Wanting to Watch

I am wanting to watch and help someone do an allgrain brew. I just purchased and made an all grain set up, but I am interested in watching someone do one before I try my own. I am in SW Michigan, and if anyone is going to brew an allgrain in the next week or two and your willing to let me hang out and watch, I would be grateful.

I'll even bring the homebrew!

Joe

Joe, I'd be happy to let you watch this Sunday but I live in Virginey.

By the way, your thread title made me have to doublecheck the forum it was under before I clicked on it.

devaspawn said:

By the way, your thread title made me have to doublecheck the forum it was under before I clicked on it.

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Ditto here...I was reminded of Chance in the film Being There. "I like to watch."

To the OP: do you have a homebrew club in your region? If so, I strongly encourage you to join, as you'll find lots of people who would welcome an observer/helper at a brew session.

BLL is right. I found a HB club and I have learned an s-load just from the once a month meetings. Hell, you might get lucky and have one of your members be a big wig in one of the top HB forums. One of the guys in my club founded Brewtribe!

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIGrsGPVA_Y]YouTube - All Grain Home Brewing (1 of 8)[/ame]
That is a good video to watch how the process is done. I've been checking that out quite a bit lately.

Question about that video, when he was pouring his first running into the boil pot, it was splashing in rather vigorously, would that cause hot side aeration? I was under the impression that would be detrimental?

I just did my first AG and I was very worried about that kind of thing and trying to be very careful. Did I not need to be so careful?

Edit:

Also when he was pouring his batch sparge water into the cooler it was splashing into the grain, isn't that bad too?

Sager Brewing Co. said:

Question about that video, when he was pouring his first running into the boil pot, it was splashing in rather vigorously, would that cause hot side aeration? I was under the impression that would be detrimental?

I just did my first AG and I was very worried about that kind of thing and trying to be very careful. Did I not need to be so careful?

Edit:

Also when he was pouring his batch sparge water into the cooler it was splashing into the grain, isn't that bad too?

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I had the same question, I have a contact who works for a local brewery close to me who helped me get setup. He says the only stage where you really must avoid aerating the beer at all costs is after the beer has fermented, and transferring it to you next vessel, whether that be secondary, kegs or bottles.

Before this it doesn't matter as it helps feed the yeasties

While I'm closer, I'm still not close enough. I am near M-59 and US-23 between Pontiac and Lansing.

Nov 1 is teach a friend to brew day at Hopman's in Waterford. Let me know if you want to join us.

Linc

PaulStat said:

I had the same question, I have a contact who works for a local brewery close to me who helped me get setup. He says the only stage where you really must avoid aerating the beer at all costs is after the beer has fermented, and transferring it to you next vessel, whether that be secondary, kegs or bottles.

Before this it doesn't matter as it helps feed the yeasties

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Well I know its ok to aerate once its cooled off, but while its hot?

Well I know its ok to aerate once its cooled off, but while its hot?

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HSA is bugaboo in the homebrew environment. Think about it- any oxygen that gets introduced while draining the MLT is going to be boiled away without prejudice in the boil kettle. You need to get oxygen back into the wort before pitching for a healthy fermentation to take place.

As far as splashing on the sparge, Chris is batch sparging so the integrity of the grain bed isn't important. The sparge water gets dumped in, the grain stirred and allowed to resettle, then drained.

watch all 8 videos of chrisknight007 on utube. really good basic info that helped me out before I went all grain. I did one batch of extract, watched his vid's and went all grain on the 2nd and all the rest have been AG. Not a really difficult process, just think of it this way, instead of adding extract and water, your making that liquid via water and grain, like steeping a really big tea bag.

Here are some quotes from John Palmer's How to Brew, which is where I got my concern:

3. Pour in about 1 gallon of your strike water into the Mash Tun and stir in the crushed grain. This is the doughing-in stage. Mix the water and grist together gradually to avoid shocking the enzymes. Stir it to make sure all the grain is fully wetted, but don't splash. Hot side aeration can occur anytime the wort is hotter than 80°F. Oxidation of wort compounds will not be affected by the subsequent boil, and will cause flavor stability problems later.

9. Once the wort has cleared, drain the wort carefully into your boiling pot. Fill the pot slowly at first and allow the level to cover the outlet tube. Be sure to have a long enough tube so that the wort enters below the surface and does not splash. The splashing of hot wort before the boil can cause long term oxidation damage to the flavor of the beer.

I realise Mr Palmer is a god amongst men for you guys brewing in the States, but how come no-one else gets quoted?

Not saying he's wrong but there must be other sources

I've never heard anyone call him god, but he is a well respected resource in brewing for more then just Americans.

SGC-

HSA does exist, but it's mainly of concern in large commercial breweries where wort is transferred under immense pressure and usually involves a two-story drop. Much has changed and come to light since Palmer's book, so you needn't be concerned about HSA. Like I said, it's bugaboo for homebrewers.

Whew......Wow...lots of Information....Ok First I must say..its ok to watch... I guess I keep trying.....

PaulStat said:

I realise Mr Palmer is a god amongst men for you guys brewing in the States, but how come no-one else gets quoted?

Not saying he's wrong but there must be other sources

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You know... there is a lot of information out there and a lot of it is contradictory. Everyone's brewing methodology differs slightly at best and that's what is great about brewing/wine making or whatever.

John Palmer, Charlie Papazian, Jamil Zainasheff and your local brew store are ALL good references but you still need to just get out there and brew to learn.

I've only done 10 batches of all grain myself but, i'd be willing to show anyone around me, what I know, and all but 2 of my beers came out well. 1 was because my dumb ass forgot the yeast, and the other was because I didn't know I was supposed to stir the mash when I was batch sparging. I brew now first saturday of everymonth

I did my first all grain after 2 extract batches. I read John Palmers book, and watched all the you tube videos I could get my hands on. It was great info However the truth is your gonna miss something the first time you do it.

After your first attempt it will click and fall into place. I never understood brew house efficiency till my 4th all grain batch. My advise, write down all the steps you plan to take. Write out your brewing session. Don't worry about aeration, or anything of the sort. Just make sure you have extra water on hand. Check out beersmith or promash too, great software. They made no sense to me either till my second AG attempt.

I look back and say what was the big deal? AG was this big holy grail of big boy brewing, and its not. Like your first time in the sack, it will be over before you knew you started, and then you say I was stressing over what?

"The splashing of hot wort before the boil can cause long term oxidation damage to the flavor of the beer."

How many here keep all their beers Long Term

I believe that is why it is not a big problem homebrewing

Well I'm about 30min west of you right off US12 in Elkhart. I've got a brew scheduled for next week if you want to watch. Also, the local club, Michiana Extract & Grain Association is planning a get together for November 1st which is "Teach a friend to Homebrew Day". You're more than welcome to come to that or PM me for more info on when I'm going to brew next week.

-Chip

Iechyd Da said:

Iechyd Da

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Iechyd Da to you too, a Welshman in the states?

I am in Coldwater, real close to you.And work in White Pigeon I go thru Sturgis every day. I am Brewing a Steam Beer Sat. Morning and you are welcome to come over to Watch /help/learn.