My First AG!!!

So this past Saturday I did my first AG!!! My friend Hagen came over and helped me through the process. My Corona Mill sucks but I somehow managed to get an 81.5% efficiency!!!

Brewed an extract version of the same recipe today and in 6 weeks or so, I will get the chance to taste and compare.

Yeah me!!!

Great Job. As I have said to others, " now all you have to do is ferment 2 weeks and age it long enough without being tempted to drink it too young".

If you have more carboys you could get the second brew going in 2 weeks because the first batch does not last long.

I hope you are controling the fermentation temperature. Most people forget about the importance of this to brew a really clean beer.

Ohhh...I have 1 beer and 1 cider kegged, 1 in secondary, and 1 other in primary that goes to secondary this wednesday. I brewed an extract version of the recipe today so i can contrast and compare in 6 weeks. I should hopefully not run out by the time these 2 are ready.

I have a 12 by 28 section of the basement just for my brewing. The basement is always between 66 and 68.

I have 3 primary 7.9 gal buckets, 2 glass carboys, and 2 better bottles. The five plastic containers are always full. I have a mead going in one of my glass carboys and will be making another cider soon for the remaining glass carboy.

Goddamn! I love this hobby/obsession!!!

Yup, he did a good job even though his corona mill wobbles and gives a rediculously uneven crush. But he has the advantage of the fact that I got my system and methods hammered out before he tried it.

Now I wait to taste the result.

Hagen said:

Yup, he did a good job even though his corona mill wobbles and gives a rediculously uneven crush. But he has the advantage of the fact that I got my system and methods hammered out before he tried it.

Now I wait to taste the result.

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It's nice to have a friend that has the benefit of experience!

Congrats! Don't get hung up on efficiency, shoot for consistency.

Cheers!

devaspawn said:

My Corona Mill sucks but I somehow managed to get an 81.5% efficiency!!!

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There are some tips to help ease the pain of a sucky corona. I find the spacer trick helps make adjusting and use easier when the plates are wobbly.

FireBrewer said:

Congrats! Don't get hung up on efficiency, shoot for consistency.

Cheers!

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I like to combine the two and shoot for consistently high efficiency

fratermus said:

There are some tips to help ease the pain of a sucky corona. I find the spacer trick helps make adjusting and use easier when the plates are wobbly.

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the first problem is mine - uneven grind. I wish the guy had gotten a picture of what to do. Everything is off-center. It's very frustrating. I thought i had it made with DIYing a way to make my drill get it done faster. Nope. The female threaded hole on the main shaft is off center causing my whole work bench to shake at the speed my drill goes causing more of an uneven crush than when I do it by hand crank. Hagen and I spent probably 30 to 45 minutes this past Saturday just tweaking it to it's current level of perfection. Not perfection by any means - just what it's capable of. I got a cheap mill off ebay. I will probably end up buying another one with a better brand name and better reviews. Then I think it's silly to spend $45 bucks to get a better corn mill. Why not use what I have for now and save up for a GOOD barley mill? So, for the time being, I will use what I have and be thankful for the good brews I get.

Do we have a sticky called "CORONA With Lime Beats Corona Mill"?

Congrats! All sorts of things went wrong with my first AG, sounds like you nailed it the first time. But still my first AG was the best I had done up to that point and was well worth it. There is nothing better than cracking that first bottle knowing all that went into it.

Congrats!

I always thought that waiting for the first batch was the hardest ..... until I had to wait for my first AG batch

elowe said:

Congrats! All sorts of things went wrong with my first AG, sounds like you nailed it the first time. But still my first AG was the best I had done up to that point and was well worth it. There is nothing better than cracking that first bottle knowing all that went into it.

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Seriously, if Hagen hadn't been here many things could have gone wrong. the mill was just the first thing and I had it set badly...

devaspawn said:

Seriously, if Hagen hadn't been here many things could have gone wrong. the mill was just the first thing and I had it set badly...

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Aww shucks, you're making me blush...

Until you get a better mill, you can use my Victoria. It's still a corona mill, but all centered and balanced. It gives a good crush for what it is.

So it looks like when i took my sparge gravity (?) it was high. My guess is that I didn't stir it enough. Anyway, I am assuming that Beersmith knows how to calculate the Original gravity based on ingredients and brewhouse efficiency. It said my estimated OG would be 1.063 with an 81.5% efficiency. I got and OG of 1.055. Looks like based on my volume I had a 71% efficiency.

I had the same problem this weekend when I did my second AG. I calculated 85% efficiency which gave me an estimated 1.066 OG but I got a 1.060. Looks like I actually got a 77.5% efficiency.

I am confident in the formula that I used to determine the numbers and I am confident with my volumes. What I am not confident about is how much I should have stirred my wort to get my sparge gravity so I could determine efficiency and I am not sure how accurate the hydrometer adjust in Beersmith is when talking about temperatures between 125 and 150.

I'll be happy to answer any "what formula are you using" questions but I don't think that's where my problem lies. Anything that I might have missed as a possibility please feel free to let me know.

thanks folks,

81.5% is normally a damn good job. But considering it was your first time, I'd say you're a natural at this. Way to go

Thanks, Chimone. My guess is that I was typing my latest post as you were reading the thread. I think I will be good at AG's as I jumped 6.5% on my second one and I didn't have help on that one. We'll see though.