Buzz_Armstrong
Active Member
I've been a fan of the partial mash recipes for a while now. Been brewing about a year and I've done 12 batches so far. Except for a couple extract kits I've always done partial mash recipes. I was nervous about going all grain because I always figured, if I botch the specialty grains, at least I'll still have some sugar water to ferment.
Recently, I had the privilege to go and hang out at another local home brewer's home while he made a batch of all grain oatmeal stout. On here, he goes by "niquejim". He put an open invitation to local home brewers to come and hang out while he cooked up this batch a few weeks ago.
Well it turns out he uses a rectangular cooler to mash his grains, identical to one I had as a spare in my garage! I was able to check out his setup and get step by step guidance from this gentleman and decided I was ready to take the plunge!
I bought a good old fashioned Corona mill [eBay FTW!] and set sail for my first all grain adventure yesterday - a Chocolate Bock made with Safale-05 to ferment at room temperature. It went really well, hit my target mash temp like a pro, very nearly hit my target OG, and really pleased with the outcome which is bubbling away nicely today.
I'll post some pics in the photos forum tomorrow or so. Obviously, a gratuitous thermometer shot will be included.
Thanks to all of you for the hundreds of posts I've been able to study prior to taking this step and a special thanks to my local home brew hero, "niquejim" for taking the time to give me some first hand experience.
Recently, I had the privilege to go and hang out at another local home brewer's home while he made a batch of all grain oatmeal stout. On here, he goes by "niquejim". He put an open invitation to local home brewers to come and hang out while he cooked up this batch a few weeks ago.
Well it turns out he uses a rectangular cooler to mash his grains, identical to one I had as a spare in my garage! I was able to check out his setup and get step by step guidance from this gentleman and decided I was ready to take the plunge!
I bought a good old fashioned Corona mill [eBay FTW!] and set sail for my first all grain adventure yesterday - a Chocolate Bock made with Safale-05 to ferment at room temperature. It went really well, hit my target mash temp like a pro, very nearly hit my target OG, and really pleased with the outcome which is bubbling away nicely today.
I'll post some pics in the photos forum tomorrow or so. Obviously, a gratuitous thermometer shot will be included.
Thanks to all of you for the hundreds of posts I've been able to study prior to taking this step and a special thanks to my local home brew hero, "niquejim" for taking the time to give me some first hand experience.