Starting from scratch - What equipment do I need?

[S.E]

Makes sense. I added the water to the grain, so next time I should get my temperature correct in the mash tun, then add the grain.

Yes I would add the grain to the water as it easier to let the water preheat the esky first. At least till you get the hang of your system.

Also I don’t know if it’s been mentioned here but a 60L esky is a bit big for 25L batches so you will have a large headspace above the mash. It would be better if you could cut some insulation and fit it above the mash. Even a sheet of tin foil above the mash will help.

 

[Ciderman]

Quick question for anyone? I've completed the brew and just bringing it down to temperature. I've come up a few litres short, sitting around 19-20. OG is 1044. Should I add water to bring back to the suggest OG reading of 1040?

 

[Adr_0]

Did you have the weight of the mash tun in Beersmith? And the "Adjust Temp for Equipment" box ticked?

Anyway, Congrats so far. I guess there's a lot to remember the first time but making these things right next time is satisfying. For next time it looks like you have a Temperature Mash set up in Beersmith. If you have the ability to heat the mash that's great, but suspect you should pick one of the infusion mash profiles.

Should have picked up the temp and made sure you added the grains to the water. Sorry about that.

Good luck for the rest of the day!

 

[Adr_0]

Quick question for anyone? I've completed the brew and just bringing it down to temperature. I've come up a few litres short, sitting around 19-20. OG is 1044. Should I add water to bring back to the suggest OG reading of 1040?

Yeah that's fine. Just make sure it's all well mixed when you take your hydrometer reading.

 

[Ciderman]

Yes I would add the grain to the water as it easier to let the water preheat the esky first. At least till you get the hang of your system.

Also I don’t know if it’s been mentioned here but a 60L esky is a bit big for 25L batches so you will have a large headspace above the mash. It would be better if you could cut some insulation and fit it above the mash. Even a sheet of tin foil above the mash will help.

Yeah I figured that but despite the fact that it went to 60 degree, it's actually stayed there for 90mins. I would have bought one smaller but it was a freebie. It's a fiberglass one so maybe that's why it held so well.

 

[Ciderman]

Did you have the weight of the mash tun in Beersmith? And the "Adjust Temp for Equipment" box ticked?
Anyway, Congrats so far. I guess there's a lot to remember the first time but making these things right next time is satisfying. For next time it looks like you have a Temperature Mash set up in Beersmith. If you have the ability to heat the mash that's great, but suspect you should pick one of the infusion mash profiles.
Should have picked up the temp and made sure you added the grains to the water. Sorry about that.
Good luck for the rest of the day!

I ended up just working out the water manually. I'll work on beersmith so we're in sync for the next brew. In the end the boil off was probably greater than I expected.

At the end of the day I added 3 litres of water which brought the gravity reading to what beersmith suggested so I think I'm in a good position so far.

At least it smells good!

 

[Adr_0]

Mate, sounds like you smashed it. Good job.

Now to plan the next one....

 

[zeddy1234]

Sounds exactly like my day today, first ag brew aswell.
Did you have the wort squirt all over the kitchen floor aswell?
How good did it smell?!?

 

[Ciderman]

Sounds exactly like my day today, first ag brew aswell.
Did you have the wort squirt all over the kitchen floor aswell?
How good did it smell?!?

Did mine in the shed... Haha. Yeah that's the first thing I noticed, particularly after the first addition of hops. What recipe did you make?

Btw thanks to everyone that contributed in this thread, it was very helpful.

 

[Ciderman]

Here's a few pics from the day.

 

[Adr_0]

Mate that looks unreal. How did your volumes and boil off end up? Will the 20L work for you?

 

[zeddy1234]

Did mine in the shed... Haha. Yeah that's the first thing I noticed, particularly after the first addition of hops. What recipe did you make?

Btw thanks to everyone that contributed in this thread, it was very helpful.

Mine was a Fat Cat Yak

3kg Light Munich Grain
1kg Wheat grain
250g CaraMunich Grain

15g Nelson @ 60
15g Galaxy and Nelson @ 2min
10g Galaxy and Nelson dryhop

Came up a bit short on OG, unsure why but looks good!

 

[Ciderman]

Mate that looks unreal. How did your volumes and boil off end up? Will the 20L work for you?

I got it down to 18 degrees and pitched the yeast late yesterday. A few bubbles this morning so it's kicked off. At this stage it smells better than any extract beer I have done so I'm hopeful that I have a drinkable beer. Basically I threw away beersmith except for the timer so I have much to learn and understand before the next brew. I'll go through some of the tutorials and aim to brew again in a few weeks.

I'll have some time to ponder over what recipe to try next...

 

[Ciderman]

I didn't see any point starting another thread for just one question, so...

After pitching the yeast on Sunday night it is rapidly fermenting far to quickly for my liking. Started at about 1040 and I'm down to 1020 already.

The original plan was to keep in the fridge at 18 degrees but my thermostat isn't being compliant so I ditched that idea. It's winter after all so I wasn't worried about high temperatures. It's presently sitting at around 15 degrees now and I'm not getting much variation in temperature.

Based on previous extract brews I have done, they have taken a lot long this time of year. Should I be worried or is this just the beneficiary of a good quality yeast?

 

[Lord Raja Goomba I]

What yeast? If it's Notto or you rehydrated, it might all be normal.

 

[Ciderman]

What yeast? If it's Notto or you rehydrated, it might all be normal.

It was that us 05 American ale yeast.

 

[Lord Raja Goomba I]

Rehydrated?

Ferment temp?

US05 on a rehydrate at 20 degrees I've had done in a week, easy. So I don't think that will be an issue.

The only issue is that sometimes it does get to 1.020, 1.018 - that sort of level and just conk out, or at least slow down.

Rouse the yeast, and a raise in temp will usually knock off those last 10 points.

 

[Adr_0]

All grain brews generally have a lot more nutrients (generally zinc I believe) than extract. This could be a reason and I definitely noticed faster ferments when I changed to all grain. Welcome to the all grain world.

As long as it doesn't stall, but sure it won't. 18 degrees should be ok for most yeasts and particularly US-05.

EDIT: In a nutshell, you will be fine. Probably lift to 20 degrees if you can.

 

[Ciderman]

Rehydrated?

Ferment temp?

US05 on a rehydrate at 20 degrees I've had done in a week, easy. So I don't think that will be an issue.

The only issue is that sometimes it does get to 1.020, 1.018 - that sort of level and just conk out, or at least slow down.

Rouse the yeast, and a raise in temp will usually knock off those last 10 points.

So it got down to 1.014 pretty quickly and stopped. I gave it a mix up, threw the heat belt on and brought it up to 20 degrees. There's a bit of activity so I'm hoping the gravity drops a little more. It does smell good so I think it's a pretty good job for my first AG beer.

I have to say though, I'm totally addicted. I need to get another fermenter so I can brew two at a time! I'd like to make a Porter next I think...

 

[Lord Raja Goomba I]

At least 3 fermenters. You need at least one for racking if you go down that line. I like to have it so I can bottle the leftover yeast for re-use.

Preferably 4.