Yes, another AG first-timer

I'm in the middle of my first AG (EdWort's Haus Pale Ale). I doughed in about 15 minutes ago and the temp settled at 155. After about 15 minutes I stirred and got it to settle at 153. Things going well so far (keeping my fingers crossed). I took some pictures and will post them later.

Wort chilling now. My pre-boil gravity reading was 1.045. Could someone calculate my efficiency? I collected close to 6.5 gallons.

I was surprised how well this session turned out!

Efficiency is calculated on the final estimated and actual quantity and the final estimated SG and actual SG so I'm afraid it can't be calculated at this point. Good luck on your first brew though, it's all good fun.

Wow! you doughed in at 11:30 and were chilling at 2:30. That's really good for a first-timer at this. You collected 6.5 gallons at 1.045? Your efficiency was really good, too. This is yesterday now, so what was your SG when when you got 5.5 into the carboy?

Yea, I couldn't believe how smoothly things went! My run-offs went well, no stuck sparges, no boilovers. I ended up with a little less than 5 gallons in the fermenter. My SG was 1.050. I had some trouble chilling the wort though. I pitched on the warmer side, but I put the fermenter in a cooler of water with some ice and a towel over it and a fan blowing on it.

Overall, a great brew day!

Parva said:

Efficiency is calculated on the final estimated and actual quantity and the final estimated SG and actual SG so I'm afraid it can't be calculated at this point. Good luck on your first brew though, it's all good fun.

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I guess there's a couple of efficiencies that can be calculated throughout the process of making beer. If you had the lbs and type of malt, and the gravity of your pre boil wort there is an efficiency that can be calculated from that. Generally referred to as brewhouse efficiency. That tells you how well you did extracting the sugars from your grain.

-OCD

Blackhawkbrew said:

Yea, I couldn't believe how smoothly things went! My run-offs went well, no stuck sparges, no boilovers. I ended up with a little less than 5 gallons in the fermenter. My SG was 1.050. I had some trouble chilling the wort though. I pitched on the warmer side, but I put the fermenter in a cooler of water with some ice and a towel over it and a fan blowing on it.

Overall, a great brew day!

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That's excellent - good for you! I've gone through 5 AGs and I'm not that smooth yet. My last two were decoctions, though, so maybe that's what my recollection is.

I'm certainly not ready for a decoction brew yet. Heck, I'm not quite sure what it is or how to do it.

Here are a few pics from my first AG!

Congrads on your 1st AG batch.
I finally took the AG plunge last thursday. I too was impressed how easy it was. I got 1.044 w/ about 6.0 or 6.5 gals. My biggest mistake was not stiring the mash enough at the begining and realized I had hot and cold spots. My porter is now it the secondary...smelled and tasted great going in.


Cheers

Congrats on the first AG!! I did my first last sunday and things went pretty smooth but you killed my efficiency, mine was awful!!

Congrats to EuBrew and brewdoctor also on the first AG sessions!

EuBrew,
What did you make for your first AG? Why do you think your efficiency was so bad?

Blackhawkbrew said:

Congrats to EuBrew and brewdoctor also on the first AG sessions!

EuBrew,
What did you make for your first AG? Why do you think your efficiency was so bad?

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Not trying to hijack the thread, but I made a Mad Hatter IPA clone. I think most of the eff problems can be attributed to a dismal crush from my LHBS, and I'm sure I had some technique issues related to the mash. Round 2 and 3 are scheduled for next sunday!!:rockin: I get to Cleveland all the time for work, any good LHBS up that way worth checking out?

Awesome! Glad to hear it went well.

EuBrew,
I usually go to Leeners in Northfield, which is by Route 8. They have a nice website. Plenty of grains (I don't know if the selection is good or bad since I'm just started AG). You weigh it out and they have a ginder right there for you to use, nice set-up.

Let me know when and if you plan on coming in, I can give you better directions. There may be some others up this way, but this one is closest for me.