First AG in the bag... well in the fermenter

So, I now have the yellow stripe on my bumper for an AG'er. That's a rookie, for those non-NASCAR fans. Going into this, I didn't know what was going to happen or what to really expect.

I started off as I do every session (heh, like I'm some pro or something...I've only done this four times). I sanitized everything and setup my station and got to wort, I mean work



My main goal of the day was to concentrate on the steps for all grain; I wasn't too concerned with efficiency or anything too technical. I wanted to make sure I hit acceptable temperatures in the mash tun and develop the skills necessary to produce a decent batch of beer the AG way. I figured by going at it this way, I could only improve on what I had already learned.

Things went as planned, nothing major happened (like boil over, crazy temp swings, etc...). I heated up 3.5 gallons of water to 170, poured it into the mash tun. Next, I doughed in the 11 pounds of grain which brought the tun temp down to 156. The 'doughed in' phrase kinda cracks me up a bit. Why don't people just say 'stirred in'. Then, I mashed the grain for the hour. I was able to collect 2.5'ish gallons after recirculating 2 quarts of wort.



Sparging was next, this is where I think a mistake could have been made... I had heated 5 gallons of water to 180 (while mashing). So, after collecting the first runnings, I filled the tun up with about two more gallons and let it sit for a few minutes before draining it into my bucket. I had to do this a couple times to get 6'ish gallons to boil. My gravity reading (going into the kettle) after it was all said and done was 1.037... is that right, who knows. I was a little concerned since the target (post boil) was 1.054...

Now that it's done, I can say I think it was successful & it should be an ok ESB. It was a lot of fun and I'm ready to do it again soon!

Measured Gravity after boil: 1.054



Feel free to check out all pics & the entire write-up on my website: BrewingExperiment.com

Recipe:
10.00 lb English Munton
0.75 lb 60L Crystal Malt
0.25 lb 120L Crystal Malt
1.50 oz Goldings, East Kent (60 min)
0.25 oz Fuggles (20 min)
0.25 oz Goldings, East Kent (20 min)
1 Whirlfloc tablet (20 min)
0.25 oz Fuggles (0 min)
0.25 oz Goldings, East Kent (0 min)
1 Vial White Labs WLP002 English Ale Yeast

Thanks for posting. I'm getting ready today to do my first All Grain. I was up till midnight last night watching YouTube vids. of "All Grain" demos. I'm heading to the hardware store this morning to get the parts to convert one of my coolers to a Tun.

I have the concept in my head, I just need to "get er done". I'm trying to decide if I want to go with Brew in a Bag, or convert the cooler to a Mash Tun.

Again, thanks for sharing, nice write up....

Thanks for the nice write up, and congratulations on what sounds like a successful first AG session.

Wear that stripe proudly!!

That's going to be a great beer, you're going to be surprised!

Congrats on the first AG...feels good doesn't it? Was the SWMBO helping or just lurking in the background cursing under her breath?

I think all gravities are kind of low going into the boil and then they become more concentrated as the wort boils away.

brokenanchor said:

Congrats on the first AG...feels good doesn't it? Was the SWMBO helping or just lurking in the background cursing under her breath?

Click to expand...

she does help a little, but leaves all of the cleaning up to me. i guess that's fair though

Hey, you hit your gravity right on, no major spills, or stuck sparges. I think your rocking.:rockin:

Congratulations on the first AG. I will attempt mine on Wednesday morning. I have to get a mash tun set up before proceeding, so tomorrow will be my initial setup and trial runs.

Salute!