First Ag Tomorrow

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i wouldnt bother adding dextrose,
just take it as it comes ,it will still be a good beer, gives you something to work from next time.
its your first AG so be happy with it , its a good start to AG brewing and you will enjoy this brew.
fergi.......
 
my current DSGA seems a little higher in Alc % i would not mind a little "lighter" version

after 3ish i get that smile going.... rather be able to have 5 DSGA some days before the smile :icon_drool2:
 
i wouldnt bother adding dextrose,
just take it as it comes ,it will still be a good beer, gives you something to work from next time.
its your first AG so be happy with it , its a good start to AG brewing and you will enjoy this brew.
fergi.......


+1. Just leave it as it is. The beer will still be a ripper. I've had some things go wildly wrong and the beer still turned great.

JD
 
whats the best way of measuring your voloumns?? I used a piece of timber that I cut notch's in but I dont think it was very accurate.

I used to use a strip of 3mm aluminium with notches.. but it was pretty hit and miss.

So I've gone with sightglasses, and they are a great way to monitor volume realtime (you need to calibrate them first). There's a bloke on here that sells them from the USA, and even including shipping, they're cheaper than local ones. You can also buy them from Grain and Grape for about $70.


Putting my Ph.D. bonnet on, the ultimate way to calculate it would be to put massive flat balances under your liquor vessels (100kg capable), and measure volume by mass. If you know the specific gravity of your worts, tare the resting mass of your vessel, you can calculate volume by dividing the mass by the specific gravity.

e.g. if you have 23kg of 1.047 wort, that is 21.96L. If you have 23kg of water (1.000), you have 23L.

 
I used to use a strip of 3mm aluminium with notches.. but it was pretty hit and miss.

So I've gone with sightglasses, and they are a great way to monitor volume realtime (you need to calibrate them first). There's a bloke on here that sells them from the USA, and even including shipping, they're cheaper than local ones. You can also buy them from Grain and Grape for about $70.


Putting my Ph.D. bonnet on, the ultimate way to calculate it would be to put massive flat balances under your liquor vessels (100kg capable), and measure volume by mass. If you know the specific gravity of your worts, tare the resting mass of your vessel, you can calculate volume by dividing the mass by the specific gravity.

e.g. if you have 23kg of 1.047 wort, that is 21.96L. If you have 23kg of water (1.000), you have 23L.


I have a long steel ruler. Measure the height of the wort in the pot. Measure the radius (half the diameter) of the pot.

Volume of a cylinder = pi X radius squared X height of liquid

(pi = 3.14)

You could measure the height of the liquid from the outside but probably not as accurate.
 
just thought i would post a oic of my rig

IMG_0324_1_.JPG
 
Hey guys, just finished, all went reasonably cruisie, only problem was I sparged too much and ended up with 28L in the kettle instead of 25L, and it came out at 1.034 instead of 1.038. whats the best way of measuring your voloumns?? I used a piece of timber that I cut notch's in but I dont think it was very accurate. After the boil I ended up with 21L in the fermenter at 1.040 when it should have been 1.047, is this because of the over sparge? When I mashed in after about 10mins I hit my mash temp of 66deg and after the hour it had dropped to 65deg, so i was pretty happy with that.
All in all a good day, smoked a pork neck on the kamado (so pulled pork rolls for tea), brewed my first all grain (which only took 31/2 hours from start to finish) and the aussies are belting india. STOKED
By the way i took smurtos advive and went of his pdf file.
Will post pics tomorrow. CHEERS FELLAS :icon_chickcheers: :icon_chickcheers:
Should I add some dex to get the alcohol up to about 4.5% as i dont have any dme and the brew shops wont be open tomorrow, Does bigW sell dme??

Congrats on your first brew Chopdog.

You can happily add malt after the brew has started, personally I'd be adding some dme now & bring it back up to intended alc%, as it'll be a little unbalanced (though I'm sure still good) if left as is.

Cheers Ross
 
Nice rig for a maiden AG brew! You may want to consider using sight guages to accurately measure your liquor and wort. There are a few threads in circulation on here regarding sourcing the parts yourself and DIYing rather cheaply. Alternatively, they can be purchased ready to fit weldlessly from ~$50.
 
Hi,

I agree with the sight glass comments, once they are calibrated and marked for each litre then you cant really make a mistake.
I use a strip of stainless steel in my kettle marked accordingly for volume.

If you are using brewing software then in the formula there will be the "total water required" for that brew.
Just measure that entire amount into your HLT or any storage vessel and when the water has gone (as in used) your brew volume pre-boil will be spot on.

Cheers
 
Congrats on your first brew Chopdog.

You can happily add malt after the brew has started, personally I'd be adding some dme now & bring it back up to intended alc%, as it'll be a little unbalanced (though I'm sure still good) if left as is.

Cheers Ross

would you know how much i should add?
 
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