Recipe & Style Suggestions For My Very First Ag Brew?

[Weizguy]

May I suggest a triple decocted Oktoberfest or Weissbier. The weissbier will turn around quicker - ferment to terminal gravity and keg that sucker.

Maybe a Witbier or Berliner weisse. Why start at the bottom, Why not start in the middle? Do you like a challenge? How good's your attention to details? R U a trainspotter?
Maybe a Belgian, although that's not all-grain is it, if there are adjuncts? Easy enough, simple but deadly.

You can certainly start with a large partial (mash).

English bitters and milds and pales are quite simple , and if U like the flavour of crystal or choc/roast malt.
Plus they have a quick turn-around.

food 4 thought, IMHO.
Bierz

Seth

 

[pint of lager]

If I am to end up with a fermenting volume of 23 litres. What volume will I need to to start my boil with for 60 minute boil time?

A good question as this is also a place that new ag brewers miss the mark.

You lose volume due to evaporation in the boil and losses in the system.

End volume is 23 litres.
Lose 1-2 litres from trub and hops, so you should have 25 litres in the boiler at the end of the boil.
Lose an average of 10% per hour due to evaporation so you need at least 28 litres pre boil.

Also, hot fluids have a volume 4% greater than cold volume, so if you measure volume anywhere close to boil, you will have 4% shrinkage as the wort cools.

Don't forget that the mash will absorb water, so that mash in and sparge volumes will not equal volume to boiler.

The amount of evaporation depends on how hard you boil and how big the opening is on your kettle. It can be anywhere from 5% to 20% per hour.

Once again, write down all the values from your first brew, so in future you have a baseline to work from.

Don't feel the need to stick to 23 litres as your final volume. This is a throwback to the old measurement of 5 imperial gallons. If your fermenter and brewgear allows, brew whatever volume works for you. 15 litres, 20 litres or 25 are all possible.

 

[grinder]

A good question as this is also a place that new ag brewers miss the mark.

You lose volume due to evaporation in the boil and losses in the system.

End volume is 23 litres.
Lose 1-2 litres from trub and hops, so you should have 25 litres in the boiler at the end of the boil.
Lose an average of 10% per hour due to evaporation so you need at least 28 litres pre boil.

Also, hot fluids have a volume 4% greater than cold volume, so if you measure volume anywhere close to boil, you will have 4% shrinkage as the wort cools.

Don't forget that the mash will absorb water, so that mash in and sparge volumes will not equal volume to boiler.

The amount of evaporation depends on how hard you boil and how big the opening is on your kettle. It can be anywhere from 5% to 20% per hour.

Once again, write down all the values from your first brew, so in future you have a baseline to work from.

Don't feel the need to stick to 23 litres as your final volume. This is a throwback to the old measurement of 5 imperial gallons. If your fermenter and brewgear allows, brew whatever volume works for you. 15 litres, 20 litres or 25 are all possible.

Ok
I am thinking around 12.5 litres mash in volume (based on 5kg of grain) plus 18 litres sparge volume = total volume of 30.5ltrs.
Taking into account all other variables do you think this will be sufficient to give me a final volume of 23 ltrs.
I am going for 23 ltrs simply because it is what I am used to.

 

[pint of lager]

Make sure you have a bit more sparge water on hand, your grains are going to absorb something like one litre of water per kg, meaning your mash plus sparge total will be well over the 28 litres needed at the start of the boil.

 

[PostModern]

Have you settled on a recipe yet? I suggest a single malt brew mashed at 64-65C. Will let you taste your "system" in terms of mash temp accuracy and boiler volume, etc.

 

[grinder]

Make sure you have a bit more sparge water on hand, your grains are going to absorb something like one litre of water per kg, meaning your mash plus sparge total will be well over the 28 litres needed at the start of the boil.

Just worked it out with pro mash. I will need 20.74 ltrs of sparge water base on a 15% evaporation rate per 60 min boil.
Do you think allowing for a 15% loss from the boil is a realistic estimate?

 

[randyrob]

Just worked it out with pro mash. I will need 20.74 ltrs of sparge water base on a 15% evaporation rate per 60 min boil.
Do you think allowing for a 15% loss from the boil is a realistic estimate?

if you are going to add your bittering hops @ 60 mins make sure u boil with the lid off for at least 15-30 mins
to get rid of any nasties first....

so u might be better off setting the boil to 75mins in promash?

Rob.

 

[pint of lager]

What heat source is driving your kettle? If a gas burner, how many rings or is it a Nasa?

15% is a good starting point. Nasas often hit 20%.

 

[grinder]

What heat source is driving your kettle? If a gas burner, how many rings or is it a Nasa?

15% is a good starting point. Nasas often hit 20%.

it's a 3 ring gas stove. My kettle is around 70 Ltr capacity and sits on top of all 3 burners nicely