First AG this weekend! I'm EXCITED! Few q's

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BrewTaster

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So this weekend (thanks to a generous infusion of cash from a friend who loves my beer), I will be venturing from the waters of PM to AG. I am going to be doing Ed's Haus as it seems a safe bet for a first batch!

Just wondering how you calculate volumes for batch sparging? And temps?

Also, would it be prudent to keep a pound of DME around in case efficiency is crap?

I CANT WAIT!
 
Try ProMash (What I use) or BeerSmith. I bought ProMash, but the demo works forever, you just cant save anything or do inventories and such (I think this is right). Beersmith has a 30 day or so trial. Those will give you what you need.

Some DME is never a bad idea on your first AG.
 
beersmith, free 21 day trial.

and yes.

do you know how much you'll need in the kettle for your pre-boil volume? work backwards from there. lets say its 7 gallons for a 5.5 gallon batch. and lets also say you've got 10 lbs of grain. if you do a single infusion at 1.25 qt/lb you're adding 12.5 qts (3gallons, 1 pint). the grain will absorb about .1 gallons of mash water per pound, so you'll lose a gallon to the grain. if you don't mash out with another infusion to bring your grain bed temps up to sparge temp, and you have zero dead space in your mashtun (unlikely) then your first runnings will be 8.5qts. you need 7 gallons (28qt) in that kettle, so you've got 19.5 qts to go. i do a mash out and double sparge, so i usually divide what's left in two, but give a little extra to the first sparge, because that wort will have more sugar in it. if your MLT (i'll presume you're using a cooler) can hold the whole 19.5 qts put it in, stir, and drain. you've got the 7 gallons needed. if you'd like better efficiency i'd recommend a double sparge, so maybe use 11qts for the first, and 8.5 for the second. don't worry about absorption, the grains all soaked up what it can. you do need to worry about dead space. either ignore it or tip your cooler. ignoring it drops you efficiency because you're leaving sugar behind. tipping your cooler risks stirring up some grain that will end up in your boil, possibly causing tannin extraction or clarity issues. use beersmith or one of the online calcs to figure temp. expect to not hit any of your temps. keep lots of notes. good luck!
 
So this weekend (thanks to a generous infusion of cash from a friend who loves my beer), I will be venturing from the waters of PM to AG. I am going to be doing Ed's Haus as it seems a safe bet for a first batch!

Just wondering how you calculate volumes for batch sparging? And temps?

Also, would it be prudent to keep a pound of DME around in case efficiency is crap?

I CANT WAIT!

Sorry double post.
 
In short - I tend to have 5 gallons of sparge water ready....

you'll know after your mash runnings how much you'll need, but I like having 5 gallonns ready at temp since the mash runnings calculation has some variables....
 
Definitely use a brewing program for your first batch. Take the time to get familiar with it too before you brew....like right now. it helps to know your way around all the tools on Beersmith, for example
 
If you don't want to pony up the cash for brewing software just yet, there are online calculators out there:

Like this one

And yes, have some DME handy. If nothing else, you can use it for a starter for your next batch.
 
I use this online program for calculation or sparge temps and volumes
untitled

Springer: That is an amazing online calculator. I couldn't believe all the info it gives you! That thing should be in everyone's favorites. Wow, great find!


Jim
 
I highly recommend you write out or look up an existing "brew script." Like the exact steps you will follow, from waking up and sanitizing your gear to cleaning up and putting everything away. Try to get as granular as you can, and you'll uncover every piece of information you need to get everything going. Have fun!
 
I dl'd the Beersmith trial and it seemed very complicated - I likely didn't put enough effort into it and have not yet purchased a software for my brewing. I need to soon because I am going all grain this year. Not trying to hi-jack but.....

I just ran my recipe for this weekend through the tastybrew calculator and the hbd recipator to see how close they would be and it was very interesting - everything was the same in both programs except the IBUs. In the tb calc the IBUs were 19 and in the hbd program the IBUs were 10. That's a substantial difference and now I'm wondering which is more accurate. If anyone with "real" (read : purchased) software wants to check it here's the recipe and parameters...

Style - English brown Mild
boil volume 3 gallons
batch volume 5.5 gallons
batch sparge 1 hour at 154F

2.25 lbs. lt dme
2.5 lbs. 2 row pale
1 lb. 60L
.5 lb. carapils
3 oz. chocolate

.75 oz. 5% a.a. goldings for 60 min.
.5 oz. 4.7% a.a. fuggles for 5 min.

any input is greatly appreciated.
 
I had my beersmith but used up the trial time, and id rather put money into ingredients then programs for the moment, at least til i build stock up.

So a few small changes to ed's recipe that ill make: Since the LHBS sells in kilo's I will be using an additional .8#'s of 2 row and .2#'s of vienna, this should account for any efficiency drop. Also they only had centennial, but at a low AA. So I will be subbing centennial straight for cascade, should give me a final IBU of 46 compared to ed's 35.

Im stoked! Pray for me guys lol
 
It is now in the fermenter! I had to dump out about 1/2 a gallon of wort (overshot my numbers), and by the time i realized what was happening my final hops were in. I still got an efficiency of 72% with tossing out the additional wort. It looked nice, but I dont think i got an appropriate hot break, it seemed to have little clumps in it? Any ideas what that may be?

Also, first time using my plate chiller, thanks to my lovely GF, and I cant imagine brewing without it!
 
It is now in the fermenter! I had to dump out about 1/2 a gallon of wort (overshot my numbers),


First of all, congrats on the successful first AG. It'll be great, I'm sure!

That being said, you did WHAT????? You dumped some wort???? Shame on you. If you have extra, save it, freeze it, and use it for a starter for your next brew. That beats the hell out of spending $ on DME for a starter.
 
Congratulation on your first AG BrewTaster.
I am pretty sure that the batch of Ed's Hause ale will come out nice..the weather probably prevented you getting a good rolling boil. I had JSpence over yesterday for a 10 G brew session..Recipe was basically Ed's Hause ale with 4 oz Tettnager subbed in for the Cascade/Centenial.

Cheers
Steve
 
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