Move To All Grain For Thirty Bucks

[Steve]

Is this you, tdh?

:lol: yep, the red leg warmers give him away

 

[Sammus]

lol funny stuff. I followed palmer and rehydrated/proofed yeast using sugar for yonks. Then I was told that quality and viability of modern dried yeast its a bit of waste of effort proofing it, so I started just hydrating it. Then after a while I got lazy and started just chucking the dry stuff straight in.

Can honestly say I haven't noticed a difference between any method, I wouldn't bother rehydrating etc, especially in a newb guide.

That said, if you want to proof it, I agree that theres nothing wrong with using suc/dextrose.

 

[Sammus]

..... I leave it on each side for a minute or two and then shake the crap out of it so a steam jet fires out the bung hole. Watch ya fingers ... that jet will remove skin in a second. I'm very happy about including the words bung, and hole into this thread - even in the same sentence.

Not only in the same sentence, right next to each other too!

 

[Sammus]

Hmm
Coffee Grinder eh.

Never thought it would have the guts to chew through a full batch of grain.

I might have to give it a go.

coffee grinder in this case is a little whirly bird herb/spice chopper (at least I inferred from an earlier post). A proper grinder would proably take a lot longer, but give you much more uniform particle size and adjustability, not that it matters for this application

 

[Screwtop]

Nope, not stressed. Just laughable what is regarded as acceptable brewing techniques.
The AHB is a font of knowledge but still daggy techniques keep spewing forth and are rewarded and applauded.

tdh

Getting to you too tdh :angry:

Screwy

 

[fergi]

yep nick i have done the yeast bit heaps of times like that, no difference from what i have tasted, isnt it the truth though, theres more than one way to do most things correctly, but i do listen to what TDH says as his info is one of a few guys on here that i trust with their knowledge but the yeast thingy works .
fergi

 

[Nick JD]

One of the main reasons I proof is because I want to see and hear activity. In the past I've just rehydrated and the yeast has swelled - and from what I've found, rehydrating dead yeast won't make beer.

A little sugar and you can get a pretty decent idea of the yeast's viability and fecundity. I've opened another packet before because it just wasn't foaming up quickly and strongly as I like.

If you want to know, absolutely, that your yeast is alive and eating ... feed it before you chuck it in.

Or don't. Your call. B)

 

[MarkBastard]

Is there any way to estimate beforehand how much LME or DME would be needed to achieve specific OGs? Is there any formula or linky that would be useful for this?

Best thing to do is use some brewing software like beersmith or that excel spreadsheet someone made around here.

But that said because I use liquid malt extract I design my brews around me adding 1.5L of LME every time, and if I want to adjust the OG of the brew I use less or more grain in the actual mash. That's because using anything other than a whole tin of LME would be a messy pain in the butt. I suppose if you were using dry extract that wouldn't be an issue. I wouldn't mind buying a massive amount of dry extract for that reason, I guess you could use it to compensate if you're not hitting the right efficiency etc.

 

[Nick JD]

Getting to you too tdh :angry:

Screwy

You guys would just burst into flames if a beer made this way won a competition, wouldn't ya? :beerbang: I do enjoy a challenge ... hmmmmm.

 

[Tony]

lol funny stuff. I followed palmer and rehydrated/proofed yeast using sugar for yonks. Then I was told that quality and viability of modern dried yeast its a bit of waste of effort proofing it, so I started just hydrating it. Then after a while I got lazy and started just chucking the dry stuff straight in.

Can honestly say I haven't noticed a difference between any method, I wouldn't bother rehydrating etc, especially in a newb guide.

Me too. Started proofing it with a touch of dex in a bowl of warm water. Moved to just re-hydrating.

Now i just sprinkle the dry yeast in the fermenter and rack from the kettle strait onto it.

No difference noticed.

If its a 2 year old pack of yeast.......... i chuck it and get a fresh one rather than proof iit. Its not that expensive

Nothing wrong with hrdrating it....... i personly cant see the point anymore since i stopped.

cheers

 

[King Brown]

Great thread, simple instructions and very easy to follow for beginners, and makes the process sound as easy and undaunting as it really can be.

Hi Nick JD. You're tips are a bit 'loose'.

A gram per litre can have wildly different results if you're using 7% Cluster or 17% Zeus!!!

tdh

Nope, not stressed. Just laughable what is regarded as acceptable brewing techniques.
The AHB is a font of knowledge but still daggy techniques keep spewing forth and are rewarded and applauded.

tdh

I can see what your saying, but although the advice on yeast goes against what ive read, this is the beginners section of the forum, so advice should be simple and not have to be overly technical. For example the first recipe in Randy Moshers "radical brewing" gives hop type and amount, as well as crystal malt colour and amount ranges, rather than strictly defining what should be used. He then goes to describe what ranges will give what flavours, ibu, srm and og's but leaves the actual amounts up to the person brewing the recipe. This, as the OT stated gives the beginner brewer flexability to make fine tune his or her beers to taste. At the end of the day as long as the brewer has drinkable beer, it doesnt matter, and if they dont, they can research further to refine their techniques. If they want to learn about making starters and liquid yeasts, they can go to that part of the forum and read up on that.

I guess what im trying to say is RDWHAHB :icon_cheers:

 

[markarena]

QUOTE (John Palmer)Re-hydrating Dry Yeast
1. Put 1 cup of warm (95-105F, 35-40C) boiled water into a sanitized jar and stir in the yeast. Cover with Saran Wrap and wait 15 minutes.
2. "Proof" the yeast by adding one teaspoon of extract or sugar that has been boiled in a small amount of water. Allow the sugar solution to cool before adding it to the jar.
3. Cover and place in a warm area out of direct sunlight.
4. After 30 minutes or so the yeast should be visibly churning and/or foaming, and is ready to pitch.

Edit: Palmer's Image of proofed rehydrated yeast from his website.

Great work on the thread! Looks like a good way to start all grain.

Just so you know, in the edition of How To Brew that I own (not in front of me now), John now states that he doesn't recommend that you proof with sugar, as the yeast manufacturers have already taken care of what the yeast needs straight out of the pack. So basically what you quoted, minus the sugar. Makes your process one step lighter!

 

[Bribie G]

I get US-05 from my brew Club for about $3.50 and don't bother culturing it up or stretching it out over several brews/generations. At that price I use a freshie most times and sprinkle. If I'm doing a similar beer as my very next brew I will culture up a litre bottle with some LDME and use that within 24 hours to save the three bucks but that's only occasionally.

Great all round yeast for fake lagers and APAs etc.

Would you be able to post a piccie of your grinder, the brand and how much it was worth?

 

[Nick JD]

I get US-05 from my brew Club for about $3.50 and don't bother culturing it up or stretching it out over several brews/generations. At that price I use a freshie most times and sprinkle. If I'm doing a similar beer as my very next brew I will culture up a litre bottle with some LDME and use that within 24 hours to save the three bucks but that's only occasionally.

Great all round yeast for fake lagers and APAs etc.

Would you be able to post a piccie of your grinder, the brand and how much it was worth?

I'm stingy with yeast - so much so that I have done a record (for me) six brews (12L) on the same trub. At that point I ran out of bottles.

Last month I got some S04 from my LHBS. I got home and looked at the date: 2007, wait ... early 2007. Last thing I've bought from that asshole. But I still used it. A bit of sugar showed it was actually very much viable still - must have spent the last three years in a fridge.

The ammount of yeat packets in HBShops sitting behind the counter at 30C makes me very wary of trusting their ability on sprinkling ... especially when I think most bad brews are from that few days when there was no activity and the yeast were struggling to breed up. The LHBS around here are not big on good advice/practices - so much so that it's astounding to hear their advice.

My grinder is a Sunbeam EM0400 - on that link it says $35, but I'm sure it was $20, maybe on special.

 

[extra-cheese]

Just like (almost) everyone else, I just want to say nice work on the guide.

cheers,
brad

 

[mintsauce]

+1 for being inspired to get going AG by this thread - grains on order enough to start on 3 batches - if all goes OK I'll bulk buy

Great thread, got to say even for beginners in AG we all probably know a bit about yeast and have our favorite way to use it:
Personally I put 1 pack into 1 litre boiled/cooled water with 100g light dry malt extract added when boiling then split this to 6 stubbies and keep them in fridge, 2 days before a brew use I do another litre with 100g's, cool and add - when this is going full bang I chuck it into a full brew (23litres) - this makes my $5 yeast last a bit longer, gets brew's going real quick and confident - I've never had an issue this way but i'm sure people will tell me it's less than perfect.

Cheers,

(and wow, look - first time I've been inspired enough to post - normally I'm just a lurker)

 

[DUANNE]

the coffe grinder will handle the task easy.i put 4-5 g of cousin through mine every day for five or six years and its still going strong. id also have to say with the yeast i see tdhs point but hydrate , proof or sprinkle do what you want. if it wasnt for simple guides like this and pistol patches original basic biab guide how many poeple would still be brewing crappy kits or given up brewing because they couldnt brew what they want. if this guide gets 5 more brewers going all grain and sticking to brewing in the long run who cares about semantics of it? my 2c

bh

 

[Sammus]

I get US-05 from my brew Club for about $3.50 and don't bother culturing it up or stretching it out over several brews/generations. At that price I use a freshie most times and sprinkle. If I'm doing a similar beer as my very next brew I will culture up a litre bottle with some LDME and use that within 24 hours to save the three bucks but that's only occasionally.

Great all round yeast for fake lagers and APAs etc.

Would you be able to post a piccie of your grinder, the brand and how much it was worth?

also remember that nick is only doing tiny batches, a whole packet would be waayy overpitching. That part of proofing I understand, if you're taking a spoonful from an open packet it might pay to check it's ok.

 

[Novacastrian]

Thanks for this article mate, i am new to brewing and wanted something simple like this to start me off with AG.

Btw Hello Tony

 

[MarkyMark]

Can you do this 9L brew in the fermenter I normally use for a 23L brew?

Cheers

Mark