First AG - Questions and a KISS recipe

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Rudeboy

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Location
Edmonton, Alberta
I’m only one O-Ring away from building my FlyGuy MLT. I had to go to three Home Depots and a Rona to get it all though. Still don’t have a round Gott type cooler. Can’t find one anywhere. Guess it’s not the season. Still you’d think they need them to pour over coaches heads around this time of year. I’m going to get a square one and hope all the fittings still fit.

Hope to brew this weekend. So here are my questions.

First recipe. I joined the EHG and we put in an order to Wyeast. I’ve got it coming in a few days but probably not for this weekend. (But I can’t wait.) My plan for the good yeast is for a Heavy, a Porter and a Stout. But for this weekend I was going to use some dry yeast I have and I wanted a really simple recipe.

My neighbour was over yesterday and he’s a BMC kind of guy. My Cream Ale was a little too challenging for him. :confused: Still with the Heavy, Porter, Stout on deck I reckon it wouldn’t be a bad idea to have a nice light lagery, session type Ale to have for my neighbour and for me to have with nachos and watch NFL.

Also I’d like to keep it simple for the first run through. I have a 25 Kilo sack of American two row. And can get some specialty malts. So any ideas on a real simple recipe.


My brew kettle is just the turkey fryer. So after I cool the wort I siphon out of it into my primary? I whirlpool first? Whirlpooling is just swirling around and letting the particulates collect in the middle bottom? Then I siphon from the side and leave a little in the bottom to get ride of the cold and hot break particulates?

Aeration. I don’t have any oxygen or anything. Can’t I just siphon high into the primary, like a rough pour and won’t that aerate it?

I’m sure I’l have more questions to come but those are all I can think of now.


Thanks

Rudeboy
 
American Blonde:

9lbs 2-row

or 8.5lbs 2-row + .5lbs of crystal 10L.
Mash at 152F, 60 min.

1oz of a moderate AA hop for 60 minutes (I used Fuggle, take your pick).

US-05 dry yeast.
 
Rudeboy said:
Aeration. I don’t have any oxygen or anything. Can’t I just siphon high into the primary, like a rough pour and won’t that aerate it?
All I do is cool my wort in the kettle and then pour it into my primary fermenter (bucket) to aerate it. I make 6 gallons of wort so I can leave the last 1 gallon in the bottom of the kettle as I pour. This is where all the break material and hops are, so I just quit pouring when I start getting into that stuff. This has worked very well for me since moving to all-grain.

As far as a recipe goes, my first AG recipe was kind of an underhopped Brittish Pale Ale. Here's what I made for my first AG batch:

8 lbs Simpson's Golden Promise
.5 lbs Biscuit Malt
.5 lbs Crystal 40
1 oz Fuggles (4.5%AA) - 60 min
.5 oz Kent Goldings (5.5%AA) - 30 min
.5 oz Kent Goldings (5.5% AA) - 3 min
Wyeast American Ale II Yeast

Mash at 150 for 60 min
 
There are lots of coolers on the internet Target, Amazon.com just do a google search for 10 gallon cooler.

A word of advise: don't cheap out and buy a 5 gallon cooler.

In addition to letting your wort splash into the fermenter it wouldn't hurt to shake the daylights out of the fermenter too.
 
abracadabra said:
There are lots of coolers on the internet Target, Amazon.com just do a google search for 10 gallon cooler.

A word of advise: don't cheap out and buy a 5 gallon cooler.

In addition to letting your wort splash into the fermenter it wouldn't hurt to shake the daylights out of the fermenter too.

The problem with us up in Canada is we get killed on the shipping. Same deal with online brewing supplies.

The local Wal-Mart is blowing Colman 48 Quart chest coolers for $9.95. It's not the top of the line. Actually it's the bottom of the line. So it won't retain heat as well as the silver sided 5-day coolers that you can re-enter the atmosphere in but it should do. Actually I like it better because the drain plug is a little higher and it doesn't have the little countersunk channel leading to it. I had been worried about fitting all the companents into that channel.

From the pictures I've seen here it seems 50/50 on round or chest coolers for MLT's. I think people say that chest coolers lose a little more heat but are easier to work with. (Still I think it's only like around a degree an hour) Also if you get a round false bottom you need a round one.

Everyone is in agreement not to get a 5 gallon cooler.


Rudeboy
 
since you get 1:1 on your money nowadays you might consider crossing the border and seeing if anyone state side has a 10g cooler.

just a thought.

after looking at google maps... Edmonton isn't exactly "down the road" from the border... now if you lived in Vancouver or maybe Winnipeg...
 
I have a nice Kolsch recipe that's very simple on the grain bill. Add like 2.5 more pounds of 2-row in place of the DME to make it AG.
I've received a bit of praise for this beer...its definitely the best one I brewed on my return (but every beer has been progressively better, this was number 4, first partial mash)

Kolsch #1
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

General
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Category: Light Hybrid Beer
Subcategory: Kölsch
Recipe Type: Partial Mash
Batch Size: 5 gal.
Volume Boiled: 4.5 gal.
Mash Efficiency: 72 %
Total Grain/Extract: 7.50 lbs.
Total Hops: 2.1 oz.
Calories (12 fl. oz.): 182.5
Cost to Brew: $24.15 (USD)
Cost per Bottle (12 fl. oz.): $0.45 (USD)

Ingredients
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.00 lbs. English 2-row Pils
1 lbs. American Vienna
2.0 lbs. Dry Extra Light Extract
1 oz. Hallertau Hersbruck (Pellets, 4.50 %AA) boiled 60
minutes.
0.25 oz. Spalt Spalter (Pellets, 4.75 %AA) boiled 15 minutes.
0.25 oz. Saaz (Pellets, 5.00 %AA) boiled 15 minutes.
0.25 oz. Spalt Spalter (Pellets, 4.75 %AA) boiled 1 minutes.
0.25 oz. Saaz (Pellets, 5.00 %AA) boiled 1 minutes.
Yeast: WYeast 2565 Kolsch


Vital Statistics
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Original Gravity: 1.046
Terminal Gravity: 1.009
Color: 3.45 SRM
Bitterness: 24.9 IBU
Alcohol (%volume): 4.9 %
 
Should I add some more base malt in case I don't hit 75% effeciency?

I always wondered about people's starting gravity. Don't you have to cool the wort to measure the OG? Also if you're high I guess you add water, if you have head space in the primary. But if you're low then what? Have some DME on stand by? Suck it up and try and do better next time?

Thanks

Rudeboy
 
If you going to batch sparge a rectangular cooler is great. You can get more grain in there than the 5 gallon round cooler. I put a big thick towel on the lid of mine because that seems to be where the greatest heat loss occurs. I also make 5.5 gallon batches so at the end I get a good 5 gallons to bottle.
 
Rudeboy said:
Suck it up and try and do better next time?


Rudeboy


Thats what I have done so far, my first two ag batches I've been getting about 60%, so I ended up with a brown porter instead of a robust one and a bitter instead of a pale ale. I suspect poor crush from the LHBS. I have a mill on the way...
 
you could add another pound of base malt if you want.
i've been really lucky and get great efficiency out of my setup. 75% or better (my porter ended up a little higher even)

my lhbs also has some brand of 2-row that is real easy to work with...very modified, converts in like 40 mins, and he gives it a proper crush.
 
This is a nice thread and so I thought I would add my house beer to it. I like this because it is simple and good too.

16 LBS 2 row
2 LBS crystal 60

2 oz cascade 60
2 oz cascade or amarillo at 15
1 oz cascade at 0
1 oz amarillo at 0

Infusion mash 60 to 90 minutes
Mash out at 168 F

Primary for 2 weeks
Condition for 2 weeks
Cool at 36 F with 12 LBs Co2 for (keg) or bottle with priming sugar.:mug:
 
any luck on finding 10 gallon rubbermaids? im in calgary and in the same boat as you......can order em..but its a ripoff!
 
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