First All grain attempt in 1 hour

have been a longtime lurker here and am looking for feedback. I am fairly new to brewing, having done 5 extract batches in the past few months, and am going all grain today.

I hope you can help me with 2 things.
1. Does my recipe look ok?
2. Is it ok to pour my wort after the boil/cooling down-into the carboy i just bottled from yesterday? For sanitation i imediately sealed it up. I left a little of the 6.5% abv alc on top of the yeast/trub to hopefully cut down on infection potential. has anyone done this before? And is it fairly safe to do this?

Winter Heatwave French Roast Imp Stout
Brew Type: All Grain Date: 3/3/2007
Style: Russian Imperial Stout Brewer: Ken
Batch Size: 5.25 gal
Boil Volume: 6.71 gal Boil Time: 60 min
Brewhouse Efficiency: 68.0 % Equipment: Brew Pot (7.5 gal) and Cooler (48 qt)


Ingredients Amount Item Type % or IBU
14.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 78.5 %
1.00 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 5.6 %
1.00 lb Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 5.6 %
1.00 lb Roasted Barley (300.0 SRM) Grain 5.6 %
0.50 lb Black (Patent) Malt (500.0 SRM) Grain 2.8 %
0.33 lb Coffee-French Roast (3.0 SRM) Grain 1.9 %
1.00 oz Northern Brewer [8.50%] (60 min) Hops 22.4 IBU
1.00 oz Northern Brewer [8.50%] (40 min) Hops 19.6 IBU
1.00 oz Simcoe [13.00%] (10 min) Hops 12.4 IBU
0.25 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 10.0 min) Misc
0.25 oz Vanilla extract (Boil 0.0 min) Misc
0.50 oz Anise, Star (Boil 15.0 min) Misc
2 Pkgs Nottingham (Danstar #-) Yeast-Ale

Beer Profile Estimated Original Gravity: 1.080 SG (1.075-1.100 SG) Measured
Estimated Final Gravity: 1.019 SG (1.018-1.034 SG)
Estimated Color: 54.2 SRM (30.0-45.0 SRM)
Bitterness: 54.4 IBU (50.0-95.0 IBU) Alpha Acid Units: 3.2 AAU
Estimated Alcohol by Volume: 8.0 % (8.0-13.0 %)
Actual Calories: 410 cal/pint


Mash Profile Name: Single Infusion, Medium Body, Batch Sparge Mash Tun Weight: 9.00 lb
Mash Grain Weight: 17.83 lb Mash PH: 5.4 PH
Grain Temperature: 72.0 F Sparge Temperature: 170.0 F
Sparge Water: 3.53 gal Adjust Temp for Equipment: TRUE

Name Description Step Temp Step Time
Mash In Add 22.28 qt of water at 169.5 F 154.0 F 60 min


Mash Notes
Simple single infusion mash for use with most modern well modified grains (about 95% of the time).

You got my mouth watering.

to answer your second...YES go for it.

Lot of AG virgins popping today. Way to go.

LOL...holy crap, is this like a "First AG" record setting day?

Good luck, if you need help, we'll get you through it.

kenb said:

Ingredients Amount Item Type % or IBU
14.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 78.5 %
1.00 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 5.6 %
1.00 lb Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 5.6 %
1.00 lb Roasted Barley (300.0 SRM) Grain 5.6 %
0.50 lb Black (Patent) Malt (500.0 SRM) Grain 2.8 %
0.33 lb Coffee-French Roast (3.0 SRM) Grain 1.9 %

Click to expand...

WOW! That is a huge beer.

How big is your mash tun / cooler?

An 18lb grain bill on your first AG? My hat is off to you.

Advice...enjoy...take pictures...share pictures...

Your recipe looks great.

Dude said:

LOL...holy crap, is this like a "First AG" record setting day?

Click to expand...

There is a beer revolution afoot...

BierMuncher said:

WOW! That is a huge beer.

How big is your mash tun / cooler?

An 18lb grain bill on your first AG? My hat is off to you.

Advice...enjoy...take pictures...share pictures...

Your recipe looks great.

Click to expand...

I was thinking the same thing-that's a big beer! Not that there's anything wrong with jumping in with both feet!!!Your carboy is going to be busy awhile with that one..........

BierMuncher said:

WOW! That is a huge beer.

How big is your mash tun / cooler?

An 18lb grain bill on your first AG? My hat is off to you.

Advice...enjoy...take pictures...share pictures...

Your recipe looks great.

Click to expand...

It is 48 qt Igloo cooler and is about half full with the grains...so i think there will barely be room for the 6 gallons of water if i can add right?

kenb said:

It is 48 qt Igloo cooler and is about half full with the grains...so i think there will barely be room for the 6 gallons of water if i can add right?

Click to expand...

If it's not too late...did you add all the grains into the cooler yet?

If not, you'll instead want to add the water and grains in "layers".

3 inches of water...some grain...3 inches of water...some grains and so on.

It'll make stirring up the mash a lot easier.

Dude said:

LOL...holy crap, is this like a "First AG" record setting day?

Click to expand...

My excuse is that I finally got my shizzle together.

Am I the only one who did a simple pale ale for their first AG?
Props to the OP for the brass cajones.

Against all advise I brewed a lager for my first attempt. Wasn't bad either.

BierMuncher said:

If it's not too late...did you add all the grains into the cooler yet?

If not, you'll instead want to add the water and grains in "layers".

3 inches of water...some grain...3 inches of water...some grains and so on.

It'll make stirring up the mash a lot easier.

Click to expand...

Yes, already added them together.....will this be a big deal?

half way through the mash and so far so good. Hitmy strike temp of 154.5, after 30 minutes temp is at 152....should i leave it or add more hot water?

I'd close the lid and leave it. Enzymes still working at 152.

I have been opening the cooler lid ever y 20 minutes to stir for about 20 seconds, is all. Temp down to 149.1 though 42 minutes into the mash.....is that ok? 154.5 to 149.1 in 42 minutes?

That's more of a temp drop than I'm used to, but I wouldn't worry. Leave it be now (most of the conversion happens in the first 30-40 minutes anyway). You're still in conversion range, just a little low (not necessarily a bad thing given how much grain you are using - I would have mashed this low anyway, just to keep the beer from having TOO much body).

Ok well i think this is a failed attempt. I cannot even get my mash tun to drain, or the runnings to clear. I have been trying for almost an hour and can only get a trickle out of my cooler spigot. I have stirred like mad, likely oxygenating beyond repair, but aside from that no matter how much stirring, my runoff keeps getting stuck and even when not stuck is only a trickle. I have tried blowing back through the spigot, and that helps for about 3 seconds so i think my grain was just milled too fine and is clogging the manifold, to the point where stirring even is not much help. Tried adding a gallon of 175 degree water and that did no good.

Unless anyone has an idea of how to get the wort out of the cooler (i will skip the sparge at the point)...as at this point it would literally take 5 hours....i guess this is a failed attempt....

Discribe your equipment and also, how thick is your mash?

Man, sorry to hear. Maybe your maniflold doesn't have enough slits or holes. I did my first AG last weekend with the stainless braid and it went off without a hitch.

I was using a 48 qt igloo cooler with a dual manifold.The only thing i can think of is the grains were crushed too fine or that the crushed coffee beans caused a problem? When i lifted out the manifold it did look like some black slivers in the slits. Could the crushed coffee beans have been the culprit? I was onluy 1/3 lb...

I ended up scooping the liquid and some of the grains out of the mash tun with a 64 oz measuing cup, and pouring it through a nylon hop bag into my brew kettle. Bad idea, as the nylon hop bag filled up with about 10 lbs of grains and the liquid could not get through it with me holding it up, and my back going out after several minutes of this, lol...
So my wife came to the rescue to help and she scooped the grain back out of the nylon bag while i held it over the brew kettle above the liquid..of course while we did this it was messy and some grians got into the brew kettle. So we removed the rest of the grain from the mash tun, washed it out, and poured the wort back into the mash tun cooler, then drained it out easily through the manifold back into the brew kettle. this whole process cost us about 2 extra hours and of course the wort had cooled down to about 90 degrees by the time we finished. And we lost over a gallon in the process, and did not sparge. My efficency ended up at 44%....
So my target gravity ended up being 1.053 instead of 1.082...looks like instead of a 8.5% abv Imp Stout i am going to have a 5.2% something or other, lol....

The frustrating thing is i do not know what to do to keep this from happening again? I know rice hulls may help....but not sure that is enough?

Any ideas?

Maybe try a SS braid instead of the manifold? Ideally, a 10g round cooler with a false bottom works best IMO. Good luck.

You don't need to put the coffee beans in the mash - and I would recommend strongly against doing so. You ever have coffee that'a been boiled? It's nasty-harsh. You don't want to be boiling that for sixty minutes.

If you're going to add coffee, add it at flameout (after you've turned the heat off) and let it steep for a few minutes, and contain the grounds (which I would crush very coarsly) in a grain bag or something like that. I've made a batch with coffee that was a complete PITA because of the grounds, it was just a sloppy mess, I hadn't contained them in a bag or anything.

Oh, and the braid works wonderfully - very, very rarely have I heard of anyone having a stuck mash with a braid, but I have heard a couple of times just this weekend with a manifold.

I spent so much on this mash tun with a manifild i would like to try to make it work. if not then will build a braid...
What about the idea of putting the grains in a large grainbag to keep them out of the manifold slits? Someone suggested this at another site.
has anyone tried this?
Here is one i was thinking is large enough to work?
http://www.midwestsupplies.com/products/ProdByID.aspx?ProdID=4690

How much did you end up with? I ended up with 3.5 gallons of 1.065 wort. It's fermenting like mad right now. Makes me glad it is only 3.5 gallons, cuz it would be a gusher.

Hey man, did you make the manifold yourself? Did you put the slits facing down? I thought I didn't have enough slits, but my manifold has worked great, twice. Anyway you can take a picture and post it?

I alos did one extra precaution. My manifold, facing down, was touching the bottom of the cooler, so part of the slits were blocked off. I decided to put a small, 4 or 5 millimeter thick, cut-off piece of a draining tube underneath the back corners. This lifted it up juuust a wee-bit, to help make sure all of the slit was exposed.

Also, did you add water to grain or grain to water? I add grain to water and I think maybe helping avoid a stuck mash as well.

Ok here are pics of my mash tun..the slits were all right side up. That is how the seller told me to use it. is that what caused my problems?

Not sure, but I always put the slit's face down. Works like a charm, and logically, seems like it could help avoid clogs. Gravity is forcing the grain down, whereas a vaccuum+gravity would pull the water out when the slits are face down. Might as well give it a try on yoru next batch.

I also have a rectangular manifold and cooler and like I said, face down works well for me everytime.

The slots go down. If not grain will block them giving you your stuck sparge.
Don't look like you have many slots cut in it also, but it still should work.

Another thing you can try is to get one or two of those round polish pads for industrial floor polishers. The white ones, not green or any other color. Then soak this in oxyclean, rinse well and soak in sanitizer. Then place over the manifolds. Very little grain will be able to get through to your manifold but the wort will. I'll post a pic of mine in a few minutes.





Hey, how come these images are showing as links and not images???

Way more slots then mine, and mine drains great.

Don't worry, had it turned upside down for the picture, slots are down when I'm mashing:

Slits down. I've never had a problem with my manifold.

Gravity and holes facing up don't go together. That's why our nostrils point down...

Well, active fermentation was awesome. Started 3 hrs after pitching onto the old yeast/trub left in the carboy from the day before. OG was 1.054..target is 1.013 and am already below that at 1.012!! In just 18 hrs. Wow. Tasted it and it is pretty dry and hoppy. Should have cut back the hops, duh....since this is going to end up being a 5.5% stout instead of a 8.5% Imp Stout.
Maybe will add some vanilla and a little milk actose at bottling?

Just waited to say thanks to everyone who chimed in and helped. Don't know how this is going to turn out in the end, but at least you all helped to save a near disaster

i popped my cherry on edwort's haus ale today. this guy makes me feel like a wuss with that grain bill! i guess the procedure is the same, though.