Night Shift

Having recently caught the brewing bug, I just bought a complete all grain setup. It made no sense when I brought it home - three kettles. But as I've cleaned the equipment today, and had a bit to drink, it has actually come to make sense. I bring 5 gallons of sparge water to 175 degrees, set that kettle aside, use 1 quart per pound in my malt vessel at 153, then spare and pour into the boil pot. For this, I have three keggles and many questions. If you have answers; if you can't sleep; join me for the next three hours of mutiny. I may even have a question or two.

Well, I can't say that me, Modern Warfare, and my beer that has turned to tequila can make it 3 hours, but if you have specific questions I can help for a bit. I would recommend looking up How to Brew by John Palmer and reading over that to get some basics on all grain...and much more.

How much water you heat up depends on how many lb's of grain your recipe calls for. I would go with a thinner mash, maybe 1.25qt/lb to start and play with it as needed from there. Your mash temp water (the water you mix with the grains) will depend on the grain temp and how many lb's of grain you are using. There are many online calculators that will help you dial that in. The 153 number is generic, you will mash at whatever temp your style dictates...but the 153 range is a good generic number...back to COD, I'll check back in a few and try to help as you think of more stuff.

Nothing burning yet. Spare water heating.

My first issue is figuring out the best way to overlap the strainers in the mash tun. Also, my water falls below the top of the strainer at 1.25 per pound... I guess I'll need more for this five gallon batch.

You got me confused. What type of mashtun do you have? Do you have a web link?

I have three keggles. Sparge water is ready, now have to figure out how to get the strainer in place. It's a two piece false bottom.

Oh, put the false bottom piece on the bottom of the keggle. There should be a setup that allows you to draw the wort from beneath the false bottom screen. Some false bottoms encompass the entire diameter of the kettle and go above the valve...keggles usually have a domed type of false bottom with some plumbing that goes from the valve to the screen to draw from under it.

Thanks. I think I have it set up correctly. If not, a few grains may slip past. Probably not the end of the world.

Yeah, I would plan on some sneaky grains getting past...draw off around 1/2 gallon of wort and pour over the top of the grains to recirculate and that should get the grain bed settled down to eliminate most all those sneaky grains from going into the boil.

Great advice - dome. I set it up like a teepee. Now I'm gonna add some extra water, because the water level is below the top of the false bottom. I guess I could tap into my sparge reserve.

I'm still confused on how your setup is designed. A false bottom is usually a perforated stainless steel metal disk so there is only one way to set it up. Do you have a web link to the item you bought so I can see what you have going on?

It is a perforated stainless steel disc cut in two. I added some sparge water and my grains. Now for a nice slow malt. Will definitely have some upgrades/modifications to make after this batch.

Yeah, you should only have a few inches of space beneath the false bottom which depending on your tubing will be a determining factor of wort loss. How'd you do for hitting your mash temp?

I currently suck mash temp. Was at 160, so I threw a handful of ice cubes in and shut the burner off. (Using a turkey fryer.) I've got some lids I can use to maintain temp without flame.

Make sure to stir really well and let sit for 5 minutes or so before getting worried. It usually takes a few minutes for the temp to equilize. If you start adding ice or hot water before allowing for it to settle you will never get your temp and become frustrated. If you are using something that is uninsulated I would cut the heat and stir until it gets down to temp instead of adding ice which could potentially run the temp too far down.

I cut the heat and stirred, then covered. Now figuring out how to transfer to boil kettle.

Well, its time to turn in for me, best of luck at your first go at AG. Don't let it stress you too much, the first few are learning experiences that will get you familiar with the process and aid in dialing in your system. Take copius notes and learn as much as you can and next go around will be that much smoother for it. Let me know how it goes. Cheers.

ere109 said:

I cut the heat and stirred, then covered. Now figuring out how to transfer to boil kettle.

Click to expand...

If you don't have a pump you will have to gravity feed. Hopefully you set up things so that you can gravity feed your sparge water to your mashtun to your boil kettle. If not be safe lifting things. Alright, before I go pour more tequila I'm seriously going to bed. Good luck.

Thanks. Have a good night. I must have set up the false bottom incorrectly. The valve got plugged up. I cut a piece of copper electrical wire, sanitized it, and got things moving again, but very slowly. It's all a learning experience.

Still messing with the copper wire. The false bottom fell below the drain hole. No good.

I discovered that the valve on my used keggle leaks - AFTER about a gallon escaped across the floor.

Sounds like a rough night of brewing and a lot of hard lessons learned. Hopefully you were able to get enough wort to the fermenter to make it worth your while.

How did this brew session turn out? If your 2 pc stainless false bottom needs to be hinged let me know I will get you some of the hinges I use and maybe you can connect them to make a hinged one on the cheep out of what you already have. If you don’t have a welder I can drill these for you too. Let me know I would love to help. What it sounds like to me is the false bottom collapsed under the weight of the grain.
Jay

Yes, the false bottom definitely collapsed. Hinges might not be a bad idea at all. The good news is that the 3 gallons left after many lessons learned the other night is bubbling away. I don't know yet WHAT it will taste like, but it will definitely be beer. A secondary and probably even a tertiary ferm will probably be necessary to clear up the spent grains that I couldn't filter out. Aside from that, seeing the bubbling gives me new hope. At least my first all-grain batch wasn't a complete failure.

You'll be fine, all the grains will settle down in the trub in the primary...no need to rack multiple times.

Bensiff said:

You'll be fine, all the grains will settle down in the trub in the primary...no need to rack multiple times.

Click to expand...

Yeah multiple times wont really be nessessary. Secondary?? Uhhh yep for sure. But thats as far as you need to take it. If your going to bottle condition, a secondary is as far as you would want to take it.
Cheers
Jay