First AG last night - few notes to other first timers

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petep1980

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Here are a couple things I really took note of on my first AG (single decoction) last night that may be helpful (this are questions I figured experience would answer).

1. Schedule PLENTY of time. Start to finish (w/o cleaning equipment afterwards) you're looking at ~ 4 hours.

2. Immerssion chiller a must. I've cooled partial boils in my sink before and it took an hour. Imagine a 5 gallon boil you have to bring to pitching temperatures. There are plenty of tips online to make one yourself. DO SO AT ALL COSTS. With 50' copper tubing and garden hose water I was at 80° in less than 20 minutes.

3. DWHAHB. I did it sober. GIANT mistake. You need plenty of things to do to keep yourself from constantly checking temps, etc.

4. Boiling ~7gallons in a 7.5 gallon brew pot can be tricky. What I did was put around 6 into the brew pot and 1 in another pot. Once I got a rolling boil I would add some (it was ambient so you'll need to add heat too). You'll have it all in the brewpot w/in 20 minutes anyways, so it's not a big deal (I don't think).

5. I got a 72° efficiency on my first one. I credit alot of that to the 8qt decoction honestly.

6. If you plan on using a cooler as a mash tun, get one that isn't hinged. That was fun watching it flop down everytime I tried adding sparge water or anything else.

7. If you have one that is hinged, utilize bungee cords to keep it from falling closed on you.

AND ABOVE ALL ELSE!!!! DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES BREW STONE COLD SOBER!!!!!!
 
Brewing slightly happy has always helped me, I am careful not to over do it so I don't royally screw up. But it helps keep me relaxed.

Sounds like you had a blast!
 
I am waiting until I have plenty o' home brew and about 6 hours before I do another one. And an assistant.
 
Well, I will soon be diving into the AG world as the final components are arriving tomorrow (I hope). So this weekend could see a complete disaster.. if I get a chance to test the operation of everything first that is.

Then again, I have a keggle, an IC, and some other items I've put together with the eye on moving towards AG.
 
I’m tackling my first AG this weekend as well. What do you mean you say you had 72% efficiency. I see this number getting thrown around all the time.
 
I am not sure how you measure it. I know you need to know the batch size, the lbs of grain and your original gravity before brewing. I put that into beersmith (a computer program) and it tells me.

You don't need to measure it, but it's helpful to know so you can design future recipes to meet a certain alcohol level, darkness, etc.
 
You don't NEED to measure efficiency but it is a way of measuring if you are doing it right. No sense in waiting 6 weeks on a brew to find out you brewed an o'douls clone.
 
I am not sure how you measure it. I know you need to know the batch size, the lbs of grain and your original gravity before brewing. I put that into beersmith (a computer program) and it tells me.

You don't need to measure it, but it's helpful to know so you can design future recipes to meet a certain alcohol level, darkness, etc.



Where in beersmith do you do this?
 
Open your recipe in brew log. Click on brewhouse efficiency (it's near the taste rating). You'll need to have your ingrediants inputer and you put in your OG.
 
This has been awfully slow to ferment. Lagering temps are now in the mid 40s. I'm a little concerned.

I don't understand this. Why are you in the mid-40s? "lagering" takes place after the beer is totally fermented. You won't be lagering for at least 3 weeks.

Check the temperature preference of your yeast- most lager yeast strains ferment at the 48-55 degree range. What yeast strain are you using?
 
You don't NEED to measure efficiency but it is a way of measuring if you are doing it right.

Yes, while I agree, but if you come close to your target OG, you have confirmed you have done it correct. Just hate to see a first timer get a headache over efficiency when in reality the OG is acceptable.
 
I don't understand this. Why are you in the mid-40s? "lagering" takes place after the beer is totally fermented. You won't be lagering for at least 3 weeks.

Check the temperature preference of your yeast- most lager yeast strains ferment at the 48-55 degree range. What yeast strain are you using?

You don't understand it because what I did makes little or no sense. I meant to say primary (I know I said Lager) around 50. Well, the kegger doesn't seem to want to cooperate and it's now at 44°. Before on low I had it around 50.

I tried to make a lager w.o all the capabilities and it's turning into a mistake. I can't keep a low temp consistant.
 
When I got into brewing in the first place -doing extracts only- I read all the relevant parts of Palmer, and highly recommend it. When I began contemplating moving to AG, I bought the book (now in its 3rd edition with more stuff than the free online version), and I will now recommend THAT.
Palmer is one of the reasons I have not just purchased an outdoor propane burner, but also a refractometer and a quick-reading and precise thermometer (I got the Thermapen). AG is a somewhat different game, and if you want to know things in advance about how your beer will turn out, you need to play that game by different rules than when brewing extract beers, where the numbers are a given.
So- for the OP, I, too would suggest: read Palmer. No reason not to, as the book's available free online (link given in above post).
 
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