Nizmoose makes the AG leap

[technobabble66]

If you're chilling fairly quickly you're probably not adding many IBUs, unless you're adding a truckload of hops at the end of boil.
Keep in mind it's not necessarily a bad thing, just something you need to account for.
I prefer to do a fair bit of late hopping and are just generally a bit anal when it comes to IBUs (I still hv a few tastebuds left and don't like crazy bitter IPAs). So I try to account for this, plus I chill the kettle as quick as possible to below 70*c (trying to reduce hops oils volatizing off).
That's just the way I prefer to do it.
I'd def agree w Dicko, if you look at doing no-chill you might need to take a further look into this stuff. Otherwise I fear I may be venturing a little OT...

 

[Nizmoose]

If you're chilling fairly quickly you're probably not adding many IBUs, unless you're adding a truckload of hops at the end of boil.
Keep in mind it's not necessarily a bad thing, just something you need to account for.
I prefer to do a fair bit of late hopping and are just generally a bit anal when it comes to IBUs (I still hv a few tastebuds left and don't like crazy bitter IPAs). So I try to account for this, plus I chill the kettle as quick as possible to below 70*c (trying to reduce hops oils volatizing off).
That's just the way I prefer to do it.
I'd def agree w Dicko, if you look at doing no-chill you might need to take a further look into this stuff. Otherwise I fear I may be venturing a little OT...

Awesome cheers I'm with you on the bitterness thing. I guess I still have too many tastebuds? You know us young folk, not typically the biggest fans of bitter as beers but i promise I'm slowly coming around! I dont no-chill and never plan to so no worries there. Not necessarily against it but I don't feel as though enough is gained for some of the effort/risk. Whole different can of worms I know but I figure if I can get my wort down quickly and it doesn't take long its worth the effort and I can pitch and leave it

 

[dicko]

Ahhh k cool thats useful I might look into that. And dw about off-topicness haha I figured this could be a thread that goes off on tangents here and there for the sake of learning. I don't no chill so no worries there. On that topic if the general consensus is that chilling quickly is vital in order to reduce haze how do you no chillers get clear beer? Extra effort (gelatine, irish moss etc?) or just couldnt care less about haze?

I feel it is important to chill quickly myself and I also let the chilled wort sit in the kettle for around 30 to 45 mins to settle before I decant the very clear wort to the fermenter.
I then chill the beer down to MINUS 2 deg c after fermentation and Polyclar the chilled beer and then filter it into the keg.
I can achieve commercial clarity using this method.
I would not argue one way or the other between chill and no chill but my method works for me.

cheers

 

[Nizmoose]

Okay sorry I know I'm frothing the double posts but I pitched my starter just seconds ago! So I thought I'd post a few photos. I had some US-05 yeast slurry from my last batch that I washed three times and after those washes I ended up with about 80-100mL of yeast of a density at approx. 3 Billion cells per mL (using calculator). So based on this I decided to split the washed yeast into two small jars both of which I'd use in separate batches. I'm hoping to get another batch very similar to this one brewed next weekend (identical batch only swapping cascade for galaxy). So in the end I have two jars of around 40-50mL of dense yeast slurry.
Here's a picture of said yeast


I mixed in 80g of LDME in approx 600mL of water to get about 1.040 SG (after yeast water added) (feat. Western Star Butter)


Let that cool then pitched my yeast after aerating as best I could, heres a pic (feat. Western Star butter again and Mum's epic mortar and pestle)

Ended up with 700mL ish of starter and by my calculations that glad wrap is in serious trouble

Now another thing I wanted to ask. People say they store starsan for ages and its fine to use but also say that its no good once cloudy. This was my starsan after like half an hour in a jug. I don't store my starsan because frankly its easy to mix, I use about 2L per brew day and dont see the point in risking it but judging by this picture is this starsan no longer good? (notice my crushed grain in the background that rocked up half an hour ago bloody woot woot yay get excitied.)

 

[beercus]

Why the dextrose?
Beercus

 

[Nizmoose]

I feel it is important to chill quickly myself and I also let the chilled wort sit in the kettle for around 30 to 45 mins to settle before I decant the very clear wort to the fermenter.
I then chill the beer down to MINUS 2 deg c after fermentation and Polyclar the chilled beer and then filter it into the keg.
I can achieve commercial clarity using this method.
I would not argue one way or the other between chill and no chill but my method works for me.

cheers

I like this method. I think I'll employ your sit in the kettle component. Every single batch I've done I've been in a rush at the chilling stage and have always tipped it into the fermenter a bit warm then tried to cool further. Its the worst feeling at the end of the day. If I could give advice to any new brewer which doesn't come up much it'd be don't have somewhere to be after you brew, you cannot afford to rush shit at the end. I normally chill as much as I can, pitch a bit high (because I'm shit), ferment 2.5-3 weeks. Cold crash at -1C for three to five days then bottle. THIS TIME it'll be chill PROPERLY, let sit in kettle for 30 mins, pitch at the CORRECT temperature, Ferment 2.5-3 weeks, CC for three days at -1-2C then bottle WITHOUT splashing (which I did last batch )

 

[Nizmoose]

Why the dextrose?
Beercus

Honestly that was there to add a bit of alc and a bit of OG without changing the FG or colour. I didn't want to be a pain and order 2.1kg of milled ale malt and couldnt keep the FG down with crystal or caraaroma (the two spec grains I have) and on top of that my idea for this batch was to make an AG version of my first ever batch which I loved so pretty much put in all the ingredients besides the coopers tin which was subbed for the ale malt and kept the rest the same. Also I made sure the dex was well under 10%. Having said that I in no way feel the need to hit specific OG and FG numbers and don't have any emotional tie to dex

 

[dicko]

Now another thing I wanted to ask. People say they store starsan for ages and its fine to use but also say that its no good once cloudy. This was my starsan after like half an hour in a jug. I don't store my starsan because frankly its easy to mix, I use about 2L per brew day and dont see the point in risking it but judging by this picture is this starsan no longer good? (notice my crushed grain in the background that rocked up half an hour ago bloody woot woot yay get excitied.)

DSC_0007.JPG

Mix your Starsan in Rainwater or RO water to the correct ratio.

Mate, Adelaide water is absolute rubbish and Port Lincoln is even worse. :blink: h34r:

 

[Nizmoose]

Mix your Starsan in Rainwater or RO water to the correct ratio.

Mate, Adelaide water is absolute rubbish and Port Lincoln is even worse. :blink: h34r:

haha I have heard that about pt Lincoln but I would've thought that using water through our near new carbon filter would produce pretty clean water? Aaaaaan as I'm typing this I reckon I used the laundry tap water! Interesting....

 

[Nizmoose]

The day is done! I Started at 7 and was done by noon just before the rain crept in. I took a bunch of photos and figure I'd post the brew day in order here. Overall I was really really happy with how it went and no disasters to report!
Anyway here's how the day went!
So i got up and had everything I needed ready by the door including 20L of water in my 30L fermenter. Got it all outside and got ready to start the mash.


Whilst my strike water was heating I took a rolling pin to my crystal and got that ready to go in.


My water was ready in about ten minutes and so in went the grain and I hit my 55 dead on. Strike water was 57 and once the grain was in it was sitting at 55.5 and ended on 55.5 but keeping in mind this was a 5 minute rest so no surprises there. Couldnt believe how nice the mash smelled! Like cookie dough or something so nice! not what I was expecting much nicer!


Then I pulled the bag up and heated to my second step - as you've probably noticed I decided to go for it with the steps and not try to simplify for my first try. I decided I knew enough and was confident enough and really had little to lose so I gave it a go.
I got my second step up to the desired 64 degrees and 30 minutes in had lost 4 degrees. I was expecting this as I had only towels for insulation, next batch will be properly insulated but no problem this is where an infusion was really useful. I got the kettle on inside and added 1.6L of boiling water to the mash water before stirring it in then putting the grain down. Got me to exactly 66 which is what I aimed for because I knew I'd lose a few more degrees. Considering this I almost did a 30min 64ish step and a 30 min 66 step but meh.
Heres my mash:


and heres how I was insulating lol

My thermometer fit perfectly in the little steam hole thing in the lid which meant I had a really good gauge on temp change, obviously it wasn't reading mash temp as it was just in the air of the pot but it gave me a really good idea about the movement of temp and I recorded the lid temp and mash temp the same time a few times to see if I can come up with some sort of correlation to gauge for later batches.

My third step was a 72 foam positive rest and this was the only one I missed. I found that having the bag out of the water for a while if I flamed until the desired temp the grain took a bit out of the temp. So for the 72 step I heated and stirred the water until it hit 72 then put the grain in and set it up by which time it was down to 70 and stayed there for the entire rest. I learned for the next step however..
My last step was 78C, mash out. I got the water whilst stirring and holding the bag up to 80C then put the grain in gave it a stir and she was sitting pretty at 78 for the ten minute rest.

Was really happy with how the mash went I was really expecting something to go wrong or to miss my temps but everything was fairly good.

Heres some more pictures:

I think I see some pulley potential here


Left 20L overnight. using my fementer to measure out water made tracking volumes soooooo much easier and I'll definitely do it again.


note my pride and joy in the driveway

After my mash I checked my pre boil gravity: 1.036 temp adjusted and without my 200g of dex so I was happy with that. (didnt know what my target was)

Then it was onto the boil, second boil for me using this set up.

theres my massive centennial addition. I was genuinely worried my hop addition was going to blow away. I should point out now I switched my cascade to galaxy and lowered my centennial to account for the added alpha of the galaxy, even though it was a 5 minute addition I wanted to keep the IBUs the same.


Boil went without issue, Then I had to chill. I had heaps of ice prepared yesterday, Filled shopping bags with water and they went in the chest freezer. worked a treat, this is the first ice bath I had really work well. Got the wort from 90 to 19 in about 20 minutes. Did three tubs full of water, first two were just normal water to get the temp down without wasting ice then used all the ice and it worked brilliantly


Now for the exciting bit. I was really not expecting to get close to many targets. I got the fermenter within .5L of target volume which I was happy with but my greatest joy was when I plonked the hydro in and saw this:

My target was 1.052 and I hit it bang on the head. so so so happy!

so there it is, first all grain brew day and I'm wrapped with how it went. Almost hit 4 different step mash temps, hit all my gravities and my volumes were damn near perfect. Cannot wait for the next brew day! A massive thanks to all you guys that have helped me out over the past 6 months, would not have been able to have a AG brew day let alone a successful one without your help. Cheers.

 

[philmud]

Well done mate, it's a good feeling, and a great one when you open a bottle of beer and think about how it used to be grain! (And some other shit!).
Sounds like it went off without a hitch and that's partly due to the planning you did, which includes asking questions!

 

[manticle]

Glad you hit your steps.
In terms of splitting the sacch rest into alpha and beta, you probably want a bit more distinction between the two points. Low 60s for beta optimisation (shorter chain sugars, higher fermentability) and very high 60s for alpha. Also time is important - too long at beta optimal temps may leave nothing for alpha amylase to work with. Play around with temp and time till you're happy with results.

 

[Nizmoose]

Well done mate, it's a good feeling, and a great one when you open a bottle of beer and think about how it used to be grain! (And some other shit!).
Sounds like it went off without a hitch and that's partly due to the planning you did, which includes asking questions!

Thanks! Yeah I can't wait to open a bottle of it, just need to make sure I provide the fermentation to do it justice!

Glad you hit your steps.
In terms of splitting the sacch rest into alpha and beta, you probably want a bit more distinction between the two points. Low 60s for beta optimisation (shorter chain sugars, higher fermentability) and very high 60s for alpha. Also time is important - too long at beta optimal temps may leave nothing for alpha amylase to work with. Play around with temp and time till you're happy with results.

Thanks for this info manticle, I should mention that this split was both not deliberate nor desired haha, was just trying to hit 64ish for 70 minutes and I have read about resting too long at beta temps and hadn't thought about it at the time so cheers looks like I'll be investigating enzymes again in more detail so I know where I stand next mash.

 

[DU99]

Now comes the hard part waiting for your beer to brew out..Enjoy :beer:

 

[Nizmoose]

Now comes the hard part waiting for your beer to brew out..Enjoy :beer:

Haha that's it! By far the hardest part of brewing! Knowing that it'll be six weeks before it's ready! It'll be bloody Christmas!

 

[SNippets01]

Excellent summary Niz, good to see a post with the outcome of your original post! Enjoy the beer when it's done!

 

[Nizmoose]

Excellent summary Niz, good to see a post with the outcome of your original post! Enjoy the beer when it's done!

Cheers mate! Fermenter is sitting in my makeshift chamber at 18C glad wrap all puffed up. I love the smell of galaxy early fermentation.

 

[Nizmoose]

Okay I have had the first taste! The beer is exactly 2 weeks in the bottle and my sample was in the fridge for 4 days. Very happy with the results! It was a very clean, crisp and somewhat dry beer and what I'd consider to be very balanced. Many hop heads would say malt forward but I think for your everyday drinker it's bang on Malt vs hop wise. The aroma gives off very slight tropical fruit I think I got pineapple? And the finish is dominated by the Malt. I'm still bad at describing beer but hopefully that does it some justice. Really happy with the results and I think the constant fermentation temperature played a big role in the cleanliness of the taste. Thanks for all the help along the way guys I'll be brewing another batch soon! (PS sorry about the photo orientation)

 

[MaltyHops]

Mix your Starsan in Rainwater or RO water to the correct ratio.
Mate, Adelaide water is absolute rubbish and Port Lincoln is even worse. :blink: h34r:

haha I have heard that about pt Lincoln but I would've thought that using water through our near new carbon filter would produce pretty clean water? Aaaaaan as I'm typing this I reckon I used the laundry tap water! Interesting....

Have a look for penguinwaterco.com self-serve water dispensers around Adelaide (Magill, Newton, etc) - need to buy tokens from nearby supermarkets (like IGA) to use the machines.

The water is RO and starsan mixed with it stays clear for ages. Bring along a 20L (or even 25L cube) and you should have enough starsan water for a while.

Then it was onto the boil, second boil for me using this set up.

theres my massive centennial addition. I was genuinely worried my hop addition was going to blow away. I should point out now I switched my cascade to galaxy and lowered my centennial to account for the added alpha of the galaxy, even though it was a 5 minute addition I wanted to keep the IBUs the same.

That scale drives me absolutely nuts! Cuts out after about 30 seconds of inactivity .... would like to take a sledgehammer to it.

 

[Nizmoose]

Have a look for penguinwaterco.com self-serve water dispensers around Adelaide (Magill, Newton, etc) - need to buy tokens from nearby supermarkets (like IGA) to use the machines.

The water is RO and starsan mixed with it stays clear for ages. Bring along a 20L (or even 25L cube) and you should have enough starsan water for a while.



That scale drives me absolutely nuts! Cuts out after about 30 seconds of inactivity .... would like to take a sledgehammer to it.

Cheers for the water suggestion will definitely get some RO for starsan mixing and yes I know what you mean about the scales haha!