase the aroma, just tip the whole lot in after about 5 minutes.
After 3 or 4 days chill to drop yeast and keg or bottle.(provided the gravity has been stable)
Cheers
Nige

 

[fergi]

well i have finally kegged my first AG beer, its going to be so hard not trying it for a couple of weeks,when i walk past my shed i can hear it calling out to me, but NO i will not give in,i will wait 2 weeks,"i will", now a question or two again, fermented 8 days, then put it into secondry for 4 days , then into fridge at 2 deg for 3 days,then kegged, now when i kegged it i thought it was a bit hazy still,like a coopers pale ale,when i transfered into the keg i noticed about 1/4 inch of trub on the bottom of the secondry, is this normal for ag, should it have gone into my keg looking a lot clearer,not overly concerned as when i put it into my keg i tested the FG which was 1010, this was 1008 when i put it into secondry so it actually went up 2 points but i would imagine this was because it came out of secondry at 2 deg,anyway the sample from the test tube that i tried tasted really nice, cant wait for it to clear and gas up.
fergi