Number68
Well-Known Member
Getting gifted a Mr. Beer for christmas re-sparked my interest in the hobby, but i wasn't going to use the basic kit that came with it, after talking with a couple people around here i decided to go for an IPA, using 4lb 2 row, the hopped LME that came with the kit, 1oz simcoe @20min, and 1oz amarillo @5min
i also wanted to see if my hot plate could even come close to boiling 20ish qts of wort
i heated up 18qts of water to 165, and put my grains in in a nylon paint strainer bag, maintained about 155* for 60min.
wanted to "mash out" at 170, so i turned the heat up a bit, completely lost track of what i was doing and ended up hitting 180 for a second or two, but not too worried, cuz if it's one thing i learned from here, it's still going to be beer and i shouldn't worry.
i mashed at about 70* efficiency, which i was pretty happy with given this is my first time with this method
got the wort up to about 200*, added the can of LME, put the lid on and went to grab a beer and watch tv. about an hour later, the temp topped out at 210, and wasn't even close to boiling..
so out came the propane burner and within a few seconds had a nice heavy boil
other than one minor boilover the rest went without headache.
i found the bag of "booster" that came with the kit, and threw that in at flameout (as far as i can see, can't hurt, it's basically corn sugar)
it's chilling in a snow bank right now, once it's cooled, i'm pitching a vial of WLP-001
i've got a whole bunch of pics to come, but figured i'd put this up and see what you guys had to say
i also wanted to see if my hot plate could even come close to boiling 20ish qts of wort
i heated up 18qts of water to 165, and put my grains in in a nylon paint strainer bag, maintained about 155* for 60min.
wanted to "mash out" at 170, so i turned the heat up a bit, completely lost track of what i was doing and ended up hitting 180 for a second or two, but not too worried, cuz if it's one thing i learned from here, it's still going to be beer and i shouldn't worry.
i mashed at about 70* efficiency, which i was pretty happy with given this is my first time with this method
got the wort up to about 200*, added the can of LME, put the lid on and went to grab a beer and watch tv. about an hour later, the temp topped out at 210, and wasn't even close to boiling..
so out came the propane burner and within a few seconds had a nice heavy boil
other than one minor boilover the rest went without headache.
i found the bag of "booster" that came with the kit, and threw that in at flameout (as far as i can see, can't hurt, it's basically corn sugar)
it's chilling in a snow bank right now, once it's cooled, i'm pitching a vial of WLP-001
i've got a whole bunch of pics to come, but figured i'd put this up and see what you guys had to say