WikiHow All Grain Brew Process

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ReneeNU said:
I've only brewed a few batches using extract method, and would love to get into all-grain.

I found this: http://www.wikihow.com/Brew-Beer-Using-All-Grain-Method

Is this tutorial complete? Anything you would add? How about the mini kegging tutorial? Is it as easy as it sounds?

THANKS!

I didn't realize that PBW and OxyClean are just about the same thing, but a lot of sites out there back it up.
 
It's fairly accurate, but there's a bunch of gotcha's in there.

In para 1, he says you need 9 - 10 lbs base malt. If you have an efficient mash and sparge, this could produce a very potent brew. However, for a first attempt, your efficiency will probably not be that great, and 9 - 10 lbs should be OK for a normal strength brew.
He also says, add 1 - 2 lbs specialty malt. Good advice, but to know what malts to use, and what effect they have takes a lot of experience. I'd start with a recipe, adding an extra 1 - 2 lbs of pale malt to make up for the initial poor efficiency, and then modify it one thing at a time to try to improve the results. This gets you experience much quicker than brewing lots of very different brews.

In para 2, he says to mill the grain at the brewing shop. I have two local homebrew shops. One has roller mills (which work well), and the other has a Corona type mill which is so badly set that it will not produce adequate results. The rollers should be set approximately 1/20 inch apart, not 1/8 inch.

In para 3, he confuses a mash tun with a mash/lauter tun.. A mash tun does not need a false bottom. A lauter tun does (or needs a bazooka screen or manifold). Most home brewers combine both, and and up with one vessel that can be used for mashing and lautering or sparging. The bucket may be the cheapest, but coolers work much better because they are insulated, and would be cheaper if you already have the cooler. The other possibility is to use a grain bag instead of a false bottom/manifold/screen.

With para 4, I have a big problem. Heating the water to 170 may work with his equipment. For mine, I need to heat the water to 190 to mash at 155. The temperature of the mash has a dramatic effect on the character of the beer.

UI have more problems with para 5. I don't understand it. What does he mean by "add the wort?" So far, you have a mash. After sparging, you will have a wort. I suppose he means add the sparge water to start the sparge. The problem with this is that the mash is at about 150 - 158 and the sparge should be conducted at 168 - 170. What temperature water do you add to raise the temperature to the right amount?
Much better is to slowly add 4 - 5 qts boiling water to dilute the mash and raise it's temperature to the required 168.

I have another problem with para 6. He says "Sparging is the process of draining the wort off of the grain bed." I disagree. IMHO, sparging is the process of rinsing the sugars out of the grain and then draining the sweet wort out of the grain bed. This is the most difficult part of the whole process. If the temperature is too low, you won't dissolve the sugars out of the grains, and end up with a weak beer. If the temperature is too high, you will dissolve the sugars, but also tannins, resulting in a very unpleasant taste in the beer. There are many articles on this forum on how to sparge. I think his explanation of the sparging process is sadly lacking.

I disagree with para 7, but admit that his advice is probably better than my own somewhat extreme views on hops. I would suggest that you pick a typical hop for the beer, generally, a hop grown in the area where the type of beer you are brewing originated from.

I have no problems with paras 8 or 9, but para 10 is downright wrong.
He recommends pouring hot wort through a strainer into the primary fermenter.
Most experienced brewers would agree that this would oxidize the wort, resulting in off flavors in the finished beer. Also, although many people do strain into the fermenter, many strainers are virtually impossible to sanitize, and this could result in infections being introduced. If you ever switch from a plastic bucket to a glass carboy, pouring hot wort into the carboy is also very likely to shatter it. Although he says a wort chiller in unnecessary, I consider it to be essential for all grain. Rather than using a filter, I would also whirlpool the wort, and rack it into the fermenter, but I'm fortunate enough to have a spigot and false bottom in my kettle, so all I have to do is chill and drain.

Para 11. White Labs produce good yeast, so do others. If using a liquid yeast, it's still a good idea to make a starter to increase the cell count, and to ensure that the yeast is viable.

No problems with paras 12 and 13, except to say that kegging is much more expensive than bottling (in the short term). I keg 90% and bottle 10% I find it better to bottle brews that are to be given away or only drunk occasionally, and keg the house brew that doesn't last long.

Para 14. The best way to served kegged beer is to serve it at keg temperature. Chilling is not required if you brew the right beer. Try English Ales. They should not be served at less than about 55 degrees. If you do insist on chilling, then a good wort chiller is even more necessary to help eliminate chill haze.

Finally, PBW and Oxiclean are definitely different. Oxiclean generates a lot more foam than PBW when adding the hot water, but I admit they both seem to work about the same (although I've not tried adding PBW to the laundry).

-a.
 
Blender said:
http://www.hbd.org/cascade/dennybrew/ There is an initial investment in all grain brewing but once all your equipment is purchased then it is very economical and offers more control over the final beer.
Don't fall for this! There is nothing economical about needing a new piece of brewing equipment on every batch you brew once you start down the slippery slope of AG (which you may have already).

Now, back to shopping for a pH meter with temperature compensation...

;) :D
 
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