jrfuda
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jun 22, 2009
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- 134
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I brewed a variation of BierMuncher's Cream of Three Crops yesterday as my first all grain batch, and finished with 78% efficieny.
I used a rubbermaid 10 gal MLT and my new Barley Crusher at the default .039.
I used magnum and cascade with a target of just over 15 IBUs to make this SWMBO-friendly (I bought a pound each of magnum, cascade and SAAZ from Hops Direct last month). It only took 1/3 oz of the magnum to get to the target IBU's with a 60 minute boil, and I added another 1/3 oz of Cascade at flame out. Again, this hit the 15 IBUs in BeerSmith, but I hope it does not come out underhopped.
I also used some regular old white rice, that I cooked in my rice cooker before mashing (actually the night before) instead of buying flaked rice. We typically buy a 50lb bag of rice at Costco every 6 months, so I always have some on hand and it comes out to be something like 40 cents a pound. Next time I may try frozen corn in place of flaked maize, though I think - once you adjust for the moisture in the frozen corn, it ends up costing about the same as dry flaked maize, and you don't have to pre-cook the flaked maize...
What's interesting too is I was able to pull of this all grain batch while watching my 3 & 5 year olds, doing 4 loads of laundrey, cleanng the house and making lunch and dinner (my wife was studying for an exam and was locked away in the guest room doing so). It actually wasn't too bad, becuase other than setup and cleanup, it was mostly hands-off (thanks to Fermcap!).
I did have to adjust my mash several times in the first 20 minutes to get my target temp of 152 locked-in (it kept dropping too low) but once I got it, it stuck for the remaining 70 minutes of my 90-minute mash.. I think I could have gotten away with a 60 minute mash, though, becuase I did an iodine test at 60 and it showed no starches, but I let it run to stick to BierMuncher's mash schedule.
I think next time I'll preheat the MLT and maybe that will help me avoid all te mash adjustments.
This will be my 5th total brew... I did 2 x Mr. Beers, 2 x 5-gallon extract w/specialty grain batches, and now this - my first AG batch. Based on the prices of my ingredients I put in BeerSmith, it only cost me $12.48 to do the batch.
She's fermenting away!
I used a rubbermaid 10 gal MLT and my new Barley Crusher at the default .039.
I used magnum and cascade with a target of just over 15 IBUs to make this SWMBO-friendly (I bought a pound each of magnum, cascade and SAAZ from Hops Direct last month). It only took 1/3 oz of the magnum to get to the target IBU's with a 60 minute boil, and I added another 1/3 oz of Cascade at flame out. Again, this hit the 15 IBUs in BeerSmith, but I hope it does not come out underhopped.
I also used some regular old white rice, that I cooked in my rice cooker before mashing (actually the night before) instead of buying flaked rice. We typically buy a 50lb bag of rice at Costco every 6 months, so I always have some on hand and it comes out to be something like 40 cents a pound. Next time I may try frozen corn in place of flaked maize, though I think - once you adjust for the moisture in the frozen corn, it ends up costing about the same as dry flaked maize, and you don't have to pre-cook the flaked maize...
What's interesting too is I was able to pull of this all grain batch while watching my 3 & 5 year olds, doing 4 loads of laundrey, cleanng the house and making lunch and dinner (my wife was studying for an exam and was locked away in the guest room doing so). It actually wasn't too bad, becuase other than setup and cleanup, it was mostly hands-off (thanks to Fermcap!).
I did have to adjust my mash several times in the first 20 minutes to get my target temp of 152 locked-in (it kept dropping too low) but once I got it, it stuck for the remaining 70 minutes of my 90-minute mash.. I think I could have gotten away with a 60 minute mash, though, becuase I did an iodine test at 60 and it showed no starches, but I let it run to stick to BierMuncher's mash schedule.
I think next time I'll preheat the MLT and maybe that will help me avoid all te mash adjustments.
This will be my 5th total brew... I did 2 x Mr. Beers, 2 x 5-gallon extract w/specialty grain batches, and now this - my first AG batch. Based on the prices of my ingredients I put in BeerSmith, it only cost me $12.48 to do the batch.
She's fermenting away!