First AG..what was I thinking?

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

newguy

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 15, 2006
Messages
271
Reaction score
2
Location
Sierra Vista
Well after one hell of a day my first all grain is officially under my belt. I planned to do my first AG yesterday. I have been planning this for weeks. So sure enough a couple days before brew day I get some great news....weather forecast for Saturday December 1st-Mid to low 60's with a high chance for rain. Winds in excess of 35-45mph.

So did this stop me? No way in hell I was going to brew my first AG, hell or high water.

Should I have reconsidered after hearing the weather forecast? Yeah would have been a good idea! :D

Got started around noon and was mashing by 12:30. (sorry all my pics of the mash came out blurry) Mash went great!! hit my strike temp but it raised a bit on my over the hour and I'm pretty sure my actually mash temp was more around 156 instead of my initial temp that I wanted to be 154. Ohh well no big deal it's my first mash!!

So 1:30 rolls around and the clouds are rolling in and the winds are starting to rip of the mountains something fierce. But I'm staying diligent and holding true.

Sparge goes great and I get my boil volume just right at 6.5 gallons to the keggle. Now the funs begins.

For the past 30 minutes or so the winds picked up to about 30 mph and getting the keg to come to a full boil with all the wind took over an hour...DOH!!! It's getting really freakin cold outside.

Now the rain,sleet and snow starts. :drunk:

So for the last agonizing hour of the brew me and a few club members...and die hards at that! stood vigilant over our brew and saw it to the end. So about 5 and a half hours later we finished up my first AG and I was so pleased!

Even with all the bad weather it was really great to brew beer from scratch. I also really found out for myself that the "fear to jump to AG" really isn't that much. It really wasn't hard at all. I'm glad I decided to make the jump! I just wish it had been about a year sooner! :)

A huge thanks to everyone here at HBT for all the great tips, advice, and ideas along the way. Also goes with out saying a big thanks to Ed Wort for his great beginner's AG recipe!

The hydro test tube tasted simply amazing! so I cant wait to try this beer out at X-mas time!

Enjoy the photos!

Cheers,

 
Nice! Congrats on your first AG!

Are those the Huachucas I see being swallowed by the clouds?
 
Congrats. Nice pics too. It looks like one heck of a storm especially to be brewing in.

I had my first AG this weekend as well. We can only get better from here, right? =)
 
Congrats. Wait till you try the sample when you transfer to the secondary. With some alcohol in it, that one tastes really good.
 
e lo said:
Nice! Congrats on your first AG!

Are those the Huachucas I see being swallowed by the clouds?

Yes sir that would be correct. that section you see in the photo is Carr Canyon. That was actually a relatively nice pic of the weather. I was to cold and miserable to take any really bad weather photos. :)

Yeah I'm really excited to give it a test taste in about 10 days! but ferm is going strong atm!

Cheers,
 
Congrats!! Now all you will want to brew is AG, you're gonna be hooked! The advantage is you can drink more of that homebrew while you are brewing AG's. Nothing wrong with that! I know what bad weather is like to brew in. I live in Wisconsin and I was brewing one winter day in my garage (doors almost all the way closed) and within 15 minutes, the 12 oz. of homebrew in my mug was partially frozen!
 
Nicely done. Way to stick to it regardless of the adversity.

Fortunately, I re-rigged my workshop into a brewshop so I don't have to keep my eye on the weather channel. It's 68 degrees and dry, 24/7, 365.

Me_Brewing.jpg
 
BM, you bastich, it was 85 and sunny today in Austin as I brewed with two friends. It was a triple batch day. My friend brewed 10 gallons of my Haus Ale, the other brewed 10 gallons of Awsome Ale (some recipe from cats' ass) and I brewed a clone of Anchor Porter.

Here I am sweating, and you are enjoying beer & pretzels in the basement with Carbon Monoxide. :D
 
Welcome to the AG club! I'm impressed with your fortitude. My set up is just slightly more comfortable than biermunchers.
I have to move things around, but I brew in my kitchen with my computer, tv and beer at hand.

Again, welcome to the dark side!
 
Thanks everyone! yeah the plus is here in AZ is really we only get a couple bad months out of the year. the rest of the time is great for brewing outdoors.

Update-things are going well. we are 50+ hours into ferm and its going strong. My temps got a bit high last night as we turned up the heat inside. :) Just checked my beer it was at 74 degrees. So I wet down a shirt and wrapped it up. Should bring it back down a few degrees. Really need to get off my arse and finish building my controlled temp fermentation closet. :)

Thanks for the welcome to club!

Cheers,
 
Man, that's gorgeous. I can't wait to see it in person again when I visit my folks for Christmas (my Dad lives up in Tucson, and my Mom and Step-Dad are in Bisbee.)
 
ahhh cool yeah was just down in Bisbee last Friday. Lights are up on mainstreet. It looks really great this year.

Kinda funny. Sunday the day after my fun AG day...its was nice and clear, no wind....go figure right!

Cheers,
 
Back
Top