First All Grain!

[floydmeddler]

OK, feeling a bit silly now and will be completely honest with you...

I made the mash tun out of an old fermenting bucket (seen it done online). I used a flexible stainless steel mesh pipe as a filter. I didn't use a false bottom as I simply didn't think. Hops are in there now and it's boiling merrily. Albeit with probably a lot of grain sediment. Damn!

 

[daemon]

Congrats on the first AG brew

What you're describing is a "stuck sparge". If you haven't yet, have a read of John Palmer's book, How to Brew. Here's a link to the relevant area: http://www.howtobrew.com/section3/chapter18-6.html

There will also be a number of threads on AHB to read up about it all too.

Don't worry too much, it's only your first AG brew! Think of it like riding a bike, you'll be a bit shaky for the first few times but after that it'll become second nature.

 

[matti]

I don't think it is stuffed.
Cloudy wort generally indicates you have got some unwanted grains and bits through.

Good luck with the boiling.

I'd suggest you got to BigW and get the biggest pot you can find.
I used to do 18 litre concentrated boils and top up with water.
matti

 

[Justin]

Hey mate, dont stress and no need to be embarrassed. We all started somewhere and with whatever gear we had.

Honestly, the bucket thing works and it really should have worked for you too. If you have the mesh hose then yo dont need a false bottom. Maybe a couple of reasons it didn't work. Either the mesh on the stainless hose was too small and clogged easily or your crush might have been too fine. There can be a few other reasons but it's not important at this stage. You stuck it out and got some wort which was the main aim.

I bet it's all smelling damn good at the moment though with the hops and wort boiling away. Just ride it out and finish it and then you can look back over and critique where things went wrong once it;s finished. You can see why people start building bits and pieces to make it all easier now can't you.

Good luck.

Oh, and dont forget to relax and enjoy what you're doing. Nothing worth getting too stressed over, it'll pan out alright in the end. Remember we do this for fun. Might even be the best brew you ever do and you'll never be able to repeat it LOL.

 

[yardy]

Congrats on the cherry pop floyd,

sounds like you did a good job with the gear you have :icon_cheers:

refuse/tip shops, vinnies and markets are a good source of brewing gear.

cheers

 

[warra48]

Congratulations on getting your first one underway.
My first AG was also not what I had envisaged. Was trying to get 23 litres of an APA. Ended up with only 15 litres, but used the same hop schedule as originally planned. Pretended it was an American IPA, and it turned out a hoppy but very tasty brew.
Once you get used to your system, you'll walk it in, it really is a relatively simple process.
Keep at it, and good luck.

 

[Thirsty Boy]

congrats on your first AG - all in all it doesn't sound like you had a bad time of it really.

Justin gives sage advice... remember to enjoy yourself. Its your first AG... stuff is kinda meant to go wrong. Ride it out, have fun and grin about the stuff ups later. All part of the fun.

Good luck with the rest of the beer, it'll be fine.

TB

 

[floydmeddler]

Hey mate, dont stress and no need to be embarrassed. We all started somewhere and with whatever gear we had.

Honestly, the bucket thing works and it really should have worked for you too. If you have the mesh hose then yo dont need a false bottom. Maybe a couple of reasons it didn't work. Either the mesh on the stainless hose was too small and clogged easily or your crush might have been too fine. There can be a few other reasons but it's not important at this stage. You stuck it out and got some wort which was the main aim.

I bet it's all smelling damn good at the moment though with the hops and wort boiling away. Just ride it out and finish it and then you can look back over and critique where things went wrong once it;s finished. You can see why people start building bits and pieces to make it all easier now can't you.

Good luck.

Oh, and dont forget to relax and enjoy what you're doing. Nothing worth getting too stressed over, it'll pan out alright in the end. Remember we do this for fun. Might even be the best brew you ever do and you'll never be able to repeat it LOL.

Dude, your message brought a few smiles into the brew room. Cheers. Have 23L in the fermenter now. Tried to take a hydrometer reading but there was so much grain sediment that I couldn't get a 'true' reading. Have decided not to pitch the yeast until the morning. That way the grainy sediment can settle and I can take a true hydrometer reading by extracting some through a sanatized turkey baster.

That was a pretty stressful night. Already feeling a little 'once bitten twice shy' with the whole all grain thing.

 

[muckey]

That was a pretty stressful night. Already feeling a little 'once bitten twice shy' with the whole all grain thing.

Just hang in there, they all get easier from here on in and when you taste the result I'm sure it'll be OK. Take what you've learned and the next 1 will be even better.

Hope you made a few sacrifices to the brew gods as well ;ie 1 or 2 glasses of your previous finest to celebrate :beer:

 

[Barramundi]

stressful night ?? where you from floyd ??

congrats on your first AG effort , a few small hitches along the way but nothing too major seems to have gone wrong for you ..

 

[Thirsty Boy]

Dude, your message brought a few smiles into the brew room. Cheers. Have 23L in the fermenter now. Tried to take a hydrometer reading but there was so much grain sediment that I couldn't get a 'true' reading. Have decided not to pitch the yeast until the morning. That way the grainy sediment can settle and I can take a true hydrometer reading by extracting some through a sanatized turkey baster.

That was a pretty stressful night. Already feeling a little 'once bitten twice shy' with the whole all grain thing.

I wouldn't be too sure it was "grain sediment" most people are a little surprised by the amount of break material and general googe that settle out of an AG boil. LOTS more than a minimash or an extract boil.

In a BIAB boil... the wort is as cloudy as you could imagine - lots of fine floury stuff makes it through the bag- and that results in a bit more break etc in the boil... and seems to have bugger all effect on the quality of the beer. So if a bit of stuff making it through your false bottom was all that went wrong.... nothing went wrong at all.

If things are floating - the stuff in the hydro sample wont effect the reading at all. Its only if it physically interferes with the hydro that it it will make a difference.

First AG down... here's to many many more. :beerbang:

TB

 

[floydmeddler]

stressful night ?? where you from floyd ??

congrats on your first AG effort , a few small hitches along the way but nothing too major seems to have gone wrong for you ..

Hi, I'm from Ireland but live in Brighton in England.

 

[floydmeddler]

I wouldn't be too sure it was "grain sediment" most people are a little surprised by the amount of break material and general googe that settle out of an AG boil. LOTS more than a minimash or an extract boil.

In a BIAB boil... the wort is as cloudy as you could imagine - lots of fine floury stuff makes it through the bag- and that results in a bit more break etc in the boil... and seems to have bugger all effect on the quality of the beer. So if a bit of stuff making it through your false bottom was all that went wrong.... nothing went wrong at all.

If things are floating - the stuff in the hydro sample wont effect the reading at all. Its only if it physically interferes with the hydro that it it will make a difference.

First AG down... here's to many many more. :beerbang:

TB

Woo hoo! It's bubbling away in the background. Hydrometer read 1050 before I pitched the yeast so I reckon I got all the sugars I need! Look forward to my next full grain mash!

F

 

[buttersd70]

Congrats, floyd. Don't stress about it, as others have already said....I know someone who has posted in this thread kept telling me 'I stuffed that one up' (his 3rd AG), from the day he brewed it, till the day he kegged it....must have said it a dozen times at least. The result was....excellent. Best one he'd done to date, better than the others where everything went off perfectly. So much for stuffing it. And my worst brew to date, everything went off absolutely perfectly, without a hitch.....until afterwards, when I tasted it, I realised I'd made a fundemental error (a real facepalm moment, where you know in hindsight exactly what you did wrong. The detail of which I won't go into :unsure: ) which buggered the whole batch. But all the way through, right to the end of ferment, I thought it was going to be a real corker. So you never can tell....beer is funny stuff.

 

[floydmeddler]

It sure is... Well, thanks for all your help guys. I'll let you know how it tastes in one month.

Happy brewing! ^_^

Floyd