First AG brew in almost 30 years.....looking for advice

[Aussie Mick]

G'day all

I came back to the wonderful world of brewing last September and it's safe to say I am once again hooked. I gave up brewing in the late 1980's, and don't really know why it took me so long to get back here.

Anyway, after some great kit results and even better extract brews, I am taking the plunge and putting on an all grain brew this long Perth weekend.......probably on Monday.

I have brewed Dr. Smurto's Golden Ale with extract 3 times, and really enjoyed it, so this is to be my first AG brew. I intend doing a BIAB in a 25 litre pot, and making up any difference of volume with boiled and cooled water, back up to 21 litres.

I don't own a cooling coil, so I intend to place the pot, on the top step of my pool to get it down as quickly as possible ( open to comments) then get it right down to fermenting temperature in the laundry trough with an ice slurry.

I am brewing with filtered Perth tap water, so would welcome suggestions on any necessary water treatment prior to brewing, or any general advice ..........

 

[Jack of all biers]

I started off in AG by cooling my 19 L pot in a similar way (laundry sink with multiple changes in water) and at that time would do split boils to make up 23L. It took ages and I eventually built an 80L kettle and cooling coil from some scrap on my old mans farm. It saved me so much time. So with that in mind I would suggest you go with making a 21 L boil (~22L when at 100 C) in a slightly more concentrated gravity and diluting it to top up to 21L to your planned gravity. Don't forget that by making a more concentrated wort (above 1050 SG) you will lose some AA utilisation% from your hops, so it may pay to do a separate, smaller boil with a lower gravity wort of say 5L for the hops and when that is done you can add to your wort. You'll need to take this into account for your final volume of course.

Re Perth water, I would check out the Water section, especially this one as post 132 and 140 (page 7) are the most recent that may be of interest to a Perth man. From those two posts (if either are relevant to you) then i would suggest bringing up the Calcium content with Calcium sulphate as the chloride level is high enough. I would suggest that you find out what area you are fed from and get an up to date data sheet from the water supplier if you are considering water treatment. If you don't want to stuff around with mineral levels in your water, filtered water (carbon filter) should be fine. KISS is always good, especially for the first time in a long time. I took 3 years off AG and much was forgotten that had to be re-learnt so 30 odd years is a lot of re-learning Welcome back to the addiction :beerbang:

 

[Matplat]

If you don't have an immersion chiller, I would highly reccomend getting a jerry can, or cube and no-chilling instead. Your chilling process sounds fairly painful, and may cause excessive cursing but that might just be me....

 

[SBOB]

+1 to the no-chill recommendation

Get a couple of 10L jerry cans from bunnings, transfer wort at end of boil, either immediately, after a hop/whirlpool stand or cube-hop

 

[Droopy Brew]

Yep agree no chill is what you need. Your current cooling regime will make it difficult to work out bitterness and leave open a much larger door for infection to get in.

 

[Tony121]

Another +1 for no-chill, one of the best changes I've made so far.

 

[Aussie Mick]

Ok, I am taking this all in fellas, and it is much appreciated.

Just back form work on a very hot and humid Perth day. Dip in the pool, 2 schooners of Dr. Smurto's and I am trying to convince the wife that I NEED a Robobrew. Fortunately, the guy that is supplying my grain/hops that I am about to collect, had 1 Robobrew left in stock, it's the older version without the pump, but I am sure I can manage to get a couple of brews underway before fitting a pump

 

[Droopy Brew]

IF you get a big spend nod from the missus, work a plate chiller into the equation. Probably the best $120 I have spent and will save the need for no chill.

 

[Jack of all biers]

Sorry, I assumed that your 25L pot didn't have a tap/valve, so as to enable the ease of getting the hot wort into a silicone tube and into a cube without splashing (burning) yourself and oxidising your wort.

If you can, then + 1 to no chill as a massive time saver. If you do get a Robobrew then problem solved. :drinks:

 

[Aussie Mick]

I had a very busy day yesterday and didn't manage to collect my order. I will collect it today, but after reading these comments I am a little confused now.

I didn't know about the "no chill" method, so I did a bit of googling and it does sound like a good way to go, however Jack, you are correct, my pot does not have a tap in it. I suppose I could siphon. I have decided to give it a miss this week, and do some more research and get into it next weekend, hopefully armed with more knowledge.

Unfortunately the Robobrew is out of reach for a few weeks financially as we have just paid for a Uk trip and a further overseas trip, so I will have to make do with what I have got for now. Hopefully, the crushed grain I ordered to brew Dr. Smurto's Golden Ale recipe will keep for a week or two.

The guy I buy from, normally vacuum packs everything really well.

In the old days, I would brew in a Bruheat, pour into a fermenting bin, loosely fit the lid and allow to cool for 24 hours before pitching yeast. It explains why the brews in the old days were always hit and miss.

 

[Aussie Mick]

Well, after picking up my order, I just couldn't resist putting this on.

That smell of the malt in the mash is something I have never forgotten.

If I have to get a few bags of ice and chill it in the laundry trough, that is what I will do........with me luck for a fast ( and probably expensive) cool

 

[Tony121]

That smell of the malt in the mash is something I have never forgotten.

That is my favourite part of the whole process, that smell is just divine.

Well done getting back into it, trust you will enjoy immensely.

 

[Maheel]

if not the malt the smell of the hops thrown into the boil is my favorite smell

the neighbors must think WTF is that smell

good luck with the brew AU Mick

 

[Aussie Mick]

Thanks fellas.

About 1.5 hours in the trough and 2 bags of shop bought ice, and a good few water changes, I have about 18 litres of fermentable temperature AG wort.

If it tastes 1% better than Smurto's extract version I will be a very happy Chappy. A lot of work, but hopefully well worth it

 

[manticle]

I'd recommend a glad wrap seal or tight fitting lid as it starts to cool next time.

Good on you for getting back into it - hope it turns out well.

My first few AG were also laundry sink cooled. Works ok but no chill or plate chill definitely much simpler.

 

[Jack of all biers]

Ahh, that photo with the pot in the laundry sink brings back many memories... I had almost the exact same sink.

Thank F*&k I haven't had to do that twice every 23 L brew for the last 10 years! That really took some hours of graft. As soon as I got my set up going, I was rejoicing at only taking 5-6 hours!

Jack, you are correct, my pot does not have a tap in it. I suppose I could siphon.

Just be careful of what your siphon is made of. Some plastics don't handle 80C plus temperatures too well. HDPE softens above 80C, but is fine. Other plastics such as PET maybe not so good. Not trying to scare, but just check what it's made of and research before you buy one and melt it on the first siphon!

 

[Aussie Mick]

Will do Jack, and thanks again for takng the time and trouble to respond fellas.

And Manticle, I did have a tight fitting lid on the pot, I only removed it yo take the photo

 

[Blind Dog]

Congrats on the return to the dark side. I'd still be recommending the no chill route for the next brew (and the next however many after that). Reckon there'd be a gazillion plus successful no chill AG brews around here, and it's really simple and works

 

[manticle]

Will do Jack, and thanks again for takng the time and trouble to respond fellas.
And Manticle, I did have a tight fitting lid on the pot, I only removed it yo take the photo

Good stuff

 

[Aussie Mick]

It's the thought of putting 100'c of hard earned wort into plastic that isn't really making me want to do this "no chill" thing. I'm sure it's just fear of the unknown.

Anyway, the wife just helped me pour the wort into the fermenter, and after a hard days graft, she said..... "why didn't you just buy the Robobrew?" ..............