Verdict in on first AG batch

Well, my first AG batch, an ESB, has had some time to condition in the bottles. I didn't really have any big problems that I noticed on brew day. I had a number of extract/steeping grain batches under my belt and had also done a couple of extract full boils with my turkey fryer and wort chiller.

I didn't have any major problems with my AG equipment. I bought the 5 gallon system from Northern Brewer. I think I hit my water temps fine. In general everything went pretty well.

So now, the bottom line: a session beer? No, more like homebrew flavored O'Douls. This stuff is some weak-*ssed beer! Plus, it tastes a little sweet, almost as if it didn't really fully ferment. (By the way, I refuse to buy a hydrometer, so I have no idea what my OG was or my efficiency, for that matter. It looked, smelled and tasted like wort when it went into the brewpot to boil). My ferment in the primary started up on schedule and seemed pretty vigorous. I pretty much followed the 1-2-3 rule on this one, with maybe a little longer in both primary and secondary.

On the plus side: the flavor seems much cleaner and purer than my extract brews. If the next two batches in the pipeline turn out a bit stronger, but taste good like the first one I will be a happy camper.

What recipe did you use?

McCall St. Brewer said:

(By the way, I refuse to buy a hydrometer, so I have no idea what my OG was or my efficiency, for that matter.

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I am not that enamored with hydrometers myself but without one you won't ever really know your efficiency numbers which are pretty important with all grain brewing.

Not trying to be a jerk here (disclaimer: I haven't even started my first AG batch yet), but you can be damn sure that I will have a hydrometer and several lbs of extract on hand during my first AG batch in case I end up with crappy efficiency.

Some people seem really down on hydrometers, but it seems to me that it is one of the most important tools a brewer has, especially when doing AG - it's pretty hard to miss your target gravity on an extract brew, but if you end up with 40% or 50% efficiency on a standard-gravity (40-60 range) AG batch, you will end up with, as you put it, "some weak-*ssed beer". Between calculating efficiency, keeping track of your fermentation, and determining OG and FG, I think hydrometers are critical to consistent brewing.

Just curious...if you don't gathering data during the process except how the end result tastes, doesn't that make troubleshooting problems harder?

What are you going to do with this batch?

Why in the world would you refuse to buy a hydrometer? I can understand if you just don't have one, but to actually refuse to buy one baffles me.

To fabricate and successfully brew AG batches you need three measuring devices. A hydrometer, Iodine and a good thermometer. Without knowing if you're fully converted or if you have sufficient gravity it is a shot in the dark. Period. You sucessfully measured your temps, why not measure the other key parameters?

With DME/LME the work is done for you. It's like canned soup. The salt level is correct for the instructions. When you make soup from scratch, you have to adjust the salt level accordingly.

What I am getting at with all this is, going AG gives you several benefits. One of the main benefits is control, but along with that control comes responsibility. If you use a tried and true recipe and follow it to a T then you'll be fairly successful. However, if you are going solo, be prepared to fall flat a few times if you don't take the necessary precautions.

Sorry if this comes of rude, it isn't intended to be thus. I just see this problem off and on and usually it is because no attention was paid to details, and with AG the devil is in the details...so to speak.

I'd strongly suggest buying a Hyro and some Iodine if you are formulating recipes.

zoebisch01 said:

You sucessfully measured your temps, why not measure the other key parameters?

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McCall St. Brewer said:

I think I hit my water temps fine.

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he thinks....perhaps he did, perhaps he did not

brewt00l said:

he thinks....perhaps he did, perhaps he did not

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Maybe he just dipped his elbow into it

seriously though McCall how do you know its weak, have you tried getting loaded on it yet.
Its very easy to confuse thin with weak, problem is with AG brewing its very easy to produce a thin tasting beer which will kick your ass (i do this on purpose for some of my easy drinking, fall down drunk golden ales ).

With extract brewing the manufacturers have choosen the ratio of fermentables to unfermentables and so for a given amount of extract you get a given amount of alcohol content and body/mouthfeel, with AG brewing this things can differ wildly, i can make a super strong beer that tastes like water or a very weak beer that will be feel like a meal in a glass just by playing with the mash temps.

You need to get yourself a hydro i suggest.

Ditto on what Zoebisch01 said. The hydrometer is your friend, not your enemy. Sure it'll take a bit of time to learn to use and to read but it'll be a drop in the the kettle, so to speak, compared to the time you spend making a batch (that doesn't turn out in the end). A calibrated thermometer is also your friend. Make sure that baby is indicating correct temps.

Thin yet sweet tasting beer indicates low gravity and high mash temps. Low gravity means it'll be watery and a beer that tastes almost as if it didn't really fully ferment indicates that you converted a load of your starches to unfermentable sugars in the alpha amylase temperature range.

All in all, it's great that you had this experience. Learn from it. It has taught you three very important lessons from what I can see:

1.) Making sure your equipment ie. Thermometer and Hydrometer are calibrated will allow you to take proper measurements.

2.) Measuring gravity with a calibrated hydrometer will allow you to make beers that aren't watery (low OG) or too sweet/alcoholic (high OG), to approximate your efficiency, to properly gauge when fermentation is complete and to calculate the attenuation percentage of the yeast.

3.) Measuring temperature with a calibrated thermometer will allow you to make beers that are highly fermentable and lighter bodied (lower mash temp) or sweeter and maltier (higher mash temp) or a balance between the two.

Calibration of a hydrometer can be done by dropping it in distilled water, giving it a spin to get the bubbles off and making sure it reads a steady 1.000. You see, what you are measuring is the density of the liquid versus the density of distilled water, or Specific Gravity (SG). The number on the hydrometer is simply a ratio, I believe. Therefore any liquid with sugar in it (wort before it is fermented) will be more dense than water and therefore will read higher than 1.000 like, 1.065 (A somewhat typical OG reading) for example. When the wort ferments and that sugar is turned to CO2, alcohol and fermentation by-products the density is reduced and should measure closer to 1.000 like, 1.015 (a somewhat typical FG) for instance.

Calibration of a thermometer can be done by measuring boiling water and ice water (tonnes of ice and very little water) and making sure it reads 212 Fahrenheit and 33-34 Fahrenheit respectively.

Go forth, buy a hydrometer and brew wonderful beers.

Why do all-grain if you aren't concerned about the specifics of your brew? You may save a little cost over extracts, but you'll certainly have inconsistent and unpredictable results without some kind of data-gathering. My 3-scale hydrometer cost like 8 bucks, which pays for itself with the first batch you kinda screw up.

Hydrometers are not difficult to use. The only difficulty is bringing the samples down to room temps for accurate readings, but even if you don't bother with that, and instead use the recommended offsets at your testing temps, then you'll still have enough information to determine what is going on. Measuring at first runnings, pre-boil, and post-fermentation will give you a lot of valuable data to help you troubleshoot problems and develop consistency over your brews.