Well, last week i finally stepped up and brewed AG by myself with my own equipment! Prior to getting my own stuff, i brewed all grain with a friend, pretty much watching and helping when needed. This past Thursday i pulled the trigger and did it solo! Everything went great! I put my own set up together: Weldless keggle, 10 gal rubbermaid cooler, 25 ft copper immersion chiller. I used the calculators for strike/sparge water i found on here and when it was all said and done, my efficiency was 85%!!! I was shocked! I brewed BM's centennial blonde and am currently waiting for it to finish up fermenting but i did have one minor setback. I didnt realize my thermometer was off until the boil. Boiling i only hit 208 so i overshot all my temps by 4*. Still, everything went smooth! Even rehydrating the Nottingham i had fermentation within 4hrs!!! Needless to say, im awfully excited and had to tell someone!
Great Success!
- Thread starter nicktoney
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Congratulations on a successful brew day! Hope it turns out great!
MultumInParvo
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It sounds like your first brew had less issues than my 30th!
scoundrel
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With all the issues you see in the forums, it's nice to see a post called "Great Success". The only disappointment is that I can't try the finished product. Congrats buddy!
Stauffbier
Well-Known Member
Water boils at about 209F at your elevation, so your thermometers are likely not off by much 
Stauffbier said:Water boils at about 209F at your elevation, so your thermometers are likely not off by much
My thermometer never goes over about 208 even with a rolling boil that jumps 3" in the air.
Stauffbier
Well-Known Member
At my elevation water boils at about 206..
Knowning now that water will boil at 209 makes me feel better! One other thing that i realize i did kinda of botch is my pickup tube in my kettle is a little too far into the center. Sucked in some trub and hop sediments into my primary. No big deal to me though as ill rack into my keg and let it chill in the kegerator for two weeks! All in all, thumbs up!!
Stauffbier
Well-Known Member
My dip tube goes right to the center. I don't mind if I pick up a bunch of trub in my fermenter. It all settles out in the end...
This. I quit worrying about this. I whirlpool and my pickup is on the side, but I suck in whatever comes in and fuggedaboutit. On pale ales and IPA's I like the added hop presence anyway. Good cold crashing and finings (if you like) will settle everything out.
planetscott
Well-Known Member
Invest in a top quality thermometer.
This is what I have. http://www.thermoworks.com/products/thermapen/splashproof_thermapen.html?gclid=CPm-kea7xrACFbFa7AodyiEtrA
When my club does a group brew, they rely on me to measure the mash temp.
scoundrel
Well-Known Member
Thermopen is awesome, I just wish it wasn't so expensive.
texasbrewer73
Well-Known Member
+1 on that. I find that worrying about my yeast pitching, mash, temps, and starch conversion more than anything gives me the best results. I don't get a lot of trub in my brew kettle and as others have stated, it will all settle out eventually even if some gets in the fermenter.
My thermometer is a thermoworks digital pen type ...in my opinion, regardless of price, should have checked calibration. Like mentioned above, my water boils cooler at my elevation so my temps were probably all accurate
Worry about mash temp, worry about chilled wort temp, worry about fermentation temp. DON'T worry about boil temp. Use your eyes. A rolling boil is a rolling boil, regardless of the thermometer.
Then it shall turn out great! 
So according to BM's recipe for his Centennial Blonde https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f66/centennial-blonde-simple-4-all-grain-5-10-gall-42841/
It says" Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 4 days at 68 Degrees
Additional Fermentation: Kegged, chilled and Carb'd for one week
Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 5 Days at 68 Degrees"
If i were to leave in the primary for 7 days, and keg/chill at 12psi for 7-10 days, will i get the same-ish effect? Or should i stick to recipe and rack to a secondary today? (its been 4 days)
So according to BM's recipe for his Centennial Blonde https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f66/centennial-blonde-simple-4-all-grain-5-10-gall-42841/
It says" Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 4 days at 68 Degrees
Additional Fermentation: Kegged, chilled and Carb'd for one week
Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 5 Days at 68 Degrees"
If i were to leave in the primary for 7 days, and keg/chill at 12psi for 7-10 days, will i get the same-ish effect? Or should i stick to recipe and rack to a secondary today? (its been 4 days)
schmeldorf
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nicktoney said:Then it shall turn out great!
So according to BM's recipe for his Centennial Blonde https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f66/centennial-blonde-simple-4-all-grain-5-10-gall-42841/
It says" Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 4 days at 68 Degrees
Additional Fermentation: Kegged, chilled and Carb'd for one week
Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 5 Days at 68 Degrees"
If i were to leave in the primary for 7 days, and keg/chill at 12psi for 7-10 days, will i get the same-ish effect? Or should i stick to recipe and rack to a secondary today? (its been 4 days)
Dont take it off the yeast cake until you know it is done. Wait till activity has truly slowed and you hit your FG. Then wait another day or 2. It will only help. I leave most my beers in primary 2 weeks. You will thank yourself for being patient.
I made a cream ale that's one of BierMuncher's recipes...I'm thinking it's ready right now after about 9 days but I'm going to check gravity tonight and again tomorrow night. If it's stable, I'm kegging it. Probably finished up a few days ago anyways.
CidahMastah
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Great to hear you had the AG "ah ha!" moment. See that wasn't so bad Congrats
Congrats
Then it shall turn out great!
So according to BM's recipe for his Centennial Blonde https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f66/centennial-blonde-simple-4-all-grain-5-10-gall-42841/
It says" Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 4 days at 68 Degrees
Additional Fermentation: Kegged, chilled and Carb'd for one week
Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 5 Days at 68 Degrees"
If i were to leave in the primary for 7 days, and keg/chill at 12psi for 7-10 days, will i get the same-ish effect? Or should i stick to recipe and rack to a secondary today? (its been 4 days)
You'll be fine. I do low hopped ales that way quite often and they turn out great. The only thing I might suggest is to chill it for a week after the 9 or 10 days in primary (like others have said - make sure it's finished) and then keg and carb. I do this to let the yeast settle out a bit before kegging but it's not critical. I haven't done a secondary in years - even when dry-hopping I'll just throw them in the primary and let it sit another week before chilling. There's no reason you can't take a low-hopped beer from grain to glass in 2 weeks or less. In fact, I've brewed some brown ales that went from grain to glass in 7 days and they were all delicious.....
Update! Today i finally got time to keg this beer. Been in primary for 2 weeks @66-68*. OG was 1.040, FG is 1.008. Right on par with the recipe! Sampled from my hydro tube and its great for summertime! Let my dad taste it, (only likes commercial beers really, if any) Says he doesnt like the taste. His description he told me refers to the mild hops in it. I suppose if youve only really drank coronas you dont like the taste of homebrew? To each his own i suppose! I love it! Cant wait til its carbed!! Not as clear as its supposed to be, but id imagine chilling/carbing will clear it after a while!
Wait til it's carbed and conditioned. Bet he likes it a little better at that point.
GioGomez2010
Well-Known Member
I used to be the same way as your dad, and actually didn't like beer because I was exposed to commercial big time brews. They're drinkable, but are they as awesome as a homemade batch of Pale Ale or IPA? Absolutely not! I love giving beer I've made to family and friends and seeing the look on their faces when the taste hits them. Let it carbonate, and get amazing in the bottle and your dad might change his mind!
Let it carbonate, and get amazing in the bottle and your dad might change his mind!Where in the hell do you work?!!?
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