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ILuvIPA · 10-18-2010, 01:16 AM

First AG session today and it went great. . .well, almost.

First runnings 1.074 - I thought that was pretty good. But I did a single batch sparge (prob w/too much water) and knocked myself back to 1.046 in the pot. Had to add DME to make my target 1.064. Hey, I'm ok with that as a first effort. I think next round I'll do 2 sparges, half water each.

Was about to pitch when I noticed my Nottingham smelled off. Uh, not a bad batch - my last shipment I ordered Notty and they shipped Windsor. Doh! Didn't even notice until I smelled the rehydrated yeasties. (those damn packs sure look alike!)

Anyway, It will be beer, just not my regular house IPA. Bottom line = AG IS FREAKING AMAZING! I can't believe I made all that sweet sticky wort from just water & grain (ok, ok, plus 15% DME!)

Thanks Guys!

**bucfanmike** · 10-18-2010, 02:07 AM

i batch sparge, still kinda new at it. I usually go with 1.25 qts/lb for mash then about .5 gal/lb for sparge. I do adjust that .5 when needed to make sure I get 6.5 gal into the BK. I use a ss braid in my mash tun so i stir the sparge water and let it sit 15 minutes.

If you were 1.064 pre boil, what was it after boil off?

ILuvIPA · 10-18-2010, 02:57 AM

1.071 post boil - I was planning to hit a FG of 1.017 (a pretty big IPA.) But since I had to pitch the Windsor instead of Nottingham I don't think it will attenuate down that far. Kind of a bummer after all that work to have the wrong yeast!

But I'm not going to worry about it too much - I'm guessing the Windsor will finish in the upper 20's leaving me with a much heavier, sweeter brew than I'd planned. . .I might try to force it a bit - when the ferment is about 1/2 - 2/3 done I might try feeding it some table sugar and see if I can get close to my original target FG.

Ditto on the batch sparge - I used 1.3qt/pound in the mash but only did a single batch sparge with enough to make up my total volume. When I cleaned out the tun I could see I left a lot of sugars (the dead space water looked like wort.) Also I only let the sparge sit 10 minutes. So next time I'll try a double sparge with half the water in each and let the sparge sit a bit longer.

Anyway, I'm happy with the brew day. Learned a lot about putting into practice what I've been reading!

boomr · 10-18-2010, 03:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ILuvIPA

1.071 post boil - I was planning to hit a FG of 1.017 (a pretty big IPA.) But since I had to pitch the Windsor instead of Nottingham I don't think it will attenuate down that far. Kind of a bummer after all that work to have the wrong yeast!

But I'm not going to worry about it too much - I'm guessing the Windsor will finish in the upper 20's leaving me with a much heavier, sweeter brew than I'd planned. . .I might try to force it a bit - when the ferment is about 1/2 - 2/3 done I might try feeding it some table sugar and see if I can get close to my original target FG.

Ditto on the batch sparge - I used 1.3qt/pound in the mash but only did a single batch sparge with enough to make up my total volume. When I cleaned out the tun I could see I left a lot of sugars (the dead space water looked like wort.) Also I only let the sparge sit 10 minutes. So next time I'll try a double sparge with half the water in each and let the sparge sit a bit longer.

Anyway, I'm happy with the brew day. Learned a lot about putting into practice what I've been reading!

Congrat's on the first AG batch. How did you cook before, partial, extract? Did have a longer cook day than usual?

Also cooked my first AG batch & double batch today. Lots firsts & lots of changing & learning on the fly.
Usually cook partial, and typical cook day was about 4.5 hours. Started around 12:00, finished at about 7:00.
Made an amber ale, hit target gravity (1.062) in the end, no additions, 75% efficency, & found out 24.25 lbs of grains & 7.5 gallons of water will max out a 10 gallon cooler. Missed the mash in temp (missed by about 5 degree's), but hit the mash out temp.
First time using a pump (wow, makes transfering so simple), used QD cam locks on all hoses (everyone should be using these things, talk about simple), & used Therminator wort chiller (I didn't think it was possible to cool wort that quick).
All in all, some things to fine tune, but not as bad as I thought it would be.

ILuvIPA · 10-18-2010, 10:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by boomr

Congrat's on the first AG batch. How did you cook before, partial, extract? Did have a longer cook day than usual?

Also cooked my first AG batch & double batch today. Lots firsts & lots of changing & learning on the fly.
Usually cook partial, and typical cook day was about 4.5 hours. Started around 12:00, finished at about 7:00.
Made an amber ale, hit target gravity (1.062) in the end, no additions, 75% efficency, & found out 24.25 lbs of grains & 7.5 gallons of water will max out a 10 gallon cooler. Missed the mash in temp (missed by about 5 degree's), but hit the mash out temp.
First time using a pump (wow, makes transfering so simple), used QD cam locks on all hoses (everyone should be using these things, talk about simple), & used Therminator wort chiller (I didn't think it was possible to cool wort that quick).
All in all, some things to fine tune, but not as bad as I thought it would be.

Previously brewed extract. Yep, AG added 2 hours to the day.