First All Grain Batch

I have been lurking for awhile, gleaning as much info as I can on this great site. Everything I have read, lead me to all grain. Fortunately I had most everything already so start up was not horrible. All I really needed was a mash tun which I made out of a cooler with braided SS hose, and an IC made from 1/2" ID copper. I will need a larger kettle but managed around that.

I decided on an Ale until I can get a fridge for lagering. Soon! I combined the Bee Cave Haus Ale with the Orange Pale Ale. Essentially brewing the Haus Ale with the addition of sweet orange peel and coriander.


I preheated the mash tun while heating up the strike water to 162F. Nearing that temp I drained the mash tun. I then added my strike water and then grain.


I doughed in and took a temp reading. It was at 156F. The mash temp in the Haus Ale recipe is 152. The temp jumped to 158F so I cooled down with some ice cubes. I got the temp to 154F and left it there assuming a drop in temps. After 35 minutes the temp was at 153F. 10 minutes later it was at 152F. So I had a 2F variation from start to finish. I was happy.

I added 5qts of 175F water right before vorlauft, and then drained my first runnings. I then added the sparge water and stirred slightly and let sit for 10 minutes. Then I began vorlauft, and my second running.


Since unfortunately my Kettle is only 6 gallons I had to figure a way around that as I had 6.5 gallons of wort to boil. I boiled in my kettle and my canner at the same time adding 90% of my hops, orange peel and coriander to the large kettle and the remainder to the canner. As the large kettle would reduce down I would add from the canner to the kettle.


The recipe called for a 60 minute boil, but at the end of 60 minutes I had more than 5 gallons so I continued to boil for a total of 90 minutes. I should have done a harder boil. It's all a learning process right?!

During the boil I did my hop additions as per the recipe except that the last one was adjusted due to the lack of proper reduction of the wort. I had also put the IC in during the last 15 minutes of the first hour to sterilize, but once I realized a longer boil was in order I left it in.


Once proper reduction was achieved I turned on the IC and noticed a rapid drop in temps. Unfortunately my Taylor thermometer took a dump on me and wasn't reading correctly. (I learned today through searching that the probe should not be submerged!) So I dont have an accurate time of chilling to the desired range of 70-75. Basically, I ran the water a lot longer than needed to chill. I grabbed my instant read and I was right on at 75F.

I siphoned off the wort into my carboy and then aerated with my drill and a mix-stir. I then pitched my yeast, and put it away.

Here is the color of it. A nice golden amber.


And here it is 12 hours later doing its thing.


This calls for a 7-10 day ferment at 68F My "man cave" temped out at 68F with a floor temp of 66F. The fermometer showed between 70 and 68 so it should have been real close. Although this morning to be safe I put it in a tub with cool water and a frozen bottle of water. The fermometer reads 68 now. This is 38-40 hours after pitching.

The smell is good coming out of the air lock. It is a nice citrusy hoppiness!

Considering a few speed bumps along the way I am optimistic and looking forward to a few frosty pints in the weeks to come.

I forgot to mention that OG was 1.051.

Looks great! I hope one day I can get into all grain.

Great work and great pics! Can't wait to get the rest of my AG setup together. My 36 quart brewpot just came UPS today!

Much more organized than my first foray into all grain...good job.

Nice work - I'm looking to make the AG leap soon too!

Looks like you got it figured out. All grain isn't as intimidating once you do it for the first time.

You said "7-10 days ferment". I'm not 100% sure what you meant but the common advice around here is to leave it in the primary carboy for 3-4 weeks unless you plan on transferring to secondary.

7-10 days primary ferment is what the recipe stated. No secondary is mentioned. My plan is/was to let it ferment in primary and then bottle age it 2-3 weeks.

In the haus pale ale recipe he crash cools and kegs after 7-10 days. So my plan was to do the same except i am not set up yet to keg. So bottles it will be.

I would recommend letting it ferment for at least 3 weeks. That way you allow for the fermentation to finish properly and allow some time for yeast clean up as well. I typically allow at least 3 - 4 weeks on all of my beers.

Good luck.

cp

We were just discussing this in another thread. Usually recipes seem to give you the absolute minimum time in primary, just enough time for fermentation to complete (7-10 days).

In general, most here would recommend at least 3 weeks, as already stated.

If you decide you do want to go with the minimum, be sure to take two or three hydrometer readings for two to three days running to make sure the fermentation is complete. (Many do this anyway, even if they're fermenting out to the 3 or more weeks. I usually like to take a reading 2 weeks in, then another 3 weeks in).

If you are disappointed in the waiting time and the brewing bug has really bit you then buy a second or third fermentor so you don't have brewing withdrawls. This will result in massive amounts of beer but I've never found anything wrong with that. :rockin:

I plan to make sure fermentation is done before bottling. I dont need any beer bombs. Now beer bongs are a different story lol!

I have a wheat planned for this weekend. I dont intend to run out. The ultimate goal is a pipeline.

I have 2 fermenting buckets and 2, 6 gallon better bottles. I need one more better bottle I think. I have 6 gallons of riesling fermenting right now that is due to go in my other better bottle for secondary early next week. Buckets are fine but I like to see the process and gain a better idea of whats going on in there.

Anyone want to donate a fridge or freezer to me so I can really get this ball rolling! I need pilsners!!! LOL

Very nice! Sounds like it went much smoother than my first AG, my first time was a nightmare!

Well this is day 6 and flocculation is starting to wind down and the yeast is dropping. I decided to check the gravity and it is at 1.010. So everything is looking good and it's sitting at 5.5% ABV. I will check gravity over the next two days. I most likely will leave in primary for one more week and then bottle age. I may rack to secondary we'll see.

I decided to taste it as well. Definitely a green beer at this point with a slight grain taste to it. The nose is citrusy from the cascade, as it washes over the tongue you get the hops with a slight note of the orange followed by slight maltiness of the grains. Then it finishes with a slight bitterness and the presence of alcohol. I am excited about this beer. I couldn't really place the coriander, but I'm sure that will develop as time goes by.

Oh BTW my wife surprised me this morning with a 6 gallon Better Bottle as an early B'day present. My local Bass Pro has a 60qt aluminum kettle with a valve, basket, and lid for $105 that may be coming home with me for my b'day. Can you say 10 gallon batches!!?

As long as you have a thermometer, all grain isn't hard a all, it only takes a bit more time. My beers instantly got a lot better after I went to all grain, no more extract twang.

Way to go on your first AG, it should be a great one!

Well my beer is young but by beer is YUM! 2 weeks in primary and so far 5 days in the bottle and the carbonation is good but has a little way to go and the beer needs to condition a bit more but I am really liking it. Slightly bitter, a nice cascade nose to it, good body, and drinks easy. I am considering doing another batch of this for my next brew. Except modify the orange aspect of it. I am thinking fresh orange zest at flameout and dry hopping with cascade or amarillo.