My first AG is underway.

Well this is my first AG and it is my ABM Amber ale.
Recipe
9# Maris Otter
.75# cara munich
.50# crystal 60
.25# Special B
Yeast is Pacman

Hops schedule is:
.50 oz Newport at 60
.50 oz Newport at 45
.50 oz Fuggles at 30
.50 oz fuggles at 15
.25 oz fuggles at flameout

IBu's are right around 45- about the limit of the style

As far as the mash, it went absolutely perfect. Heated my strike water to 166 to try to hit my temp of 154. The temp was a little low about 3/4 of the way in so I heated up the last 1.5 gallons of water to 174 to hit a final temp of 156. It's a little high but it will finish at 154. I just checked and stirred about 30 minutes in and the temp was 155. This is going far better than I thought.

I'll keep you all posted as I get breaks.


Thanks to all those who helped me and others out on their venture into the AG world.


Dan

Cool and good luck! Kinda fun isn't it?

Definitely fun...I don't see how you could not have fun doing this. I have high hopes for this one.


Dan

Allright..now some questions. I am trying to figure out these brewing programs and the one I like is Beersmith. Now my OG out of my mash tun after everything was said and done (mash+sparging) was 1.049 into my kettle. Out of the kettle it is 1.062.
Now what's the difference between OG and SG? I'm trying to figure out my efficiency and based on brewsmith it's either 65 or 85%

Any help?


Dan

Ok so everything is done and cleaned up in little over 5 hours. I have to say this was the quickest, cleanest, and easiest brew I've done to date. Everything went almost perfect. Although I did realize that I placed my bazooka tube a but too high which leaves me with probably 1/2-3/4 of a gallon in the kettle which I then have to pour through a strainer into a funnel into my carboy;kind of a pain in the ass but it left me with my target volume of 5.25 gal. The bazooka tube worked flawlessly and my mash tun really did well. I will post pics in my gallery shortly to document this monumental occasion
I can't believe how easy all this was...this went easier than my last few batches. I'm thrilled and psyched about it and can't wait to brew again, although it will be a while as I have three brews now to bottle as well as Ed's apfelwein. Top all of this off with the fact that I get to taste my Plywood IPA tonight and I'm on cloud 9.

Pics to come!


Dan

SG means specific gravity and does not signify anything special in brewing.

OG or original gravity is the SG just before adding yeast. This is used to calc. your alc %.


FG is final gavity which it your SG at bottling time before adding any priming sugars. Also used to calc alc %.

OG points - FG points * .131 = alc by volume
( 62 - 10 ) * .131 = 6.8% ABV
(This assums you finish at 1.010)

So what is the term for the gravity of the wort after you are through mashing and sparging? Or is it even necessary to take this reading?


Dan

That would be the preboil gravity. I take it when it's convenient. The more AG's I do, the less I do it though. I can usually count on about a 10 point increase between preboil and post boil. It at least gives me an idea of where I'm headed.

If I'm way low on my preboil, it gives me a chance to throw in some DME if I want. Though in the summer time, I lean towards lower ABV's and don't usually do that.

Congrats on the first AG. I just finished up another AG myself.

Satisfying ain't it?

Congrats on the first AG. It was good to read it went smooth - and it sounds like a nice recipe.

Time for another Homebrew...

So here are a couple pics, the rest are in my gallery.
the grains

Me adding the grains to the MT

Strike water

This is 10.5 Lbs. in a 5 gallon cooler

Flamout addition of .25 oz of Fuggle

a brew of a different sort

My makeshift workbench

The finished product...sort of



I can't wait to taste this brew!


Dan

Excellent!!

Congrats...I just wrapped up my first AG batch today too!

brewt00l said:

Excellent!!

Congrats...I just wrapped up my first AG batch today too!

Click to expand...

How'd it go?



Dan

Willsellout said:

How'd it go?



Dan

Click to expand...

Surprisingly easy considering the total lack of planning & prep. Course, I chose a simple recipe but still managed to hit my target SG spot on so I am pretty thrilled.

9# Maris Otter
1# Crystal 60
1 oz nugget @ 60m
1 oz EKG @ 5m

currently in the carboy with some safale 04

Very cool, pretty similar recipes. I still can't believe how easy it was..good times.



Dan

Love the pics.

Is that a 6 1/2 gallon carboy? Looks like you're close to 5.5 - 6 gallons in there.
I don't know if you have a blow off tube, but when mine are that close, they tend to krausen pretty high and end up blowing off a little.

FWIW - Lowes sells 1 1/4" OD clear vynil tubing by the foot that is a nice tight fit right inside that glass neck...no adaptor necessary.

Like this one:

it is a 6.5 gal, but I have measurements on the side and it's just above the 5 gal mark so I'm guessing it's closer to 5.25 or maybe a bit less. As far as the blowoff goes, the yeast is Pacman and I haven't had anything close to a blowoff with it yet..although this is the first time I've washed and reused yeast so I will keep an eye on it. I do have a tube that fits tight in the carboy in case it does get hairy. I'm already seeing a bit of action in it, if it starts acting up tonight I'll definitely rig a blowoff.
::edit:: looks like Beersmith is saying I had 85% efficiency on this brew..not sure if that's right but that's a lot higher than I thought it would be. Although with my last partial mash it was right around the same...so maybe the system is working well.


Dan

Yeah pacman has excellent manners and will keep itself in the carboy from my experience (5 pacman beers).

chillHayze said:

Yeah pacman has excellent manners and will keep itself in the carboy from my experience (5 pacman beers).

Click to expand...

Yeah, I love pacman..this will be my second time brewing with it. I have four more smack packs but I'm hoping to wash and reuse as much as possible.


Dan

You really need to resue that stuff. Saves a ton of dough.

chillHayze said:

Yeah pacman has excellent manners and will keep itself in the carboy from my experience (5 pacman beers).

Click to expand...

I've used Pacman twice. Once on a Dead Guy clone, and again on an Amber (washed yeast from Dead Guy). The first time, the lid blew right off the bucket, but I was fermenting at very warm temps (72-75, oops), so I think the yeast was on steroids. The second time, I kept fermenting temps around 60-65 degrees, and no problems.

How long can washed yeast be stored for? I have two jars of Pacman left in the fridge, which I washed in mid-November. I think conventional wisdom says three months, but I've heard upwards of one year after washing is acceptable, too.

I think I'm going to try it again on one of my upcoming brews. Maybe I'll try the Dead Guy clone again, only all grain this time around, and I'll ferment closer to 60 degrees. Or, I've always wanted to try the Shakespeare Stout, but can't find it anywhere in my area. Oh, the options are endless...

greg75 said:

How long can washed yeast be stored for? I have two jars of Pacman left in the fridge, which I washed in mid-November. I think conventional wisdom says three months, but I've heard upwards of one year after washing is acceptable, too.

Click to expand...

It just plain depends on your sanitation. I've saved yeast for a few months. Never kept anything a year. I usually end up doing my 5 batch rule (for one yeast) before then. Some are good, some are bad. You will know by smelling it. Better yet smell the fermented starter of your saved yeast. If it smells like mold of infection then don't put it in the wort you've worked so hard to make.