Taking The Dive Into Ag

[b_thomas]

Time to take a deep breath and go in to the deep end, planned brew day is this coming Saturday, so I'll wait until after 1pm.
Have decided to go with a half batch in the event I faff things up. I've been trying to get my mash schedule down pat but trying to heat from 66c to 77c for a mashout pretty much uses up the lion's share of sparge water so I guess mashout infusion is my first batch sparge. I'm sure the astute will see that the grain bill is pretty big - I'm expecting a 60% efficiency, if I only hit 50% it becomes an ordinary and if I hit 70+% I'll dilute and make a bigger batch. The boiling hops are what I have left over in the freezer, so haven't gone EKG right the way through and didn't have enough fuggles to get enough IBU's, I'll +/- depending on what pre-boil efficiency I get. Anyways here's the BeerSmith print out and the recipe I've conjured up.

Recipe: English
Brewer: MrGrumpy
Asst Brewer:
Style: Extra Special/Strong Bitter (English Pale Ale)
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (35.0)

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 12.00 L
Boil Size: 16.77 L
Estimated OG: 1.057 SG
Estimated Color: 19.4 EBC
Estimated IBU: 41.1 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 60.00 %
Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
3.00 kg Pale Malt, Maris Otter (5.9 EBC) Grain 82.19 %
0.50 kg Munich Malt (17.7 EBC) Grain 13.70 %
0.15 kg Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (118.2 EBC) Grain 4.11 %
20.00 gm Goldings [4.30 %] (60 min) Hops 17.6 IBU
20.00 gm Fuggles [3.20 %] (60 min) Hops 13.1 IBU
30.00 gm Goldings, East Kent [4.70 %] (10 min) Hops 10.5 IBU
20.00 gm Goldings, East Kent [4.70 %] (0 min) Hops -
1 Pkgs Nottingham (Danstar #-) Yeast-Ale


Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Medium Body, Batch Sparge
Total Grain Weight: 3.65 kg
----------------------------
Single Infusion, Medium Body, Batch Sparge
Step Time Name Description Step Temp
90 min Mash In Add 9.00 L of water at 72.7 C 66.0 C
10 min Mash Out Add 6.50 L of water at 94.6 C 77.0 C
10 min Sparge Add 5.50 L of water at 81.1 C 78.0 C

Notes:
------
60L Techni Ice Esky with Braided Hose
20L Aluminium Boiler

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
​

 

[chappo1970]

Looks good Mr Grumpy,

Best thing to do is do it and enjoy it. Don't sweat it ok! Concentrate on the process and worry about efficiencies etc later. You should shoe in 70% BTW.

Good luck and post the results :icon_cheers:

Cheers

Chappo

 

[b_thomas]

Will do, considering blogging and photoing the whole process, just so I can look back in a few years time and have a laugh at my own expense

 

[chappo1970]

Will do, considering blogging and photoing the whole process, just so I can look back in a few years time and have a laugh at my own expense

+1
Bet ya 3 things

1. You'll wonder why you didn't do it sooner
2. You'll love the beer you brewed
3. You'll make the same mistakes in 3 different ways

You'll be fine. Look forward to the blog.

Chappo :icon_cheers:

 

[Guest Lurker]

I think you are making it harder on yourself doing a half batch. Things like heat losses in the tun, losses at the base of the kettle or tun, are a greater percentage doing a smaller batch. So it would be easier to hit your temps and gravities doing a full batch.

 

[b_thomas]

Slight hitch with doing a full batch (which I would love to do) is that I only have a 20L pot to boil with. Trust me a 60L is next on the shopping list as soon as my RuddMoney hits the cheque account.

I did do a partial with roughly the same amount of grain and the Mash Tun (Techni Ice) didn't drop a degree for the entire 60min mash. Might lose a degree over 90mins though.

Anyways I figure a few complications will make me a better brewer in the long run... so long as I don't keep replicating them