Easy Stovetop All-Grain Brewing (with pics) - Page 61

MetallHed · 09-17-2010, 01:24 PM

Cool! it smells great so far. I hope it turns out. FYI I used 2 gallons in the spare instead of 1.5...

**DeathBrewer** · 09-19-2010, 05:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MetallHed

1) I put the batch in a 5 gallon carboy, because thats all I had. I'm not sure how I will be taking a gravity reading because it's so far down...

You could buy a couple of these plastic wine thieves and use two of the middle extension pieces:

Or just let it go 3 weeks and I'm sure you'll be fine.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MetallHed

2) I have a half ounce of willamette and a half ounce of cascade.. what can I make now?

Get some bittering hops and you could make an american brown or an interesting pale ale.

fugazzi · 09-19-2010, 08:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fugazzi

Just as an update, I'm buying a few more of the same bag. My last bag I turned inside out (seam out) in order to help with cleanup, but I'm gonna try using the bag seam in and see if it lasts. I'll post later if this works.

Update, I bought 3 more bags. My first one got a hole in it after three brews (broke today), using it seam in this time. Gonna whip out my second bag and use it seam out and see how far it gets.

MetallHed · 09-20-2010, 05:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DeathBrewer

Or just let it go 3 weeks and I'm sure you'll be fine.

I think that's just what I'm going to do. It's not a big beer so three weeks will be plenty.

Quote:

Get some bittering hops and you could make an american brown or an interesting pale ale.

It's getting colder.. so I'm going to use this recipe for a stout!

3.5 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM)
0.75 lb White Wheat Malt (2.4 SRM)
0.5 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt 60L
0.25 lb Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM)
0.25 lb Roasted Barley (300.0 SRM)
0.25 lb Lactose (Boil 10 min)

0.50 oz Willamette [4.9% AA](60 min)

Mash 60 min @ 152

Ferment 1 month @ 67 degrees F

Valcarde · 09-20-2010, 07:14 PM

I'm going to have to try this soon.
Subscribed!

CypressTop · 09-22-2010, 01:49 AM

Ok, I'm in! With the holidays coming, I am looking for some ideas for my first AG or PM. I am looking for a smooth, well balanced, and festive brew. Again, this will be my first AG / PM so simplicity would be nice, but I am not afraid of a challenge. I will be doing the stovetop method first.

Primary #1 - Oktoberfest - Extract
Primary #2 - Coopers English Bitter-Extract
Drinking - Commercial - Blue Moon Fall Variety Pack

jfr1111 · 09-22-2010, 04:47 AM

This looks tempting. I found a LHBS that has low prices for grain compared to what I've seen anywhere else. Sure it's Quebec grown grain, but I would be helping the local economy

What I'm not sure though are my calculations for mash/sparge and my ability to not overflow my pots. I have a two stockpots: 3.5 and 5 gal, so I really do not want (or have the possibility to for that matter) to venture into standard AG batches. With that in mind, I would be looking at 2.5 gal max.

Here are my calc for a standard 5.5% ABV pale ale (shooting for 65% efficiency)

Desired batch size: 2.5 gal
Boil-off rate : 1gl/h
Grain absorb. : 0,110 gal/lb
Grain bill: 6lbs
Mash const: 1,33 qt/lb

With that in mind I need 2.5 +1 = 3.5 final wort volume to nail my 2.5 gal batch goal post boil.

Mash water calc:
6lbs * 1,33 qt/lb = 8 qt = 2 gallons

Mash wort:
2 gal - (6lbs*0,11gal/lb) = 1,34 gallons wort post mash

Sparge water calc:
3.5 gal - 1,34 gal = 2,16 gals

Now, everything seems to add up fine, but I still have my doubts. I would mash in the 3.5 gal pot (Green Bay Rackers gives me 2.48 wort volume, so I would have a gallon of headspace, tight, but doable), sparge in the 5 gal and boil in the 5 gal. Would 3.5 gal in 5 gal would pose a serious of risk overflowing ?

Thanks for the great tutorial

MetallHed · 09-22-2010, 06:37 AM

Looks good! I've done 3.5 gallons in a 4 gallon kettle and it didn't overflow, just keep an eye on it.

I have read a good tip to control overflow is keeping a spray bottle with cold water in it to spray on the foam in case it starts to act up.

jfr1111 · 09-22-2010, 01:49 PM

I've seen friends do the water bottle thing to prevent boilovers and it has worked 80% of the time. It's the other 20% that I'm worried about

Maybe I'll just rig a small (clean and sanitized) fan to constantly blow on the kettle like I've seen suggested on here a few times.

Bradmont · 09-27-2010, 09:59 PM

I've been looking at giving this a try too, but I have a couple questions.

First, I'm wondering what size batch I could get away with with my current pots: I have a 5 gallon and a 3 gallon, what do you guys think would be the best way to go and what would be a good batch size? (I have a third that's 2 or 2.5 gallon, but I don't know if splitting a step up would make any sense?)

Second, I've been lurking in the recipes section, and found two I want to try, Default Ó Flannagáin Standard and this Strong Scotch Ale, and wondering which I should start with. I love scotch ales, but would I be right in assuming it would be at least a little more difficult than the stout? I have this impression because the wee heavy has a much bigger grain bill/higher OG, and I seem to recall reading that stouts are relatively tolerant to error. Any advice?

Quote:

Originally Posted by jfr1111

I found a LHBS that has low prices for grain compared to what I've seen anywhere else. Sure it's Quebec grown grain, but I would be helping the local economy

Hey, are you talking about La Fabrique du Vin on St Jean? Or somewhere else?