All-Grain Tutorial/Nut Brown Ale

OK, so I wanted to do a thread that was a tutorial on all-grain. It's intent is to be a good guide for new AGers, but also for people to spot holes in my game and suggest ways for me to be better. This is only about my 5th AG batch, so feel free to suggest better ways to do things. The entire gallery of pics can be seen here.

First off, the recipe:

Nut Brown Ale
(based off Lil' Sparky's recipe at the above link)

First lesson is read the recipe correctly. I only used 8 lbs of pale instead of 9. Duh. Only other change is that I used Safale-04 instead of the hard-to-find Nottingham.

8 lbs. American 2-row info
1 lbs. Crystal Malt 60°L
8 oz. American Victory
4 oz. American Chocolate Malt
1 lbs. Oats Flaked

1 oz. Fuggle (Pellets, 4.75 %AA) boiled 60 min.
1 oz. East Kent Goldings (Pellets, 5.00 %AA) boiled 15 min.

DCL Yeast Safale S-04 Top Quality Ale Yeast



I always use this Mash Calculator for my strike and sparge water. Now, call me crazy, but it always gives a larger volume of water for the sparge, not the strike, so I always reverse them. Makes sense to me to add the larger volume first, where grain absorbtion is higher. Anyway, I heated my strike water and added it to the mash tun first:



Then I doughed in, stirring and breaking up dough balls as I poured the grain in:

So about 45 minutes later (I stirred the mash 3 times), it was time to collect the first runnings. First step is my favorite brewing word: vorlauf. Vorlaufing is when you drain off a pitcher or two of the runnings and dump them back into the mash, recirculating about a gallon to filter out grain particles that make it through the manifold. Two of my pitchers and mine is usually cleared. When pouring back in, lay out a piece of foil to disperse the wort and protect the integrity of the grain bed:



At this point, I drain the first runnings into my kettle:



Eventually, the wort will stop. Meanwhile, I had my sparge water heating in a different kettle to 180*. At this point, I put my first runnings on the propane and get them up to a boil while pouring my sparge water on my grain bed, stirring, and closing the lid for another 10 minutes.

After 10 minutes, vorlauf again (your 2nd runnings will be much clearer):



and drain the 2nd runnings into your kettle (which should have gotten pretty close to boiling while you were prepping the 2nd runnings). Here, I'm measuring the amount of 1st and 2nd runnings with a graduated CPVC tube that I made:



After your 2nd runnings are drained, fire that kettle up. It shouldn't take long if you already started heating the 1st runnings. When you have a controlled boil, add your first hop addition:

Nothing to do now for 45 minutes, so I recommend cleaning out the mash tun. I use my pitcher to scoop, then a paint scraper thingee to get the small stuff out.



My manifold is CPVC, so I disassemble it to clean and dry:



At 15 minutes, I made my 2nd/last hop addition, added Irish Moss and yeast nutrient, and put my immersion chiller in to sterilize. The IC will quickly reach 200 degrees, so be careful touching it from here out:

At flameout, I take the kettle off the heat (IC still inside, hoses draped over my shoulder) and hook up the hose. I also take out my hop bags. I insert a sanitized thermometer and let the water do its work:



I captured 12 gallons of hot water which I later used to fill and PBW my kettle. I always save this water for cleaning. After the chilling was complete, I created a whirlpool in the kettle by stirring and let it sit covered for 30 minutes to settle. Then I racked to my carboy:



Whirlpooling helpes the trub collect in the middle of the kettle so you can drain from the outside. The results of the whirlpool:

I pitched my yeast later in the evening - my hose water could only get the wort down to 85 degrees - when the beer was cooler. The only pic I forgot to take all day was me hitting the wort with oxygen right before pitching the yeast.



I will continue to give fermentation through bottling updates as they become available. I do want to send a special thank you to Edwort for his Haus Pale Ale recipe. It's in my keg right now and fueled this brew day for me!





Again, The entire gallery of pics can be seen here.

OMG dude, you did just about everything wrong.









Kidding. Nice job. :rockin:

good post. It re-affirms that the technique that I'm using works! \

what was your efficiency?

nice man....pretty straight forward.

we look forward to going AG. I think this weekend we will build our mash tun.

Great tutorial. I hope you like the Nut Brown!

Bobby_M said:

OMG dude, you did just about everything wrong.









Kidding. Nice job. :rockin:

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Very nice write up

18 hours since I pitched the yeast, we are humming along:



And some video of the airlock:

AZ_IPA said:

what was your efficiency?

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Hmmmm..... real good question. My Achilles heel is forgetting to take the OG before pitching yeast. I was thinking about it the whole time during this batch, talked about it, and forgot. Damn.

Lil' Sparky said:

Great tutorial. I hope you like the Nut Brown!

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All the comments in your thread, plus the Hook & Ladder Brown that I was drinking at the time sold me. I needed some tasty brown ale!!! Thanks!

Jaysus said:

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Keep laughing and I'll drop two more carboys on your toes. But when people ask, YOU HURT THEM HIKING.

Nice little tutorial. You can sell that trub on Ebay...I swear i saw Jesus' face in it

DubbelDach said:

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Nice gloves :rockin:

Awesome tutorial by the way. I love nut brown ales and for some reason this thread is making me thirsty.

Awesome work! I'm going to try out this recipe with a few friends this weekend.

Beards Brews said:

Nice gloves :rockin:

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Home Depot, I believe... Just regular work gloves coated with PVC. They don't hold up to extreme temps - I got them melty once - but they're good for taking your kettle off the heat or reaching in for a hop bag (got them mainly to be waterproof).

ChefWRX said:

Awesome work! I'm going to try out this recipe with a few friends this weekend.

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Awesome... Keep in mind that I shorted the grain bill a bit... Should be 9 lbs of 2-row as per Sparky...

About 52 hours out and this thing is done. Krausen fell, and the bubbling is slow. It's late and I just played hockey, so I will take a gravity and have a taste tomorrow night.



Slow bubblin':

DubbelDach said:

At this point, I put my first runnings on the propane and get them up to a boil while pouring my sparge water on my grain bed...

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I can't believe I didn't think to do this!! Is this common among other batch spargers? This HAS to decrease the amount of time it takes to come to a boil by quite a bit!

On my first AG, I waited until I had both runnings before starting the boil, and it TOOK FOREVER!!

Are there any negative effects to doing it this way e.g. boil off from first runnings affecting the total pre-boil volume? Would you be boiling off more of the first runnings this way, as opposed to boiling off the total amount of water including the sparged (2nd) runnings.

Sorry if this has been covered before. I'm quite new to all this.

americanweirdo said:

I can't believe I didn't think to do this!! Is this common among other batch spargers? This HAS to decrease the amount of time it takes to come to a boil by quite a bit!

On my first AG, I waited until I had both runnings before starting the boil, and it TOOK FOREVER!!

Are there any negative effects to doing it this way e.g. boil off from first runnings affecting the total pre-boil volume? Would you be boiling off more of the first runnings this way, as opposed to boiling off the total amount of water including the sparged (2nd) runnings.

Sorry if this has been covered before. I'm quite new to all this.

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Actually, if you don't do a mash out, you SHOULD bring those first runnings to a boil right away- you're stopping the conversion process. If you just wait, the enzymes keep working and can change the profile of the wort.

The only thing I can add to your technique Dubble is a little nitpicky thing but it struck me. You mentioned that your mash/sparge water volumes are reversed. Well, you should have more sparge water than mash water. I know that there is some absorption, but your efficiency is better when the mash water is around 1.25 quart/pound (up to 1.5 quart/pound) for the mash and about twice that for sparge water. Also, that keeps your mash ph in the proper range. Just something to think about!

Thanks so much for the pictures- it was great to see the process!

YooperBrew said:

Actually, if you don't do a mash out, you SHOULD bring those first runnings to a boil right away- you're stopping the conversion process. If you just wait, the enzymes keep working and can change the profile of the wort.

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YB... tell me if what i'm doing is similar to mashing out. when the 60 minute mash is complete i'm adding 170 degree F water to the MT (to make-up for water lost due to grain absorption), i stir and let it sit for a bit before the vorlauf and first runnings.

americanweirdo said:

This HAS to decrease the amount of time it takes to come to a boil by quite a bit!

On my first AG, I waited until I had both runnings before starting the boil, and it TOOK FOREVER!!

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Yeah... I don't even remember if I read it somewhere, or if it just seemed like it made sense and I did it, but I credit this technique with making me a pretty fast AG brewer. I can bang out a 5 gallon batch in about 4.5 hours. That and cleaning as I go.

Not sure about all that pre-boil volume stuff, but I do know that I'm going to start setting my mash calculator for 5.25 gallon batches. I've been just shy of my 5 gallon mark a few times, and I'd rather have a touch more than 5 gallons when finished.

YooperBrew said:

The only thing I can add to your technique Dubble is a little nitpicky thing but it struck me. You mentioned that your mash/sparge water volumes are reversed. Well, you should have more sparge water than mash water. I know that there is some absorption, but your efficiency is better when the mash water is around 1.25 quart/pound (up to 1.5 quart/pound) for the mash and about twice that for sparge water. Also, that keeps your mash ph in the proper range. Just something to think about!

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Ahhhhh, so that's right then. I will try this next batch. Also, can you define "mash out"? That's one of the terms I hear, but never know what it is...

I usually figure my water amounts based on 1.33q/lb. Had a real low level batch the first time when I did 1.25q/lb.

americanweirdo said:

YB... tell me if what i'm doing is similar to mashing out. when the 60 minute mash is complete i'm adding 170 degree F water to the MT (to make-up for water lost due to grain absorption), i stir and let it sit for a bit before the vorlauf and first runnings.

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Hmmmm.... How much do you add?

After 45 or 60 mins, I just go straight to the vorlauf and 1st runnings. Then I add my 180 sparge water to the grain, sit for 10, and vorlauf and do 2nd runnings...

Maybe your technique is the elusive "mash out"....

Also, can you define "mash out"? That's one of the terms I hear, but never know what it is...

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When you mash out, you add near boiling water to the MLT to denature the enzymes, effectively 'stopping' them in time.

From Palmer's How to Brew:

What is Mashout?

Before the sweet wort is drained from the mash and the grain is rinsed (sparged) of the residual sugars, many brewers perform a mashout. Mashout is the term for raising the temperature of the mash to 170°F prior to lautering. This step stops all of the enzyme action (preserving your fermentable sugar profile) and makes the grainbed and wort more fluid. For most mashes with a ratio of 1.5-2 quarts of water per pound of grain, the mashout is not needed. The grainbed will be loose enough to flow well. For a thicker mash, or a mash composed of more than 25% of wheat or oats, a mashout may be needed to prevent a Set Mash/Stuck Sparge. This is when the grain bed plugs up and no liquid will flow through it. A mashout helps prevent this by making the sugars more fluid; like the difference between warm and cold honey. The mashout step can be done using external heat or by adding hot water according to the multi-rest infusion calculations. (See chapter 16.) A lot of homebrewers tend to skip the mashout step for most mashes with no consequences.

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I was under the impression that mash out was more useful for fly sparging than for batch sparging...

DubbelDach said:

Hmmmm.... How much do you add?

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it comes out to about 1.5 gallons.

Jaysus said:

I was under the impression that mash out was more useful for fly sparging than for batch sparging...

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True- and it doesn't really increase your efficiency if you're doing 2 batch sparges with the grainbed in the 168 degree area. Bobby_M has some great posts and tutorials on this subject, and I recommend reading those- he's much more easy to understand than I am!

For me, the key is EITHER mash out, OR put those first runnings on right away to boil. Either one of those will denature the enzymes and preserve your mash profile. I no longer do a mash out, since I sparge hotter the first time, and start those first runnings on to boil.

Jaysus said:

I was under the impression that mash out was more useful for fly sparging than for batch sparging...

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It is. It's MOSTLY for denaturing enzymes while you're doing a rather long fly sparge. If you didn't raise the temp, you'd still be converting over that 45-60 minutes which you may not want. It has a side effect of loosening a bit more sugar but it's absolutely NOT necessary with batch sparging.

The best efficiency I've ever gotten was 94% and it was taking 3 distinct runnings. One following the mash (no mash out infusion), then two runnings following half sparge volume infusions. I don't recommend a mash out infusion unless you want to reduce your number of runnings to two (for a slight reduction is task load/time).

In summary you have two choices:
#1
mash
infuse an amount equal to your grain absorption (about .1 gallons per pound of grain) for your mash out (200F).
stir, vorlauf and drain.
Infuse single batch sparge volume @ 170F, stir, vorlauf and drain.

two runnings, both at elevated temps, relatively high efficiency

#2
mash
vorlauf and drain
add half sparge amount @ 185F, stir, vorlauf, drain
add second half sparge amount @ 185, stir, vorlauf, drain

3 runnings at progressively higher temps, very high efficiency

Bobby_M said:

#2
mash
vorlauf and drain
add half sparge amount @ 185F, stir, vorlauf, drain
add second half sparge amount @ 185, stir, vorlauf, drain

3 runnings at progressively higher temps, very high efficiency

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so, in this case each of the runnings would be sent straight to the flame as soon as collected?

this thread is actually becoming very helpful. thanks to all!

Nice reply - thanks Bobby!

Bobby_M said:

In summary you have two choices:
#1
mash
infuse an amount equal to your grain absorption (about .1 gallons per pound of grain) for your mash out (200F).
stir, vorlauf and drain.
Infuse single batch sparge volume @ 170F, stir, vorlauf and drain.

two runnings, both at elevated temps, relatively high efficiency

#2
mash
vorlauf and drain
add half sparge amount @ 185F, stir, vorlauf, drain
add second half sparge amount @ 185, stir, vorlauf, drain

3 runnings at progressively higher temps, very high efficiency

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Awesome advice, Bobby... I will definitely try both of these, probably on my next two batches!

so, in this case each of the runnings would be sent straight to the flame as soon as collected?

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That's exactly how I do it. I collect each of my runnings in a 5 gallon kettle and dump them into the brew kettle. Over 170, you are denaturing the enzymes. I do #2 of Bobby's method- works like a charm.

Does your pvc manifold work well? What temperatures will it hold up to?

buyaka said:

Does your pvc manifold work well? What temperatures will it hold up to?

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Pretty sure it works well... It is CPVC though, there's a difference. I guess things in there have been up to just shy of 170.

My cooler bottom is a little warpy though from adding the strike water, I'd imagine.

americanweirdo said:

so, in this case each of the runnings would be sent straight to the flame as soon as collected?

this thread is actually becoming very helpful. thanks to all!

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It's not mandatory in that the overall temperature of the collected preboil wort is going to be in the area of 165F anyway so the enzymes are toast. Also, given that batch sparging, even with 3 runnings, only takes about 25 minutes to perform (assuming you didn't drop the ball on heating your sparge) you will soon be starting your boil process anyway.

If you have the means to start heating as soon as you pull first runnings, the biggest benefit is shaving time off your brew day. Some folks use their only kettle as their HLT though so they'd be collecting all runnings in buckets until the last sparge is infused into the MLT.

Update.... About 72 hours out now, barely a bubble coming through the airlock. I took a sample with my thief, and:



Brown ale is brown? Check. How about the gravity?



1.008. This baby is fermented out! Must resist urge to bottle tomorrow night. Wondering if I should just leave it here in primary (the beer looks crystal clear) for 7-10 total days, or move to 2ndary tomorrow night. This might be a case where 2ndary only means I gotta clean more crap. Thoughts?

That's a great write-up! Looks like a wonderful beer.

I wanted to chime in on your mention of my Mash/Sparge water calculator. You can change your mash thickness by adjusting the Mash Thickness (qts/lb.) value (6th field down) to affect the mash & sparge volumes.

The choice of mash thickness will affect the ultimate fermentability (and conversely, body, mouthfeel and perceived sweetness) of your beer. For example, in the case of this beer, if you switched the sparge and batch volumes, you mashed thin and were able to produce a less-dextrinous wort in which the sugars were the right type for conversion to alcohol. This is one of the factors as to why you were able to get your beer well-attenuated. As a practical example, if you decided you wanted to make this same beer, but with more 'body', 'mouthfeel' or even perceived-sweetness, you could use the exact same procedures, but mash thicker to achieve the same result.

Man, I sure do love brewing

Great Job on this - I made the leap to all-grain after seeing something very similar to this and, as it turns out, there's nothing to it. I think this will give many people that little push to make the leap.

Chris Alvey
Brew365.com

Since you are asking for opinion on secondary, my $0.02 is a hearty NO.

If you're going to be packaging this beer within a couple of weeks, it'll be fine, just let it settle. Any mechanical advantage you have toward clarity will be offset (bigtime, in my opinion) by the chances of infection and oxidation that come with racking to another vessel.

Once it 'looks' done, give the yeast a couple more days at fermentation temperature to do some clean up of esters and turn some fusel/high alcohols into less nasty ones. Bless those yeasts, they think of everything if we just let 'em go.

Then, if you can, cool the thing for a couple of days and carefully rack and package.

Thanks for the input, Chris! So let me get this straight... By switching the volumes, my beer probably fermented out more? Add to that the fact that I mashed at 1.33q/lb as against a thicker 1.25/qt, and I got 1.008 as against maybe 1.012?

My Scottish ale that I did before this fermented out to 1.010 and I thought, "man, isn't this supposed to have residual sweetness? Maybe not ferment out so much?"

So now, these two beers will be dryer and less sweet because I reversed the volumes produced by your calculator? (again, wonderful tool, thank you! I just have to listen to it now!)