Move To All Grain For Thirty Bucks

[marlow_coates]

Nice work on this Nick.

May deserve a spot in the articles section, or as an add on to the BIAB article?

The pictures are great.

Also, has me keen to possibly do some smaller brews to increase the experimentation rate.

Keep it up.

Marlow

 

[argon]

Excellent guide there Nick... this one's going out to all the mates still stuck on kits... the simplicity is the key. Only tell em what they need to know... if they want more they'll find out more on their own

 

[riverside]

Thanks for taking the time to show the simplicity to start out in AG, and for the pics

That will get some people off kits (Me for starters) :icon_cheers:

Cheers

Darren

 

[Nick JD]

[quote name='Rack'EmUp' post='543638' date='Oct 27 2009, 10:03 PM']Any chance of seeing a pic of the finished beer?[/quote]

In about three or four weeks.

 

[Nick JD]

Here's a photo I forgot. For me, it's one of the best parts of the brewing process for a couple of reasons: it's really nice to taste the stuff, and secondly (more importantly) you get to associate grains and hops with tastes, within a timeframe that is rememberable.

Like most I write stuff down ... like, "Whoa, I think I over-did it with the galaxy hops!" and then on tasting the final beer I write, "Was wrong about the galaxy - it worked." Then next time around I know that 15g of galaxy at 30 minutes won't wreck the beer, but from previous brews, 40g of CZ Saaz for 60 minutes is YUK.

These small AGs of just a carton of beer is like walking into the bottlo and there's a walk-in fridge a mile and a half long, and every box is different.

If I may be so brash, I think that all grain brewing - although being more time consuming - is inherently a more enjoyable process due to the smells and tastes along the way.

 

[crozdog]

How do you scrape off hot break nick?

MB, its protein scum not hot break. Nick, it doesn't need to be removed, but you can if you want to. I never bother. it'll incorporate back into the boil - especially when you add the hops.

Great article. like others have said, I'll be sending it to some kit brewers! Well done.

 

[adam77]

Great job. Well done on sharing with all of us.

I will give this a guy when I finish off my last kit. Didn't realise it would be a simple of this.

 

[bonj]

Good onya Nick! :super:

Articles like this one are great for beginner all grainers. You really show how simple the process is.

 

[Cortez The Killer]

Great article

When complete it'd be good to add it to the wiki and even dump it into PDF for distribution to kit brewers

Cheers

 

[railgun_livewire]

Killer article Nick,
just wondering about your hydrometer though...

I noticed it sitting in your wort, at what must be at least 70deg.
From what I understand, my hydrometer is calibrated at 20deg.

Is yours different?

Also, you may want to mention avoiding boiling it as I'm pretty sure it will die (and spoil innocent wort).

 

[slacka]

My 1st brew was pretty much the same as this except I hung my pillow slip from the range hood letting it drain into my 15L pot whilst it boiled. Once done it was tipped directly into the fermenter sterilising it in the process.

 

[Cortez The Killer]

just wondering about your hydrometer though...

I noticed it sitting in your wort, at what must be at least 70deg.
From what I understand, my hydrometer is calibrated at 20deg.

Is yours different?

Nick used an online calculator which uses a formula to take into account the temperature difference - most brewing software packages also have this calculator

Cheers

 

[lespaul]

ok so at the end if i ferment in a 30lt fermenter, is it still the same process? will there be enough co2 to push out the oxygen?
alswo, insted of a grinder i can use a blender and pulse?
awesome article...this weekend is planned!

 

[usastman]

I am on the slope to BIAB - great article.

I noticed the comments on having a finer grain in BIAB - Are there dangers in using normally cracked grain - E.g - not extract enough sugars??

 

[QldKev]

I am on the slope to BIAB - great article.

I noticed the comments on having a finer grain in BIAB - Are there dangers in using normally cracked grain - E.g - not extract enough sugars??

Nope no real issues, as long as the grain is cracked correctly. If it was undercracked both BIAG and 3V would both suffer.


QldKev

 

[railgun_livewire]

I am on the slope to BIAB - great article.

Are there dangers in using normally cracked grain??

I would say that "normally cracked grain" is 'normal' because it's the usual method (i.e. standard procedure and not presenting problems).

There are a few opinions on the matter.
Too fine can = too much sediment, clogging of apparatus and potentiall risk destroying the enzymes needed.
Too coarse can = not enough surface area on the grain to extrude sugars.

I guess it's a matter of personal opinion and set-up.
Most AG set-ups will become clogged if the grain is milled to fine (esp when sparging). However, this problem is avoided with BIAB - so provided that your bag is made out of a material fine enough to hold the finely milled grain, you'll be fine.

I would suggest that most bags sold are designed for "normally cracked grain" and won't tolerate finer grades.

:icon_cheers:

 

[CDJ]

Great article Nick!

Will give it a go as soon as I get some Voile! Would you still do bigger volumes (i.e. standard 23 L) on your kitchen stove? or is that pushing it too much?

Cheers

 

[Nick JD]

ok so at the end if i ferment in a 30lt fermenter, is it still the same process? will there be enough co2 to push out the oxygen?
alswo, insted of a grinder i can use a blender and pulse?
awesome article...this weekend is planned!

Any size fermenter will do as long as it's got a bit of headspace.

I think you can use a blender - I would do small amounts (a cup) at a time and use one capable of crushing ice.

 

[Nick JD]

Would you still do bigger volumes (i.e. standard 23 L) on your kitchen stove? or is that pushing it too much?

I've done a "high gravity" mash in that very pot with 4kg of grain. It's not for the faint hearted, as there's about 1cm of pot rim between mashing and a titanic mess. And the efficiency ain't crash hot at that water:grain ratio.

Get a 20L pot and it's doable for 5% beers (16L of 1.065 would do it). Dilute in the fermenter.

 

[brenjak]

Grat guide Nick, a picture is worth a thousand words. You can read all you want but seeing is believing!