Tips for 1st all grain batch

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SurlyBrew

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I have done 10 extracts, 1 partial mash and I'm making the switch. I've made a homemade mash tun cooler with copper tubing manifold. After much deliberation I've decided to batch sparge vs. fly sparge. What are some useful tips that will make my day a little easier? Things you wish you had know/thought of before you took the plunge.
 
I'd say that using brewing software or a good calculator to determine your water volumes is helpful, but not necessary. Definitely take detailed notes so that you can refine your AG process for future batches. I use an AG brewing checklist that I made so that I don't forget to vorlauf, take a pre-boil gravity reading, etc. Having a way to measure your water volume in the boil kettle is very helpful as well. This could be as simple as marks of a spoon, or the side of the kettle. And of course, have fun, I find AG a lot of fun, and it's not much harder than what you've been doing.
 
Make sure you have a good thermometer. This can be critical for both efficiency and hitting the style you're aiming for. I found out that my old instant read thermometer was anything but instant, and it was pretty far from accurate.

Many people here will recommend the Thermapen, but I went for the cheaper RT301WA from the same company. I've been very pleased with it.
 
I second using some software to calculate volumes AND your temps. The mash tun will cool down your strike water when you add it. So you have to calculate your strike temp based on how much thermal mass your mash tun has. Beersmith is great for this.
 
My first brew was an all grain, seriously is not that hard, I am not saying that in my first brews I didn't have problems, I did but all of them were fermentation or bottling related(so AG wasn't related to it).

The only recommendation I can give you is: have good instruments(a good thermometer and hydrometer).
 
Add a thermometer to your mash tun. Wish I did this first. Makes it so much easier to see whats going on and if you hit your target.

Also, don't be afraid to make your strike water temps a little hotter. It a million times easier to adjust from too hot rather than adjusting from too cold. First time you do this its going to be a PITA. Make your strike water a little hotter to heat up the tun.

Print out a checklist.

Get things ready while mashing, like pre-heating sparge water with about 15 minutes left to the sparge.

Mix up the mash when first pouring in strike water. Sometimes you get grain balls and patches stuck to the bottom. Don't stir too long or you'll lose a fair amount of steam and lose temp.
 
I just finished my first all grain batch this weekend. Everything went well but my efficiency was lower than expected. I would suggest 2 things..Im convinced this would have helped my efficiency...
1. Get a good crush. If your LHBS is crushing for you, have them run your grain through twice.
2. Most important IMO...Sparge SLOWLY...Dont get excited like me and drain your mash tun in 2 minutes for each sparge. Should have taken closer to 20 minutes...open the ball valve ever so slightly...

Good luck!
 
I just finished my first all grain batch this weekend. Everything went well but my efficiency was lower than expected. I would suggest 2 things..Im convinced this would have helped my efficiency...
1. Get a good crush. If your LHBS is crushing for you, have them run your grain through twice.
2. Most important IMO...Sparge SLOWLY...Dont get excited like me and drain your mash tun in 2 minutes for each sparge. Should have taken closer to 20 minutes...open the ball valve ever so slightly...

Good luck!

I don't think sparging slowly is necessary when batch sparging. I try to set the grain bed when vorlaufing and I drain the mash tun at roughly the same speed which for me is at least half open on the valve. Once conversion occurs, you just need to get the sugars from the mash tun to the kettle.
 
Speed does not matter for batch sparging. It does for fly sparging because you do not want to create channeling which would prevent all the grain from being washed. Since batch sparging employs the stir like crazy method, you can open the valve all the way up and collect the runnings fast.

My biggest piece of advice is take plenty of notes and do not stress if you do not hit your temps exactly. Keep boiling water on hand and ice cubes on hand so you can quickly adjust when you miss your temps. It will take several batches before your equipment is fully calibrated and you know what temps to heat your strike and sparge water to. Another note for sparging. The temperature of the grain bed needs to be as close to 170 as possible after you add your sparge water. For me, that means adding in water 180-185 (depending on the mash temp) to bring the grain bed up to temp. Good luck and post your notes after you complete and we can help you nail down any mistakes you may make. Cheers. :rockin:
 
Add your water to your tun a bit hotter than your strike temp (for ease and to account for the cooler tun eating up some heat), then slowly add and stir your grain and continue stirring until you hit your mash in temperature, then start your mash. My first few AG I had a hard time hitting my mash temp by adding the water to the grain and messing with hot and cold adjustment water. Also remember to put a foil baffle over the top of the grain if you are going to pour wort back onto the grain bed.

And don't stress, make sure you relax if something goes wrong - your beer will be fine!
 
Ditto alot of the stuff mentioned. Make a graduated measuring stick for your mash tun. Make sure you stir enough to where you have the same temp reading in multiple spots through out your grain bed. I started using a chorded meat thermometer. Works great plus I can watch the temp the whole mash without opening the lid every 10 minutes(which you will want to do the first time) Also when I sparge I only leave the water in as long as takes for me to stir and get good grain bed temps. Conversion has already happened. Your just trying to rinse the grain at this point. I used to wait 30 min, now its 10 min tops. Cuts down on brewing time. Consider picking up a refractometer also to measure your preboil gravity. That way youll know if you hit your mark and if you havent you can adjust appropriately with DME. Good Luck. Cheers!! SW
 
The sparge water temperature is arguably inconsequential to the quality of the wart you will get from it as the conversion is done. However, if you got above 170 F, you'll get astringency. It takes a while to get the wort boiling, so warmer the better, but don't risk your worth by heating sparge higher than 170.
 
I sparge with 180-190f water with no issues... When the grain bed is in the low 150s it takes a bit of work to get it over 170. YMMV. For brew day, have a written list with your times and additions. Don't start drinking until you start the boil. Most importantly, have fun with it and don't get stressed out. A bad day brewing is 1000 times better than a good day at work. Having some DME on hand in case you have poor efficiency, and some extra hops in case of higher than expected efficiency is always a good idea too.
 
1st of all : AG is not difficult, but it is a time intensive process. don't rush anything.

a couple of gadgets that have helped me
a refractometer is a godsend for taking gravity readings while midprocess
a couple of digital thermometers like these http://www.walmart.com/ip/Mainstays-Digital-Meat-Thermometer-with-Removable-Stand-00994W/14913173 one for the mash tun and one in your sparge water
you will need a strong long handled spoon(not a plastic one as they will bow considerably in the mash) stainless isn't needed but is preferred

some additional points to consider
look in my sig for an easy extraction calculator to find where your running if you dont have brewsoftware
take it easy with hot pots and never grab one without some hand protection( yes this is personal exp. i grabbed a boiling pot and dropped it but the splash-up hit me directly in the face) and eye prot is never a bad idea for splashing sparge water
 
The sparge water temperature is arguably inconsequential to the quality of the wart you will get from it as the conversion is done.

I think the point of using 170F sparge water is to "mash out" and denature enzymes in the mash, preventing the conversion from continuing beyond your desired mash time - specifically if you are fly sparging and taking 90 minutes or more to sparge (that's 90 or so minutes of extra conversion). Most people probably don't need a mash out, especially if batch sparging, but that's the logic behind it.
 
iambeer said:
The sparge water temperature is arguably inconsequential to the quality of the wart you will get from it as the conversion is done. However, if you got above 170 F, you'll get astringency. It takes a while to get the wort boiling, so warmer the better, but don't risk your worth by heating sparge higher than 170.

Your talking sparge water temp not grain bed temp. You need to get the grain bed up to 170 to complete mash out. 170 added to 152 isn't going to change temp much. I use 185 consistently with no astringency. I know guys that use boiling water though I wouldn't ever go that high. SW
 
OClairBrew said:
I sparge with 180-190f water with no issues... When the grain bed is in the low 150s it takes a bit of work to get it over 170. YMMV. For brew day, have a written list with your times and additions. Don't start drinking until you start the boil. Most importantly, have fun with it and don't get stressed out. A bad day brewing is 1000 times better than a good day at work. Having some DME on hand in case you have poor efficiency, and some extra hops in case of higher than expected efficiency is always a good idea too.

Ya good one. Don't start drinking when you start your brew day. Things tend To go awry. Or get missed. Like hop additions, SG readings, ect
 
Use a calculator to determine your temperatures and volumes of both the mash and sparge.

You might want to list the steps as a check off list so that you can keep track of what has been done and what comes up next.

Pre-heat your mash tun. I saw it suggested to use boiling water. If you are using a plastic cooler tun do not go that hot, it might warp the plastic.

It is really pretty easy. It takes longer than extract and there is a bit more to pay attention to but, IMO, is more interesting that using extracts.
 
I'm ready to pull the trigger on all grain. Looking for recommendations for a pretty bullet proof recipe to try first. Probably something on the APA IPA side of things --- and recommendatyIons
 
atimmerman88 said:
I'm ready to pull the trigger on all grain. Looking for recommendations for a pretty bullet proof recipe to try first. Probably something on the APA IPA side of things --- and recommendatyIons

Visit the recipe wiki and peruse the pale ales, plenty of proven, simple recipes to choose from:)
 
You need to get the grain bed up to 170 to complete mash out. SW

Depends on if he's sparging or mashing out, though.

If you're mashing out (adding all water to the tun before draining), then you need to bring the temp of the mash up to 170.

If you're sparging (most likely), then you've drained the wort, and are rinsing the grains, and only need to worry about rinsing with water 170-180ish.

Pete
 
I'm ready to pull the trigger on all grain. Looking for recommendations for a pretty bullet proof recipe to try first. Probably something on the APA IPA side of things --- and recommendatyIons

Just made Dude's Lake Walk Pale Ale found here and it is amazing.
 
Well, all these tips were very helpful. I ended up getting 77% efficiency with my homemade manifold and cooler! One difficulty I had was telling when the wort cleared while I was vorlaufing. I understand that its still going to be hazy but it shouldn't be cloudy... Wasn't exactly sure what it was supposed to look like. I pretty much recirculated 3 pitchers just to be sure. When I finally drained it off I was still getting some chunks but not as much as the beginning. Is this normal?
 
SurlyBrew said:
Well, all these tips were very helpful. I ended up getting 77% efficiency with my homemade manifold and cooler! One difficulty I had was telling when the wort cleared while I was vorlaufing. I understand that its still going to be hazy but it shouldn't be cloudy... Wasn't exactly sure what it was supposed to look like. I pretty much recirculated 3 pitchers just to be sure. When I finally drained it off I was still getting some chunks but not as much as the beginning. Is this normal?

The purpose of vorleuf is to set the grain bed and produce clear running. You may have needed more than three pitchers to achieve this. Also this should be done both when you initially mash out as well as again when you sparge. If you are using clear tubing out of the tun then you can see the runnings
 
I'd highly recommend purchasing brewing software like Beersmith. Once you set up your equipment profile correctly, it will very accurately calculate the volumes of water needed. It has a lot of other great features. A good thermometer is definitely needed. For your first All-Grain, I would recommend an Amber. They're delicious, a good fall beer, and will help cover up a lot of potential flaws. Also, enjoy the process. I would not agonize over missing your temperatures by 1 - 2 degrees.
 
There are a lot of great tips on here, but one thing to remember is HAVE FUN! I remember my first AG batch and I was really nervous. The beer came out fine and I even screwed up a few things. Just go into it knowing that things are going to go wrong, but in the end it will be ok :)
 
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