smokewater
Well-Known Member
I brewed up my first all grain batch yesterday. I wound up with 5.5 gallons of 1.060G Wort and 80.6% efficiency. I guess I got a pretty aggressive grain grind from my LHBS.
This was an EdWorts Hause Pale Ale. I pretty much followed the recipe exactly except that I BIAB in a bag lined seafood strainer. It actually worked very well. I could even remove the handle on the strainer, line it with my bag and put the handle back on. That held the bag in place on 2 sides without needing clips.
Below was my process.
Grain Bill
8 lbs. 2-Row Pale Malt
2 lbs. Vienna Malt
0.5 lb. Crystal 10L Malt
I am using a 7.5 gallon turkey fryer.
1. I measured 5 gallons of water into the pot and brought it up to around 160 with my paint strainer lined seafood strainer in it.
2. I then slowly stirred in my grain with the flame on low. The temp dropped to right around 150F
3. I ran the gas flame on low for about 5 minutes until it hit 152F, then turned it off and covered the pot for an hour.
4. I stirred the grain 3 times and had to run the flame for a couple of minutes about halfway through. It only had a 2-3 degree swing the entire mash period. With the strainer basket in I only had about 1.5 inches from the top. With that much volume covered it held temp very well
5. I then lifted the strainer basket out and let it drain into the boil kettle for about 5 minutes propped up on the lip of the pot. I also pushed down on the bag with my spoon a couple of times
6. I pre heated 1.5 gallons of water on my stove in a canning pot my wife had to 180F during the Mash and sat the grain bag in that for 10 minutes while I heated the wort to 170F.
7. I then poured the smaller kettle into my big one. That gave me about 6.5 gallons for my boil.
8. When the temp of the wort hit 170 I tea bagged the grain bag out of the strainer a few times, twisted it a few times, let it drain and started the boil. I sat the bag in my other pot and poured any liquid that collected into the pot
9. I took a gravity reading before the boil and it was dead on 1.050 at 80F after cooling off a little
10. I cooled the wort by placing my covered brew pot in a square igloo cooler with the garden hose stuck in the cooler turned on so it overflows onto my deck. It cooled my wort down to 65 in about 45 minutes. I dumped it into my bucket, stirred it with a star saned slotted spoon hard enough to raise up a bunch of bubbles and pitched dry Safale O4
The boil went very well. My Hop pellets were a little stronger than Ed Worts but I still kept the same schedule anyway.
My last batch was the extract version of this with leaf hops. This hydro sample tasted a bit more bitter than the other one but still very good.
I was surprised my gravity was so high.
Questions
Next time should go with a smaller grain bill or add some water to the finished Wort and have more beer?
I am also using Safale 04 because the LHBS didn't have Nottingham or 05.
I am about a week away from getting the extract batch bottle carbed up.
Other than a wort chiller anyone see any improvements I can make in my process?
I am really not worried about contamination in 45 minutes. I don't even have to take the lid off my pot to stir. It sort of floats and I can stir it by shaking the handles back and forth.
What will the higher OG do to the taste of my finished beer?
Thanks for the forum. I never could have done this without spending hours learning how on these forums.
This was an EdWorts Hause Pale Ale. I pretty much followed the recipe exactly except that I BIAB in a bag lined seafood strainer. It actually worked very well. I could even remove the handle on the strainer, line it with my bag and put the handle back on. That held the bag in place on 2 sides without needing clips.
Below was my process.
Grain Bill
8 lbs. 2-Row Pale Malt
2 lbs. Vienna Malt
0.5 lb. Crystal 10L Malt
I am using a 7.5 gallon turkey fryer.
1. I measured 5 gallons of water into the pot and brought it up to around 160 with my paint strainer lined seafood strainer in it.
2. I then slowly stirred in my grain with the flame on low. The temp dropped to right around 150F
3. I ran the gas flame on low for about 5 minutes until it hit 152F, then turned it off and covered the pot for an hour.
4. I stirred the grain 3 times and had to run the flame for a couple of minutes about halfway through. It only had a 2-3 degree swing the entire mash period. With the strainer basket in I only had about 1.5 inches from the top. With that much volume covered it held temp very well
5. I then lifted the strainer basket out and let it drain into the boil kettle for about 5 minutes propped up on the lip of the pot. I also pushed down on the bag with my spoon a couple of times
6. I pre heated 1.5 gallons of water on my stove in a canning pot my wife had to 180F during the Mash and sat the grain bag in that for 10 minutes while I heated the wort to 170F.
7. I then poured the smaller kettle into my big one. That gave me about 6.5 gallons for my boil.
8. When the temp of the wort hit 170 I tea bagged the grain bag out of the strainer a few times, twisted it a few times, let it drain and started the boil. I sat the bag in my other pot and poured any liquid that collected into the pot
9. I took a gravity reading before the boil and it was dead on 1.050 at 80F after cooling off a little
10. I cooled the wort by placing my covered brew pot in a square igloo cooler with the garden hose stuck in the cooler turned on so it overflows onto my deck. It cooled my wort down to 65 in about 45 minutes. I dumped it into my bucket, stirred it with a star saned slotted spoon hard enough to raise up a bunch of bubbles and pitched dry Safale O4
The boil went very well. My Hop pellets were a little stronger than Ed Worts but I still kept the same schedule anyway.
My last batch was the extract version of this with leaf hops. This hydro sample tasted a bit more bitter than the other one but still very good.
I was surprised my gravity was so high.
Questions
Next time should go with a smaller grain bill or add some water to the finished Wort and have more beer?
I am also using Safale 04 because the LHBS didn't have Nottingham or 05.
I am about a week away from getting the extract batch bottle carbed up.
Other than a wort chiller anyone see any improvements I can make in my process?
I am really not worried about contamination in 45 minutes. I don't even have to take the lid off my pot to stir. It sort of floats and I can stir it by shaking the handles back and forth.
What will the higher OG do to the taste of my finished beer?
Thanks for the forum. I never could have done this without spending hours learning how on these forums.