First Beer 2 Row Australian

[pingdong]

I bought my grain 2 row australian high enzime grain crushed. I did this before i new what i was in for. Since then i have bought some empty cub kegs an eski and made a manifold lueter from copper pipe.

I am planning to put 5 kgs of grain into eski and put 5 lts of 76degree water ontop of it. then leave it in eski hopefully when added to grain it will be around 67 degrees, then leave it for 1 hour.

Then i was planning to add anouther 5 litrs of water about 92 degrees to get temp up to 77 degrees leave it for 20 mins then open tap in eski, catch cloudy bit and add it back to eski.

Then boil it with some hops for anouther hour.

Am i on the right track.

I will put a copper cooler into it after and hour then keep it at 20 degrees.

Just wanted to ask if it will work?

Matt

 

[manticle]

From what I can follow - yes you are on the right track.

You have forgotten about sparging though. Sparging is rinsing the grains after mashing - hot water (around 80 degrees) at least half your intended pre-boil volume added back into the mash then recirculated and drained the same way. It might be worthwhile researching the difference between fly and batch sparging.

 

[MHB]

I am planning to put 5 kgs of grain into eski and put 15 lts of 76degree water ontop of it. then leave it in eski hopefully when added to grain it will be around 67 degrees, then leave it for 1 hour.
Small edit for you that might help a lot

Find how to brew by john palmer and have a read before you mash, the grain will keep.

MHB

 

[manticle]

Good point. Missed that.

 

[Steve]

Matt, have a look at this site and click through the pics at the bottom.

http://cruisenews.net/brewing/infusion/

Youve pretty much got it right by the sounds of it except the amount of water. Usually use 2.5 to 3 litres per kilo of grain. When re-circulating put a plastic tupperware lid on top of the mash and pour the wort onto that so you dont disturb the settling grain bed when pouring it back in.

Put your location in your profile and maybe go and see someone close to you?

Cheers
Steve

 

[warra48]

You also need to add a sparge step to what you are planning.

After you drain the esky the first time, you'll need to add more water, recirculate the grainy bits, and drain again.
With 5 kg of grains, and assuming you are aiming for a 23 litre batch, you'll need to boil somewhere from 30 to 32 litres of wort, depending on what your system will deliver for you in terms of evaporation, kettle deadspace etc.

The best advice for a new AG brewer is to watch another brewer as he/she brews a batch. It will all become much clearer to you.
Fill in your location, and I'm sure you'll find a willing member to show you the ropes.

 

[pingdong]

Thanks for your support, ill try to get hold of the book.

Still have to organise my boiler so i have time for more research. 15 litres and 5 might have made a big diff.

Is a standard gas burner from plumbing supply going to do the job for my beer barrell boiler?

My eski is 33ltrs so it should be ok

 

[manticle]

Hi Matt - an old thread that seems to have resurfaced is this one: http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum//ind...=12666&st=0
Have a read through. Some easy to follow steps with pictures.

 

[pingdong]

The pics on crews news where exactly what i needed to see to give me some confidence to start.

ill keep you posted but may take a week or two as we have a 2 year old and two week old slowing us down.

 

[pingdong]

well im getting close to brew day. got my pid rigged up today for my heat pad and will ferment in an old freezer.

have my kettle and my boiler done just have to finish willow cooler mash tun.

didnt realise it would take so long. well getting tim e to put in i spose

 

[pingdong]

Have finally done a brew. pics are at

http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum//ind...m&album=661

Og was 1030 was that a bit low?>

 

[mckenry]

Have finally done a brew. pics are at

http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum//ind...m&album=661

Og was 1030 was that a bit low?>

yep, thats low (would be hoping for 1.050ish) but good on you. Maybe you should post up the grain bill etc. Are you using beersmith or promash?

 

[manticle]

I would say 1030 is way low considering your grain bill but are you sure the measurement is correct? Did you calibrate for temp or wait till it cooled before taking the reading?

It was taken from the fermenter just before pitching yes?

 

[pingdong]

I took the reading from the boil pot after cooled but prob half hour after i tranfered to fermenter. It wasent as clear as what went into fermenter.

I used 7 kgs of grain plus 500gms each of crystal malt medum and light.

I filled fermenter to an inch of the top and still had some in boil pot. prob 33 or 3 litres.

Thanks for your time.

Hi Thanks for your posts.

Can you recommend a grain bill for me to try another ag. if I stuffed the last one i can think of one explaination. I thought i had 7 kgs but perhaps it was only 5. You may remember i bought the grain before i knew what i was in for. The man a the shop said if i did not get a good conversion so he gave me extra grain or so i thought. but i did not weigh it, and it actually said 5kgs on pack so that may explain it. should i tip it? or will it be light beer. I tasted it and it actually tasted quite sweet however i may have over hopped it but ill drink hoppy any way.

I like aussie beers. coopers pale but i also like to make something that my commercial beeer mates will tolerate. are thier any good aussie beer recipes you could recomed.

 

[raven19]

You cant go wrong with Dr Smurto's Golden Ale, or any of the other popular recipes on the database linky above:

Forum DB

Keep surfing various threads on this site on beginner brewing, etc. Your efficiency will improve over time for sure.

Best to take lots of measurements on your initial brewdays then you can compare how things are improving over time. :icon_cheers:

 

[manticle]

I took the reading from the boil pot after cooled but prob half hour after i tranfered to fermenter. It wasent as clear as what went into fermenter.

I used 7 kgs of grain plus 500gms each of crystal malt medum and light.

I filled fermenter to an inch of the top and still had some in boil pot. prob 33 or 3 litres.

Thanks for your time.

Hi Thanks for your posts.

Can you recommend a grain bill for me to try another ag. if I stuffed the last one i can think of one explaination. I thought i had 7 kgs but perhaps it was only 5. You may remember i bought the grain before i knew what i was in for. The man a the shop said if i did not get a good conversion so he gave me extra grain or so i thought. but i did not weigh it, and it actually said 5kgs on pack so that may explain it. should i tip it? or will it be light beer. I tasted it and it actually tasted quite sweet however i may have over hopped it but ill drink hoppy any way.

I like aussie beers. coopers pale but i also like to make something that my commercial beeer mates will tolerate. are thier any good aussie beer recipes you could recomed.

It may taste sweet or bitter or both - this is because it is unfermented sugar at this point and has fresh hops just boiled in it. If you are doing AG you should know by know that early fermentation tastes are not an indicator of final beer tastes.

Don't tip it. I can't think of a worse thing you could do than spend all that time making something then tip it before seeing what it's like. Low OG isn't the worst thing in the world.

I'm not sure why you took your reading from the dregs. Take it from the fermenter just before you are ready to pitch, make any calibrations and temperature adjustments you need to do and see from there.

Please post your recipe and steps - only way anyone can help you troubleshoot your process.

Another point to consider is you say your grain bill was 7.5 kg but final volume was up around 32 (with some left behind in the boiler) so maybe 1030 isn't so bad.

Need the original recipe, target volume and traget gravity and process you used to get there to be sure though.

By the way - you can bump up the gravity with some malt extract if you want - otherwise let it ferment out and tweak the next one.

 

[praxis178]

I took the reading from the boil pot after cooled but prob half hour after i tranfered to fermenter. It wasent as clear as what went into fermenter.

I used 7 kgs of grain plus 500gms each of crystal malt medum and light.

I filled fermenter to an inch of the top and still had some in boil pot. prob 33 or 3 litres.

Thanks for your time.

Hi Thanks for your posts.

Can you recommend a grain bill for me to try another ag. if I stuffed the last one i can think of one explaination. I thought i had 7 kgs but perhaps it was only 5. You may remember i bought the grain before i knew what i was in for. The man a the shop said if i did not get a good conversion so he gave me extra grain or so i thought. but i did not weigh it, and it actually said 5kgs on pack so that may explain it. should i tip it? or will it be light beer. I tasted it and it actually tasted quite sweet however i may have over hopped it but ill drink hoppy any way.

I like aussie beers. coopers pale but i also like to make something that my commercial beeer mates will tolerate. are thier any good aussie beer recipes you could recomed.

You can't tip your first AG batch, not til you've tried it at least! Let it finish it will be ~3% give or take a bit so should make for a good session brew.

I'll second Dr S's Golden Ale great brew that.....

 

[pingdong]

I went to grain and grape, and did anouther ag tonight. I had 4.8kgs of ale malt and .2kgs of light crystal. put on 12lts of 76c water into the mash tun and mashed at 67 or 8 c for 1 hour. Then i added 10 lts of 80c water waited 10 mins and opened my manifold tap. then i added anouther 11lts of 80c water and wated 10min and finished sparging. I took a pre boil gravity and absolutily **** my self. it again read 1030. i thought about it and remembered someone mentioning temp adjustments so i cooled the sample in a tub of water. few it read around 1040 or a touch higher. at the end of boil i took anouther sample and it read just over 1050.
I added 1.5lts of starter and went and turned out some light around 10 mins later i went to see that the temp probe was still suck on the side of the fermenter tub and could not believe it was bubling already. woo hoo i think this one is going to be much better. and i am planning on bottling my first batch tomorrow.

 

[pingdong]

Hi Everyone, I have now tasted both beers and you wouldnt beleive it!! Everyone that has tasted the two beers likes the first one! ITS THE ONE I STUFFED UP!! It has a nice flavour and a really really good head which lasts the whole glass. Im guessing that the good head and poor opening gravity could be from inaccurate temp measuring.

Can anyone advise me on step mashing, I think that the mystery temp i mashed at was low. If i want to get the same good head as my first beer can i start mashing at a low Temp, Then raise temp for a period to get a good conversion.

My second beer mashed out well and opened at 1052 however my pid controler had a loose wire through fermentation and temp droped through fermentation and it finished at 1016. Could this be why the head is not as good as the first. I was aiming for 19c but in second batch it may have dropped at times.

 

[Silo Ted]

1030 for 8kg is not good if its a standard sized batch of 20-25 litres wort. I like to aim for over 1045 using 5.5kg, which is also not the best, but I am happy with when I hit it. Sounds as though your efficiencies are getting better though so thats a positive.

May I ask what style you were trying for. One kilo of crystal for an Australian Pale Ale sounds like a lot. Which begs the next question directed to others. How much crystal is recommended for An Aussie PA? The recipe I have linked to below suggests 0.04 lb or 18 grams. Is this a typo for what should be 0.4 or 180 grams ?

http://www.beersmith.com/Recipes2/recipe_75.htm