Grain To Water? And Ideas!

[pauldidge]

hi
i am new to brewing,this xmas my parter got me a coopers brew kit which is going very well!
but then my dad got me 7kg of grains for a all grain experment.
how much water to 7kg of grain?

here is the list of grain i got,any ideas on brews?


Munich malt, German, 1kg
Barrett Burston Pale malt, 2 kg
Pilsner malt, German, 2kg
Crystal malt, pale, 2kg

??

 

[manticle]

Between 2.5 - 3 L per kilo of grain is usual.

 

[Screwtop]

Between 2.5 - 3 L per kilo of grain is usual.

C'mon Manticle, help the guy out if you're going to reply. Giving him mash figures won't help him much, ask questions.

Screwy

 

[pauldidge]

C'mon Manticle, help the guy out if you're going to reply. Giving him mash figures won't help him much, ask questions.

Screwy

are the grains i have a good base for a good beer? i am getting equipment together at the mo, thought i would my eskye for the mash.

 

[bradsbrew]

are the grains i have a good base for a good beer? i am getting equipment together at the mo, thought i would my eskye for the mash.

Paul have a look here, it has a good description of which grains are suited for which beer.

http://www.craftbrewer.com.au/shop/default.asp?CID=21

And then have a look here to see which hops you could use.

http://www.craftbrewer.com.au/shop/default.asp?CID=17

What level of brewing are you up to? More info you can give the more people can help.

I think you have the base there for a few different styles. The one that stands out for me would be maybe something like a pilsener or german. You dont want to use much of the crystal in one brew though.


Cheers Brad

 

[Screwtop]

are the grains i have a good base for a good beer? i am getting equipment together at the mo, thought i would my eskye for the mash.

Good grains to start with, you need to ask a lot of other questions before you start out and I suggest you do a lot of reading. Start with John Palmers "How To Brew" available online at http://www.howtobrew.com/intro.html

See if you can hook up with an all grain brewer close by for a look-in on a brewday. It's simple, but there is a lot to learn. Read, look and listen, be sure you have the process down pat in your head BEFORE putting your brew kit together.

The amount of grain and liquor to grain ratio is only associated with the mash. After mashing sparge water is required, how much total water depends upon your kettle design, burner size, boiloff rate and the desired gravity of the beer you are planning. For recipes, Jamil Zainasheff and John Palmers "Brewing Classic Styles" is a great place to start.

Cheers,

Screwy

 

[Thirsty Boy]

another thing to tell us is where you are located - you might be just down the road from a brewshop that does AG demos, a brewclub that will be an invaluable resource; or just a friendly brewer who can show you how its done.

TB

 

[manticle]

C'mon Manticle, help the guy out if you're going to reply. Giving him mash figures won't help him much, ask questions.

Screwy

Just trying to answer the first question in between being busy with non-net related stuff. You know I normally go out of my way to answer beginner questions in detail.


I probably should have left it for later when I had time but I'll always revisit a thread and help out where I can.

Other people know a hell of a lot more than me though so there's no drama letting someone else offer good advice.

 

[pauldidge]

another thing to tell us is where you are located - you might be just down the road from a brewshop that does AG demos, a brewclub that will be an invaluable resource; or just a friendly brewer who can show you how its done.

TB

i am in goughs bay,nr mansfeild,vic.

 

[pauldidge]

Paul have a look here, it has a good description of which grains are suited for which beer.

http://www.craftbrewer.com.au/shop/default.asp?CID=21

And then have a look here to see which hops you could use.

http://www.craftbrewer.com.au/shop/default.asp?CID=17

What level of brewing are you up to? More info you can give the more people can help.

I think you have the base there for a few different styles. The one that stands out for me would be maybe something like a pilsener or german. You dont want to use much of the crystal in one brew though.


Cheers Brad

thanks Brad,sounds like i have a good base for a ale, i am just a begginer at the mo.
i have started with the cans but they seem just to easy and quick that why my dad got me the grains.
i need a good challage but not something that goes right over my head if you no what i mean

 

[scott_penno]

Hi Paul,

I'd suggest having a read of Frequently Asked Questions For The New Brewer and get a couple of brews under your belt. The Coopers kit you have comes with all you need for your first brew. The two things I suggest you pay particular attention to are sanitation/cleanliness and temperature - if you can keep everything nice and clean and keep the fermentation temperature to less than 20oC you should end up with quite a drinkable brew.

You have a heap of crystal there. Maybe once you've done a couple of brews look at steeping a small amount of crystal malt and ading it to one of the kit brews - see Using Crystal Malt. You could also look to add some hops to the kits for flavor and aroma.

Read anything you can get your hands on. On-line resources like AHB and How To Brew are great resources and there are plenty of books by the like of Jamil and Ray Daniels that are well worth a read. Also have a listen to Jamil's podcasts that are available on-line.

Hook up with someone in your local area who brews all-grain so you have a better understanding of the process - sort of like a picture saying a thousand words. Not sure if there is anyone in the Mansfield area, but if there is and they read this thread, they're more than likely to say hello.

You haven't mentioned what styles of beer you like, but I'd suggest a simple Pale Ale. For a 20L batch, maybe 3kg's of the Pilsner and Ale malts, 600g of Munich and 200g of the Crystal (you haven't mentioned what type of crystal it is - light, medium, dark). Throw in some hops for bittering, flavor and arome to 30-35IBU's.

Anyway, my two cents worth.

sap.

 

[manticle]

thanks Brad,sounds like i have a good base for a ale, i am just a begginer at the mo.
i have started with the cans but they seem just to easy and quick that why my dad got me the grains.
i need a good challage but not something that goes right over my head if you no what i mean

The other thing you need to consider is equipment.

How will you be cracking the grains?
How will you be mashing them (converting the sugars)?
How will you be transferring the hot liquor into a pot large enough to boil it?
How will you be boiling it?
How will you be chilling it?*

There are quite a few ways to do this - brew in a bag (BIAB) is probably the easiest and cheapest set-up.

You have enough grain there for a decent brew although there's no way you'd look at using all 2 kg of the crystal in the one brew. You need hops and yeast as well.

I would suggest, if you're finding the kits really basic, reading up on making partials. Otherwise keep on with the kits just to keep up stocks, while setting yourself up for all grain. I'd second the notion of visiting someone local who can show you how it's done.

*Dedicated to Mike Screwtop.

 

[bradsbrew]

Some good info here on the transition to AG

http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum//ind...o&showcat=9

There is plenty info on this forum and as you use the site more you will learn where to find it. But MOST people will help out with some good links.

Cheers Brad

 

[cozmocracker]

i would suggest downloading the trial version of beersmith as well, very useful tool for all levels of brewing.

 

[pauldidge]

Hi Paul,

I'd suggest having a read of Frequently Asked Questions For The New Brewer and get a couple of brews under your belt. The Coopers kit you have comes with all you need for your first brew. The two things I suggest you pay particular attention to are sanitation/cleanliness and temperature - if you can keep everything nice and clean and keep the fermentation temperature to less than 20oC you should end up with quite a drinkable brew.

You have a heap of crystal there. Maybe once you've done a couple of brews look at steeping a small amount of crystal malt and ading it to one of the kit brews - see Using Crystal Malt. You could also look to add some hops to the kits for flavor and aroma.

Read anything you can get your hands on. On-line resources like AHB and How To Brew are great resources and there are plenty of books by the like of Jamil and Ray Daniels that are well worth a read. Also have a listen to Jamil's podcasts that are available on-line.

Hook up with someone in your local area who brews all-grain so you have a better understanding of the process - sort of like a picture saying a thousand words. Not sure if there is anyone in the Mansfield area, but if there is and they read this thread, they're more than likely to say hello.

You haven't mentioned what styles of beer you like, but I'd suggest a simple Pale Ale. For a 20L batch, maybe 3kg's of the Pilsner and Ale malts, 600g of Munich and 200g of the Crystal (you haven't mentioned what type of crystal it is - light, medium, dark). Throw in some hops for bittering, flavor and arome to 30-35IBU's.

Anyway, my two cents worth.

sap.

the crystal i have is a pale crystal

 

[peter.brandon]

the crystal i have is a pale crystal

Paul,

Just an idea but this is how i stared out with grain. I assume you havent used or done a kit brew yet. The kit brews (1.7kg can) direct you to use sugars (dextrose, dry malt etc) what i suggest is you substitute the sugars for some grain. An example is:

Coopers pale ale kit with 1kg of your pale crystal grain.

What you do is bring 3 litres of water (per 1 kg of grain) up to 72 degrees on you stove using a stock pot you probably have already in the kitchen. Then throw in the grain, stir occassionally. Turn off the heat and manage the temp at 65-66 degrees (you will need a thermometer). Make sure the temp stays at 65-66 degrees for 1 hour.

Then tip all the ingredients through your rice strainer into you fermenter (also should have one in the kitchen). Heat up another 3L of water in the pot to 78 degrees. Then throw the grain in the strainer back in the pot for 10mins. Strain through the rice strainer again into the fermenter. So now you should have about 5L of water in the fermeter (the grain will soak up about 1L). Now open your kit with can opener and pour in, wash out as much malt out of the can with boiled water from the kettle (wrap a hand towel around the can as it get really hot).

Then all you do is fill up the fermenter to the 20 litre mark then pitch yeast from kit.

After you have done this a few time then try a full grain recipe.

Cheers,
Plyers

 

[manticle]

I would advise against the above.

Certainly use some crystal steeped along the lines of the method above.

However you will not come close to replacing 1 kg of sucrose, dextrose or maltose with 1 kg of crystal. You may however end up with a low alcohol brew that is too sweet, thick or cloying.

Steep grain? Yes. Replace [some] sugar with malt extract? yes (slightly more needed for equivalent weight).
Replace equal weights sugar with equal weights of crystal grain? no.

There was a thread on here recently about a sweet, syrupy brew which incorporated 900g of crystal. General connsensus was that that is way too much crystal.

I'd tend to use no more than 500g per 23 litre batch, generally I'd aim for about half that.

Sorry Plyers.

 

[peter.brandon]

I would advise against the above.

Certainly use some crystal steeped along the lines of the method above.

However you will not come close to replacing 1 kg of sucrose, dextrose or maltose with 1 kg of crystal. You may however end up with a low alcohol brew that is too sweet, thick or cloying.

Steep grain? Yes. Replace [some] sugar with malt extract? yes (slightly more needed for equivalent weight).
Replace equal weights sugar with equal weights of crystal grain? no.

There was a thread on here recently about a sweet, syrupy brew which incorporated 900g of crystal. General connsensus was that that is way too much crystal.

I'd tend to use no more than 500g per 23 litre batch, generally I'd aim for about half that.

Sorry Plyers.

No problem

I just think some advice can be overwhelming and sometimes too technical. I was attempting to give advice on baby steps without Paul having to invest significant dollars into a full mash setup. Paul indicated he was given grain to experiment, let him experiment with with tools already in the kitchen.

The choice is up to him but a simple stove top intro i would strongly recommend since it sounds like he has only just recieved for Xmas his kit. Actually just do a kit & kilo brew first then move onto introducing grain.

Paul as others have indicated go to the John Palmer how to brew website or even buy the book. But good luck and hope to hear from you in the forum on how its going.

Just remember get the basic right first.

Cheers,
Plyers

 

[pauldidge]

well i have bottled my first coppers brew today! thanks everyone for being very helpfull i think i will try steeping my crystal with the next batch.
i must admit once you start brewing your own it hard to think about anything eles :lol: i am definantly hooked!

 

[goomboogo]

In addition to steeping the crystal (or any specialty malt) the resultant liquid will need to be boiled. Adding the liquid without boiling will increase the chances of developing an infection in your brew. The mini-mash idea (i.e replacing fermentables like dextrose with grain) that I think Plyers is alluding to, would require a base malt rather than something like crystal.