Yeehaaw! My First Ag

[danman]

im so very excited thismorning because whilst i sit here and type my boiler is happily bubbling away with 26L of my first all grain beer attempt. ive used
3kg wheat
2kg pilsener
25g tettnang @ 60 mins
15g czech saaz @ 20 mins
10g czech saaz @ 5 mins
mashed grains at 66C for 20 mins
sparged grains at 66C until desired litres in boiler

now i sit back and wait and smell the lovely flavours!
cant believe how easy it seems to be,i was a little nervous but i think it will turn out ok.

what do you all think of this basic recipe for my first go?

cheers,dan

 

[mika]

Didn't make it easy on yourself. Wheat's a bugger to sparge, I take it you used a handful of rice hulls ?
Should be a nice easy drinking beer and any clarity issues will be disguised by the wheat...I like your thinking

Welcome to the dark side

 

[oldbugman]

20minute mash...

 

[rough60]

Congrats, love it when those hops hit the boil.

 

[bindi]

mashed grains at 66C for 20 mins
sparged grains at 66C until desired litres in boiler




Well done, BUT :huh: how long was the sparge at 66 and what was your OG into the boiler?

 

[danman]

i mashed with 16L of water at 66C,then added approx 10L of same temp water to rinse the grains with. i left the sparge water on the grains for 5 mins after i stirred the grains and water,just to let everything settle again. it took the first 2L of water out of the tap to run clear,which i put back into the mash tun.
the OG of the final sparge water was 1020 now that it has cooled to room temp. i know that ideally you stop sparging at 1010 but for my first AG i think it should be ok.

im mainly concentrating at the moment on the system and how well it works or doesnt work.

cheers,dan

 

[browndog]

sparged grains at 66C until desired litres in boiler

That is an interesting mash schedule you have there Danman, where did you come up with that? Normally, you would mash with a higher temp strikewater to take into account the cooling effect from the grain and mash tun, added to the tun in one hit, rule of thumb 10C higher than your mash temp. I think you will find that your actual mash temp was lower than 66C. Also, 20 minutes is cutting it pretty fine for your mash, 60mins is the go on average. Did you achieve your predicted SG with the wort?

cheers

Browndog

 

[Steve]

congrats.....but mash for 60 mins and sparge with water at 78

 

[Jazzafish]

Dan

As mentioned your mash may give you problems as you may not convert the grain's starches into the types of fermentables desired. Hard to say but I think you will get a very dry beer...

This mash system may help as a guide:
5Kg grain at 20*C in mashtun + 15 Litres of water at 77*C via a 1 metre long garden hose = a mash of 67*C. Rest for 60mins. From this much grain I normally have a post boil gravity of 1.050.

Your target sparge temp should be around 78*C, as history suggests it is the most effective in extracting the fermentables into your kettle. I normally put 20 Litres over an hour through 5Kg of grain for a target gravity of ~1.050

If your mash temp is a few degrees hotter than 67*C, you will create sugars that are less fermentable, but give more body and sweetness. Don't go higher than 70*C as you risk stuck ferments.
If your mash is a few degrees below 67*C, you will create a highly fermentable wort, giving a dry finnish.

Cheers,
Jarrad

 

[danman]

thanks for all the advice guys,the final OG at pitching was 1046,and was estimated on promash being minimum 1044 max 1052. evrything in my mind said that i should mash for 60 mins but i remember someone saying to me to mash and sparge for 20 mins each,which during the first AG nerves sent my head into a spin. im sure weve all been there....

well like i said this is my first time so lotsa bugs to be ironed out,like the filter i made from the sheath around SS braided hose which blocked half way through draining my kettle. worked well with water...not so good with hop pellet trub though!

all in all im very happy with how it went,just cant wait to taste the end result!

cheers,dan