Walk me though my first AG

I have decided to make the step to all grain, I have ~10 extract batches under my belt. I am doing a 2.5 gallon batch of Cream of Three Crops. Since i have a 5 gallon pot I will be doing it BIAB, on the stove with my existing kettle. If someone sees an error in my procedure let me know, I am planning on brewing tomorrow morning. I have the most questions about steps 1 and 2 below.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f62/cream-three-crops-cream-ale-66503/

Ingredients

2lbs 12oz 2 Row
1lb Flaked corn
.22lbs minute rice

.25oz Crystal at 60 minutes
.25oz Willamette at 60 minutes

Boil Volume 3.1 gallons. Do I add all of the water to the kettle right away?

1. Heat the 3.1 gallons to 158-160F, stir in my ingredients (hopefully the temp will have dropped to 152. Hold at 152 for 90 minutes. (turning on the burner if necessary)

2. Raise the temp to 170, hold for 10 minutes

3 Pull out my grain bag, let the wort drip into the kettle

4. Boil just like one of my extract batches adding hops when appropriate.

5. Ferment and be happy!

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/easy-stovetop-all-grain-brewing-pics-90132/

done.

On step 2, the mashout, you would actually raise the temp to 170 over the 10 minute period, so ideally you'd start at 152 after your mash, turn on the burner and the 10 min. timer at the same time, the ideally hit 170 right at the 10 minute mark, then move on to step 3. If you hit 170 at like 7 min, 8 min, or whatever, no big deal, just hold it, but the mashout will more effectively separate the remaining sugars from the grain if you do this gradual 10 min heat up to 170 instead of rapidly going up to 170 and holding it.

Everything else looks good!

Awesome thanks, I think the brewday should go off without a hitch!

Hey, just wanted to chime in here,,,,I used a inverted colander to support my Bag full of grains so that it wouldn't sit on the bottom....The benefit I found to this was I was able to add heat directly to the bottom of my keggle without fear of scorching the bag and weakening it, and subsequently scorching the grains...I was glad I did this...I had to stir like crazy to even out the heat within the bag....17 pounds of grain total...I know...A different scenario here, but you may find using a colander beneficial,,,I just tied a cotton string on one of the handles so that when I wanted to boil, I just pulled the colander up and out....Good Luck!

Don't know much about that brew, but I usually do 1.75 gallon batches into the fermenter and average about 4 lbs of grain and 2.75 gallons of water to mash with. You seem to be a bit light on grain to me. OG is about 1.040.

Hopville gives me 1.044 (assuming I hit 75% efficiency) Its just a light easy drinking stepping stone brew for some friends to enjoy homebrew

spazzy said:

Hopville gives me 1.044 (assuming I hit 75% efficiency) Its just a light easy drinking stepping stone brew for some friends to enjoy homebrew

Click to expand...

Yea, I was only going w/ 65%. Good luck, hope it's what you want

You won't need to do a mashout if you are brewing in a bag. When the mashing time is complete just lift the bag and let it drain, then begin squeezing the rest of the wort out until you can't get any more. Without adding any heat you won't have to worry about burning the bag.

I use this infusion calculator to get my water the right temperature before I add the grains. TastyBrew.com | Homebrewing Calculators | Infusion Calculator Once the grain is added (stir it in well) put the lid on and wrap the pot in something insulating. I usually wrap mine in a bath towel, making sure the top is covered well and then put another towel on the top. In an hour of mashing I may only lose 1 or 2 degrees. If your grain is crushed fine, most of the conversion will be done in the first 20 minutes.

Make sure that your grains are well crushed or ground. The efficiency problems people run into when doing the BIAB usually relate to poorly crushed grain. I grind mine until they are a little coarser than corn meal. The batch I made a couple days ago calculated out to 85% efficiency. Good luck on getting that on your first batch.

Just pitched the yeasties, heres how I came out...

OG corrected for temp (80 degrees) 1.043

Efficiency 70.84%

Not too shabby! I had a little trouble keeping the mash temp at 152, it was more like 154 for the majority of the time

Hopefully it tastes good!