First AG Batch - Smooth Sailing

First off, just have to say thanks to HBT, and all the contributors. Without y'all, I don't think today would've gone anywhere near as smoothly as it did. I am a very new brewer, and after two extract batches I decided that I wanted to make the jump to all grain. I went with a recipe that I found on here, a NewCastle clone. Here are some screen shots of the batch in iBrewmaster.














For the most part everything went very smoothly. Started out pre-heating my MLT then mashed in, adding strike water then grain, strike water then grain, etc. Ended up mashing in at 162*, which was a little higher than I wanted. I figured that using a cooler for a MLT it is easier to cool things down if needed rather than heat things up. Stirred for 5 minutes and was down to my target of 158*. Checked and stirred at 30 minutes and the temp was still at 157*. Another 30 minutes to mash and then vorlauf. Ended up with about 2.8 gallons of 1st runnings. Mashed out/batch sparged at 190* strike for 10 minutes, then vorlauf and drain 2nd runnings. Ended up with about 7.1 gallons into the BK. I checked the pre-boil OG and it came out at 1.038....not bad. Boiled for 60 minutes and THOUGHT I had not boiled down enough (to my 5.5 gallon goal), so I boiled another 20 minutes. Chilled down to 66* in about 17 minutes with my IC. Checked OG and it came out to 1.057. I ended up shy of my 5.5 gallons in the fermenter by a little more than half a gallon, which I think explains the OG being a little above predicted. I should have stopped the boil at 60 minutes...like iBrewmaster said to. Forgot to make my yeast starter yesterday so I popped the Wyeast bag around 1p and let it sit on my kitchen counter until pitching time. Pitched at 68* into the primary and then cleanup. All in all, a total of about 6-7 hours from start to finish.

So, thanks to all who contribute to HBT for helping me have what I would consider a very successful first AG experience. Just a couple things to make sure of for next time...

If only I could drink it now!!!!

Congrats!

UPDATE

Just bottled. Spent 2 weeks in primary, with the last 3 days cold crashed. Had a little SNAFU last night and it ended up partially freezing. Pulled it out this morning and it was pretty slushy. Let it thaw out and it was at about 40* when we bottled it. It was very dark, which I don't mind, but it had a very sweet taste to it. Much more so than I anticipated. Ended up with a FG of 1.023, which was about .007 higher than I anticipated as well. Gonna let it sit for at least 4 weeks before I crack one open. Hopefully that will mellow things out a bit. Hope it turns out! Newcastle is one of my favorites!

2 weeks in primary, 4 in bottle. I might have reversed that especially with a 1.023 FG

BackAlley said:

2 weeks in primary, 4 in bottle. I might have reversed that especially with a 1.023 FG

Click to expand...

Why is that? I'm a new brewer so I'll take any advice/knowledge I can get. The FG was stable at 1.023 for 3 or 4 days before cold crashing.

I'm usually not in a hurry to package so I would have held on and hoped the SG might have dropped a little more. What yeast did you use and what temp did you ferment at?

Used Wyeast 1099 Whitbread Ale, fermented at 68*

I am new at this too so I subscribed to add to thread and hopefully gain some knowledge.

Mashing at 158 gives you that sweeter wort correct?
But does that explain the higher FG?
Are those sweeter sugars less fermentable?

I am used to starting beers in the 50s and have them attenuate down to 1.010 range.

Should your beer have gotten lower?

I'm by no means an expert but I think doing a starter would have helped a bit with your final gravity. Sounds like you could have just used a bit more heathy yeast to let it ferment out completely.

Great thread, congrats on a good-looking brew (and a well-documented one!)

As Brewkinger suggested, mashing at 158 likely contributes to your higher-than-expected FG. That's at the high range of the typical mash temp window (usually given as 150-158F, but of course there is some leeway). At that temp, you are right in the wheelhouse of your alpha amylase, but somewhat above the operating range of the other major saccharification enzymes. (This link) has more details on this.

What that will do, in general, is leave more unfermentable sugars in your final wort, meaning you won't quite get down to the FG you are shooting for.

There are probably other factors at play, but that's my first read on it.

Cap'n Jewbeard said:

Great thread, congrats on a good-looking brew (and a well-documented one!)

As Brewkinger suggested, mashing at 158 likely contributes to your higher-than-expected FG. That's at the high range of the typical mash temp window (usually given as 150-158F, but of course there is some leeway). At that temp, you are right in the wheelhouse of your alpha amylase, but somewhat above the operating range of the other major saccharification enzymes. (This link) has more details on this.

What that will do, in general, is leave more unfermentable sugars in your final wort, meaning you won't quite get down to the FG you are shooting for.

There are probably other factors at play, but that's my first read on it.

Click to expand...

Thank you! That makes a lot of sense. I knew (or thought I knew) that a slightly higher mash temp would give a maltier taste, so that was what I was going for, but if by mashing at 158* left a lot of unfermentable sugars that would definitely explain the sweet taste prior to bottling. Any chance that this taste will mellow out in the bottle?

Due to a faulty thermometer, one of my first AG brews mashed at 157 and it too was very sweet before fermentation. I think that the 1056 American ale yeast attenuated a lot of it, but it still came out .05 higher than I thought.

I think it was one of the best beers that I have made this far. Tasted very good.

brewkinger said:

Due to a faulty thermometer, one of my first AG brews mashed at 157 and it too was very sweet before fermentation. I think that the 1056 American ale yeast attenuated a lot of it, but it still came out .05 higher than I thought.

I think it was one of the best beers that I have made this far. Tasted very good.

Click to expand...

I just home that the sweetness mellows out a lot in the bottle. I tasted it while I was bottling and it was too sweet.

Only time will tell.

That is one thing I love about this hobby, a chance to make mistakes and document and learn and adapt.

It will be beer.

brewkinger said:

Only time will tell.

That is one thing I love about this hobby, a chance to make mistakes and document and learn and adapt.

It will be beer.

Click to expand...

This is very true! Just hope it's drinkable beer!!! .

ohhhh... it is always drinkable!

USMCBrewer said:

Thank you! That makes a lot of sense. I knew (or thought I knew) that a slightly higher mash temp would give a maltier taste, so that was what I was going for, but if by mashing at 158* left a lot of unfermentable sugars that would definitely explain the sweet taste prior to bottling. Any chance that this taste will mellow out in the bottle?

Click to expand...

Carbonation will provide some acidic "bite" (via carbonic acid) so the beer will taste less sweet once carbonated.

What I like to do when I mash in is have a little boiling water on hand, and a couple of ice cubes. If you miss the temperature, you can quickly adjust. The thing to be aware of is that it takes a few minutes to equalize, so stir well and then let the mash sit for a few minutes before making anymore adjustments. I've seen some brewers miss high, so add some ice. Then, it's too low, so they add boiling water. And so on. In this case, you could have added two ice cubes, stirred well, let it sit for a couple of minutes, and checked the temperature. Just a little tip for next time!

In my system, if I mash at 152, most of my beers finish at 1.010ish. If I mash at 158, that same beer will finish at 1.022-1.024. That's what temperature will do in my beers.

Your beer sounds fine, with a bit more residual sweetness than you planned. It'll still be really good!

I don't agree with the person who said to keep the beer in primary for 4 weeks. That's really not necessary at all. If it's done, it's done. Once it starts to clear (usually about day 10 for me, depending on yeast strain), and the FG hasn't changed in at least three days, it's done and it's not going to get "doner".

Yooper said:

Carbonation will provide some acidic "bite" (via carbonic acid) so the beer will taste less sweet once carbonated.

What I like to do when I mash in is have a little boiling water on hand, and a couple of ice cubes. If you miss the temperature, you can quickly adjust. The thing to be aware of is that it takes a few minutes to equalize, so stir well and then let the mash sit for a few minutes before making anymore adjustments. I've seen some brewers miss high, so add some ice. Then, it's too low, so they add boiling water. And so on. In this case, you could have added two ice cubes, stirred well, let it sit for a couple of minutes, and checked the temperature. Just a little tip for next time!

In my system, if I mash at 152, most of my beers finish at 1.010ish. If I mash at 158, that same beer will finish at 1.022-1.024. That's what temperature will do in my beers.

Your beer sounds fine, with a bit more residual sweetness than you planned. It'll still be really good!

I don't agree with the person who said to keep the beer in primary for 4 weeks. That's really not necessary at all. If it's done, it's done. Once it starts to clear (usually about day 10 for me, depending on yeast strain), and the FG hasn't changed in at least three days, it's done and it's not going to get "doner".

Click to expand...

Thanks Yoop!! I completely agree with keeping ice and hot water on standby: proper preparedness/planning prevents piss poor performance! In this batch I did everything you mentioned (stirring, letting it sit/equalize, etc), and I was aiming for a mash temp of 158*, which from the sounds of things was prolly a bit too high for this recipe, sounds like 152* would have been better. A great learning experience to be sure!

---Update---

Tried a bottle of this tonight, two weeks after bottling. Boy was I surprised! Sweetness is definitely toned down and has a very nice flavor! A bit under carbed, which I was expecting since its only been two weeks. Another two weeks and I think it will be great!