The Blow Leprechaun
Well-Known Member
So I did my first all-grain yesterday.
My 60 qt cooler with CPVC manifold worked beautifully. My cooler has a very awkwardly placed drain spout, but I was able to design the manifold to create a siphon and pull everything out. Test runs with water left behind slightly over a cup of water, and I got the same performance with grain in there.
Pretty much followed Bobby M's all grain primer, dumped in 180-ish water to preheat, let it cooler to 168-ish, added grain, stirred, continued stirring til it got to where I wanted it (152).
It held at 152 for 35 minutes without change when suddenly my digital thermometer started ticking the temperature upwards rapidly (eventually reaching 191*, which I think is as high as it goes - it's a meat thermometer). I grabbed another instant read thermometer, poked it around the mash in various places, still got 150-ish (it's analog, so I can't be exact), and didn't worry about it.
Ended up with 63% efficiency and have 4.6 gallons of 1.055 APA in the fermenter. My yeast took off like a shot - I left the house shortly after pitching and when I returned 3 hours later, it was already going.
We'll see how it all tastes at the end!
As a sidenote, anyone have any idea what happened to my digital thermometer? It reads 160* at room temperature now. It doesn't have a calibration button, and I've tried the reset buttons and it still reads 160. Maybe if I switch the batteries?
My 60 qt cooler with CPVC manifold worked beautifully. My cooler has a very awkwardly placed drain spout, but I was able to design the manifold to create a siphon and pull everything out. Test runs with water left behind slightly over a cup of water, and I got the same performance with grain in there.
Pretty much followed Bobby M's all grain primer, dumped in 180-ish water to preheat, let it cooler to 168-ish, added grain, stirred, continued stirring til it got to where I wanted it (152).
It held at 152 for 35 minutes without change when suddenly my digital thermometer started ticking the temperature upwards rapidly (eventually reaching 191*, which I think is as high as it goes - it's a meat thermometer). I grabbed another instant read thermometer, poked it around the mash in various places, still got 150-ish (it's analog, so I can't be exact), and didn't worry about it.
Ended up with 63% efficiency and have 4.6 gallons of 1.055 APA in the fermenter. My yeast took off like a shot - I left the house shortly after pitching and when I returned 3 hours later, it was already going.
We'll see how it all tastes at the end!
As a sidenote, anyone have any idea what happened to my digital thermometer? It reads 160* at room temperature now. It doesn't have a calibration button, and I've tried the reset buttons and it still reads 160. Maybe if I switch the batteries?