Sammus
Amateur Brewer
- Joined
- 16/3/06
- Messages
- 3,226
- Reaction score
- 13
Howdy, well I did my first AG on saturday night. It was my first mash at all for that matter. I just spent about an hour and a half writing and extensive account of it, but it didnt post due to an abundance (5) of smilies. My failure to notice the message telling me it wouldnt post coupled with the hurry I was in as I was finishing it, resulted in it being lost forever 
probably a good thing, it was probably several pages long...
Anyway, I had a few worries along the way. First up my strike temp was a little high, due to me using a different thermomenter, I read it wrong and it was in the low-mid 70s for about 10min. I quickly remedied this with ice, but was afraid that (a) It might stop the enzyme activity and (b ) too much tannin extraction. My fears of (a) were alleviated(sp?) when my OG came out at 1.035, thats about right for an APA isnt it?
As for (b ) I guess I'll have to wait - I sampled the sweet and bitter wort and think I may have detected a subtle astringent quality but hopefully that was due to my alcohol ingestion coupled with my fears manifesting themselves should I expect a noticable off flavour from this? (the temp overshoot, not the alchol and fear )
My second worry is due to my chilling not going quite as planned. Well it did, but my plan wasn't very good I ended up with 30C wort and 20C yeast (rehydrated, proofed US56) but was in a hurry so pitched it anyway, and stuck it in the fridge. I set the temp control to cool, and left it overnight. In my cellar (where the fridge is) the temp doesnt get above 19C and the next morning it was sitting at 13. I set the unit to heat and hooked up a small electric heater inside the fridge, its been sitting comfortable between 18-20 since then.
All in all I think it went quite well, also considering the fact I was alone and havent before witnessed someone else do one, I think it was fairly successful....now I'm just hoping there will be no infection!
probably a good thing, it was probably several pages long...Anyway, I had a few worries along the way. First up my strike temp was a little high, due to me using a different thermomenter, I read it wrong and it was in the low-mid 70s for about 10min. I quickly remedied this with ice, but was afraid that (a) It might stop the enzyme activity and (b ) too much tannin extraction. My fears of (a) were alleviated(sp?) when my OG came out at 1.035, thats about right for an APA isnt it?
As for (b ) I guess I'll have to wait - I sampled the sweet and bitter wort and think I may have detected a subtle astringent quality but hopefully that was due to my alcohol ingestion coupled with my fears manifesting themselves
should I expect a noticable off flavour from this? (the temp overshoot, not the alchol and fear )My second worry is due to my chilling not going quite as planned. Well it did, but my plan wasn't very good
I ended up with 30C wort and 20C yeast (rehydrated, proofed US56) but was in a hurry so pitched it anyway, and stuck it in the fridge. I set the temp control to cool, and left it overnight. In my cellar (where the fridge is) the temp doesnt get above 19C and the next morning it was sitting at 13. I set the unit to heat and hooked up a small electric heater inside the fridge, its been sitting comfortable between 18-20 since then.All in all I think it went quite well, also considering the fact I was alone and havent before witnessed someone else do one, I think it was fairly successful....now I'm just hoping there will be no infection!
