tallmikeG
02-23-2004, 11:29 AM
so...yesterday i endured 4.5 hrs in 40* weather because i couldn't wait any longer to try my first all-grain batch. I'm going to describe my process in detail, mainly so i can get some constructive criticism from the seasoned AG'ers on the board. It may be a long post...think of it as some quality "work-avoidance" time!
My recipe was the Arrogant Bastard clone that I found online:
11.5 pounds pale two-row malt
1.5 pounds crystal 120
1.25 oz chinook pellets (12.5 aa%) (15.6 AAUs) @ 90 min
1.0 oz chinook pellets (12.5 AAUs) @ 30 min
0.5 oz chinook pellets (6.25 AAUs) @ flame out
1 tsp Irish moss
White Labs WLP007 or WLP001 (English Ale Yeast)
Preparation Place crushed grains in water and steep at 155 degrees for 60 minutes. Boil for 90 minutes, adding the hops according to schedule. Add Irish Moss last 5 minutes of the boil. Cool wort and pitch yeast. Primary ferment at about 68 F for 7 to 10 days. Secondary fermentation optional.
Specifics Style Strong Ale Recipe Type All Grain Batch Size 5 gallons Original Gravity 1.074 Final Gravity 1.018 Boiling Time 90 minutes Primary Fermentation Glass, ~ 68 F, 7-10 days Secondary Fermentation optional Other Specifics 75 IBUs, about 7% abv.
Comments Aging will mellow the Bastard so drink it young if you want to prove your worth.
Just a quick mention of my equipment:
the B3-150 (2x5 gallon round coolers - a HLT and a mash tun) with 9-gallon kettle, a King Cooker & immersion chiller.
After crushing 13 pounds of grain by hand (Marga Mill), I'm definitely considering the purchase of a drill adaptor and some sort of vise to hold it in place. I then dumped the entire mass of grain into the mash tun, gathered my brew gear, and ventured out into the cold and windy outdoors. Using the calculation from ProMash, I heated 4.5 gallons of water (4.5 = 1.25 quarts per pound of grain and figuring for a 1/2 gallon evaporation) to 163* and poured it into the mash tun on top of the grains. The temp hit my target 152* (for a more fermentable wort) according to my digital probe thermometer after a few gentil stirs. I put the lid onto the cooler and let it sit for 60 min. while i heated 7.5 gallons of water (1/2 gallon for each pound of grain, again compensating for evaporation with an extra gallon) to 178*. Obviously my 5 gallon HLT couldn't hold 7-ish gallons of water, so I put the extra amount into two spring water jugs to add to the HLT during the sparge.
60 minutes had past, so i opened the mash tun and took a sample of the liquid for an iodine test. Everything converted fully and there was no loss in temp, even during a 40* day...i'm psyched. The mash tun was already practically full by the time i put the sparge arm in place, but i managed to sprinkle a good amount of 178* water onto the grain bed before draining some of the wort. It took a good 1.5 gallons (1.5 spring water bottles) of runoff before the liquid was clear, which i gently poured back into the mash tun. The sparging process seemed like a battle between the water level above the grain bed and the runoff rate causing bubbles in the line. Every time i could get an even flow of bubble-less runoff, the water level would sink below the grain bed. I was finally able to tweak the two into being somewhat compliant...ahhh, the rigors of new equipment. I'm estimating that the sparge took somewhere around 40 minutes before i took a gravity reading of the runoff which read 1.005. I had collected only 5 gallons of wort, but figured that i'd rather have less great beer than more watery beer so i stopped draining and fired up the cooker for the third and final time that day.
Everything else went pretty well, and i won't bore you with the rest of the process since it doesn't really deviate between all-grain and extract. I did manage to twist the entire head off of my hose trying to unscrew a perma-rusted spray gun attachment. I did manage to explain "what the hell i was doing" to each neighbor that walked by that afternoon. I did manage to catch a cold from spending an unnatural amount of time exposed to inhumane temperatures...granted, no socks and an earless baseball cap were probably my own fault.
The end result? 4.5 gallons of 1.055 SG wort fermenting away in my hallway. ProMash assures me of 69% efficency, good enough for my first attempt at all-grain. It was a learning experience, and I'll now be able to read more about the process with some inkling of what people are talking about. I'm already set on getting another burner and a few converted kegs to ease the process and to make larger batches.
any tips, suggestions, questions, comments? thanks in advance for reading through all this garbage!
My recipe was the Arrogant Bastard clone that I found online:
11.5 pounds pale two-row malt
1.5 pounds crystal 120
1.25 oz chinook pellets (12.5 aa%) (15.6 AAUs) @ 90 min
1.0 oz chinook pellets (12.5 AAUs) @ 30 min
0.5 oz chinook pellets (6.25 AAUs) @ flame out
1 tsp Irish moss
White Labs WLP007 or WLP001 (English Ale Yeast)
Preparation Place crushed grains in water and steep at 155 degrees for 60 minutes. Boil for 90 minutes, adding the hops according to schedule. Add Irish Moss last 5 minutes of the boil. Cool wort and pitch yeast. Primary ferment at about 68 F for 7 to 10 days. Secondary fermentation optional.
Specifics Style Strong Ale Recipe Type All Grain Batch Size 5 gallons Original Gravity 1.074 Final Gravity 1.018 Boiling Time 90 minutes Primary Fermentation Glass, ~ 68 F, 7-10 days Secondary Fermentation optional Other Specifics 75 IBUs, about 7% abv.
Comments Aging will mellow the Bastard so drink it young if you want to prove your worth.
Just a quick mention of my equipment:
the B3-150 (2x5 gallon round coolers - a HLT and a mash tun) with 9-gallon kettle, a King Cooker & immersion chiller.
After crushing 13 pounds of grain by hand (Marga Mill), I'm definitely considering the purchase of a drill adaptor and some sort of vise to hold it in place. I then dumped the entire mass of grain into the mash tun, gathered my brew gear, and ventured out into the cold and windy outdoors. Using the calculation from ProMash, I heated 4.5 gallons of water (4.5 = 1.25 quarts per pound of grain and figuring for a 1/2 gallon evaporation) to 163* and poured it into the mash tun on top of the grains. The temp hit my target 152* (for a more fermentable wort) according to my digital probe thermometer after a few gentil stirs. I put the lid onto the cooler and let it sit for 60 min. while i heated 7.5 gallons of water (1/2 gallon for each pound of grain, again compensating for evaporation with an extra gallon) to 178*. Obviously my 5 gallon HLT couldn't hold 7-ish gallons of water, so I put the extra amount into two spring water jugs to add to the HLT during the sparge.
60 minutes had past, so i opened the mash tun and took a sample of the liquid for an iodine test. Everything converted fully and there was no loss in temp, even during a 40* day...i'm psyched. The mash tun was already practically full by the time i put the sparge arm in place, but i managed to sprinkle a good amount of 178* water onto the grain bed before draining some of the wort. It took a good 1.5 gallons (1.5 spring water bottles) of runoff before the liquid was clear, which i gently poured back into the mash tun. The sparging process seemed like a battle between the water level above the grain bed and the runoff rate causing bubbles in the line. Every time i could get an even flow of bubble-less runoff, the water level would sink below the grain bed. I was finally able to tweak the two into being somewhat compliant...ahhh, the rigors of new equipment. I'm estimating that the sparge took somewhere around 40 minutes before i took a gravity reading of the runoff which read 1.005. I had collected only 5 gallons of wort, but figured that i'd rather have less great beer than more watery beer so i stopped draining and fired up the cooker for the third and final time that day.
Everything else went pretty well, and i won't bore you with the rest of the process since it doesn't really deviate between all-grain and extract. I did manage to twist the entire head off of my hose trying to unscrew a perma-rusted spray gun attachment. I did manage to explain "what the hell i was doing" to each neighbor that walked by that afternoon. I did manage to catch a cold from spending an unnatural amount of time exposed to inhumane temperatures...granted, no socks and an earless baseball cap were probably my own fault.
The end result? 4.5 gallons of 1.055 SG wort fermenting away in my hallway. ProMash assures me of 69% efficency, good enough for my first attempt at all-grain. It was a learning experience, and I'll now be able to read more about the process with some inkling of what people are talking about. I'm already set on getting another burner and a few converted kegs to ease the process and to make larger batches.
any tips, suggestions, questions, comments? thanks in advance for reading through all this garbage!