Anything I should pay particular attention to?
I think I can do it. I have a few friends who have been all-grain brewing for a while.
i disagree. yes, you need more equipment. but that is not "all" you need. experience and understanding the basics can't be replaced just by spending more on equipment or knowing other people that brew beer. their experience isn't yours and there is no replacement for personal experience. there is a difference between following a step by step brew process and actually understanding the intricacies of certain steps that you only learn through experience. starting simple makes it a hell of a lot easier to add a few additional advanced steps into the basic process.
i disagree. yes, you need more equipment. but that is not "all" you need. experience and understanding the basics can't be replaced just by spending more on equipment or knowing other people that brew beer. their experience isn't yours and there is no replacement for personal experience. there is a difference between following a step by step brew process and actually understanding the intricacies of certain steps that you only learn through experience. starting simple makes it a hell of a lot easier to add a few additional advanced steps into the basic process.
jetmac - a good reference book (like "How to Brew") and especially good software (like BeerSmith) plus some basic equipment will be a great start on your journey to complete and total brewing obsession. This forum and MOST of the brewers here are the best people when it comes to answers for you, sometimes you have to ignore some of the responses tough!
Good luck and keep on asking!!
oh, and either way, good luck and enjoy!!!
Yaeh, as papazian siad (not Revvy) RDWHAHB!
It will all come with time, sir! enjoy the trip....LIES AND SLANDER!!
Hope to be making the AG jump here pretty soon. Got my holiday ale bubbling away as we speak, hoping to start of the new year with a grainological brew-ha-ha.
Now I just need to get another cooler w/ valve, larger kettle, probably another 2 cases of bottles, digi thermometer, etc etc etc...
I don't see how getting the carbonation correct with AG is easier than with extract (unless you are kegging as well).Thanks for the replies. I have read John Palmers book. I agree keeping things sanatised is important and I am working on getting a free fridge for temp control during fermentation. I have a Ranco temp controller I used for my salt water aquarium. AND...I plan to keg to keep things simple. I hate washing dishes and washing and sanitising dozens of bottles plus trying to get carbonation correct is more work.
I hope you mean heat some water, rather than boil. Nothing wrong with boiling if you let it cool, but you don't want to use freshly boiling water for the mash.AG seems pretty simple. Boil some water, mix it with your grain, let it sit, drain it, add more HL, let let it sit again, drain it, boil the wort, chill it fast, pitch yeast, let it ferment, keg it. Of course I'm leaving out some steps but basically that's it. I expect the early batches to not turn out very good and that will be my experience.
.... As far as quality, if you are doing full boils, which I am assuming you have the equipment for if you're planning on doing AG, there's not much difference between AG and Extract other than being able to control the malt profile better with AG.
Personally I brew both ways. I have a few recipes, especially IPA's where it's not about the malt but about the hops, that I always brew as extract, simply because it makes for a much shorter brew day.
I don't see how getting the carbonation correct with AG is easier than with extract (unless you are kegging as well).
I hope you mean heat some water, rather than boil. Nothing wrong with boiling if you let it cool, but you don't want to use freshly boiling water for the mash.
As you don't know what efficiency you will get, you may also want to get a pound or two of extract so that if your efficiency is low you can use that to bump up the OG if you feel the need.
-a.
Maybe it'd be helpful to post the equipment you have and plan on getting so members here who've been doing AG for a bit can give you some pointers?
Either way, good luck and have fun!
I suggest getting beersmith to calculate water temps/volumes needed for mash and sparge. My first 3 beers I flew by what the recipes on here called for and missed my temps because my cooler size, grain temp and I wasn't familiar with how much heat I would lose to the two..
Just four suggestions.
1. Campden your tap water otherwise you'll have chlorophenols
2. Mash temp
3. Ferment temps
4. After sparging and all good and boiling, stir the grain to cool it faster. Otherwise you'll melt the trash bag.
What I mean is carbonating with bottles is probably harder to get the carbonation consistantly where I want it, over force carbonating a keg which is another reason not to bottle.
Good idea. I would add that prior to pitching my yeast?
I would add the DME (if required) to the last few minutes of the boil, but I know how much I am going to boil off, and use a refractometer to calculate the pre-boil SG, so I know how much would be required. For your first brew, you won't have that luxury as you won't know your boil off rate.
Take notes, and for subsequent brews you should have a pretty good idea.
I would cool the wort, take a gravity reading, andrack to the fermenter. If the gravity is low, then you could boil up some DME in a small amount of water for 10 minutes, then add that to the fermenter and stir it well before pitching the yeast. 1 lb DME added to a 5g batch should raise the gravity by about 9 points (i.e. 1.009).
-a.
I would add that prior to pitching my yeast?
Hmm...keep in mind I have yet to brew my first batch. My plan it to use liquid yeast and make a starter in a 2L eurlimyer using DME. But I don't think it will be 1lb, more like 1/4 lb.
Hmm...keep in mind I have yet to brew my first batch. My plan it to use liquid yeast and make a starter in a 2L eurlimyer using DME. But I don't think it will be 1lb, more like 1/4 lb.
I completely agree with Bob (except for the 1 lb bags DME, but the starters should take care of that). Don't try adjusting the gravity by adding DME unless it is "waaaay" low, and don't worry about adding a little extra (or less) to finish up a bag of DME. Roughly right is fine.Don't listen to anyone who tells you to wait or do extract batches first. Yes, the all-grain brewing process is more complicated than extract. But only slightly. And if you know what those complications are, you can overcome them with minimal effort.
It's perfect you have experienced friends/mentors who can take you through a short "apprenticeship" before you start to fly solo. I always recommend this approach.
There is no real difference in calculating carbonation between bottle-conditioning and force-carbonation. You're still trying to achieve a certain level of CO2 in the beer; you're just using two different techniques to get it. Force-carbonation is definitely more rapid; you'll be able to drink the beer more quickly. But as many veteran brewers will attest, that's not always a good thing! There's such a thing as 'green beer', beer that's done fermenting and fully carbonated but not yet at its peak of flavor. There's also the fact that certain styles which are traditionally bottle-conditioned, and in fact are significantly improved by laying down in the bottle.
So I encourage you to learn both techniques. Start like you want, with kegged, force-carbonated beer. Brew beers which don't require a lot of aging to lose the 'green' character, like Mild, Bitter, Brown Ale, Dry Irish Stout, that sort of thing. Save the Pliny clones for when you've got patience to age them.
Yes. Take a gravity five minutes before the end of the boil and check against the projected OG your software tells you to expect. If it's waaaaaay off, you can add some dry extract to bring the gravity into line. For this a refractometer is indispensable. I don't know what I'd do without mine. Every all-grain brewer should use one.
Buy DME in one-lb bags. Easier to add in increments. When I started AG brewing, someone gave me the advice of buying some DME "just in case", and I did. I just made the mistake of buying 3-lb bags because it was less expensive overall. I ended up throwing away expensive DME because I didn't use the whole bag.
If you do need to add some DME to overcome a low OG, ad the whole thing. Don't listen to your calculations when it tells you to add 12 ounces. Add the whole 16. Yes, you'll be slightly over your OG, but that's better than waaaay under, and you won't end up throwing away extract.
Or you could save it for starters. Completely forgot about that!
(By the way, it's "Erlenmeyer flask". )
Cheers,
Bob
P.S. Welcome and GOOD LUCK!
But as many veteran brewers will attest, that's not always a good thing! There's such a thing as 'green beer', beer that's done fermenting and fully carbonated but not yet at its peak of flavor. There's also the fact that certain styles which are traditionally bottle-conditioned, and in fact are significantly improved by laying down in the bottle.
Take a gravity five minutes before the end of the boil and check against the projected OG your software tells you to expect. For this a refractometer is indispensable. I don't know what I'd do without mine. Every all-grain brewer should use one. :
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