Finished brewing my first partial mash this morning. While there were several things I'd like to fine-tune for next time, overall the whole process went very smoothly. My efficiency might have been a little better than I was expecting, leading to a new pseudo-style, the Imperial Cream Ale
Actually, I'm just a bit high on OG (1.056 or 1.058). I'm hoping it will ferment out smoothly and not leave an overly malty feel or an alcohol burn. Should be interesting, however it turns out. Recipe and pre-brew discussion here.
Notes and things that could go better:
This was also my first time making a yeast starter. I'm sold. I pitched the yeast at 1:00 this afternoon. I had airlock activity by 4:30 and it's perking away like a champ at 11:00, even a 55f fridge temps. Impressive.
Actually, I'm just a bit high on OG (1.056 or 1.058). I'm hoping it will ferment out smoothly and not leave an overly malty feel or an alcohol burn. Should be interesting, however it turns out. Recipe and pre-brew discussion here.
Notes and things that could go better:
- Mashing grains is a pain in the butt with a cooler & sparge bag rather than a real mash/lauter tun. An 8 to 10 pound teabag is problematic and strains the seams of even the sturdiest sparge bag. How many $6 bags can I go through before a real tun becomes cost effective?
- When boiling in two pots (one of which contains wort from sparge water), check the OG of each pot to get a real reading.
- Don't panic over low OG until you see how much wort you have and how much it needs to boil down.
- Dogs (or at least yellow Labs) love spent grains. Put them on the leaf pile/compost heap much farther from the house to avoid major outgassing (from the dog, not the grains)
This was also my first time making a yeast starter. I'm sold. I pitched the yeast at 1:00 this afternoon. I had airlock activity by 4:30 and it's perking away like a champ at 11:00, even a 55f fridge temps. Impressive.