1st AG Live Report

[Chris_Dog]

Mashing now...

I greatly under estimated how much the grains would cool the strike water. Consequently I had the add about 2 gal. of boiling water to get it up to mash temp. The yield after sparging is going to exceed my pot. The only thing I can think to do is start boiling the 1st runnings maybe reduce the amount of water for the sparge a bit.. I am sure this will effect my efficincy... oh well! I think I will need to drain the sparge water into the HLT to get it off the grains.

Heated 3.75 gal. to 160°
After adding 12# of grains the temp. was 147°
Added 1 (about) 1 gal. of boiling water the temp. raised to 150°
Added another (about) gal. of water and it got it up to 158°.

I knew there would be challenges doing my 1st AG beer. The boil is going to be fun!

In retrospect obviously the initial strike water should have been hotter.

What temp. do you guys strike with?

More importantly what temp. should the water for the sparge be?

Cheers!!!
Chris

 

[Chris_Dog]

This might be a better option... split the wort .50/.50 into a bottling bucket and the brew pot. then boil both separately.

 

[Yooper]

I usually strike with 170 degree water if I'm mashing in the 155 range. Most people say about 10 degrees higher than you are mashing at, but I keep my grains in the basement and they are cool when I start. I also recommend preheating the MLT, too- pour some of the strike water in, cover it and swirl the water around and let it sit for a few minutes. Then drain. (Or put 175 degree temp water in and when it gets down to 170, then I start adding the grains and then more 170 degree water).

You can start boiling the first runnings right away while you're doing the sparge- I assume you're batch sparging?

Until I got a big enough pot, I always split my boil into two pots. 1/2 the first runnings into each and 1/2 the remainder and then equally divide the hops, boil and combine. I did it at the same time, since I was doing it in my kitchen.

 

[Chris_Dog]

Thanks!!!

I am sure I botched the efficiency with all that additional water... I am sure the end result will be ok. (More on the efficiency later). I have about 9 gal. (5 gal. batch). I figure about 3.5 hours at a boil to get 5.5 gal.

Unfortunately I can't do them both at the same time.

 

[Chris_Dog]

My Lab is eating the grains I put on the compost heap.:fro:

 

[Chris_Dog]

I am not sure how to figure efficiency... here is the preboil SG...
1.035 (corrected for temp.)
Beersmith has the potential at 1.040

 

[Lil' Sparky]

The temp of your strike water depends on a lot of variables
- amount of grains
- water/grain ratio
- temp of grains
- MLT design (metal keg vs cooler) and temp

I suggest getting a s/w program like Beersmith or Pro Mash to help you with those equations. You can demo them for a period to see what you like and they're fairly cheap to purchase.

Your beer will be fine, don't worry. When I was starting out I had similar experiences and the result was really good beer.

Cheers

 

[ajf]

The sparge water should be hot enough to raise the temperature of the mash up to 165 - 170. Going over this, you run the risk of extracting excess tannins. Going lower could affect efficiency as the sugars are more soluble at higher temperatures.
Hope you're keeping notes. After the session, you can go through the notes and estimate adjustments for the next session. After 2 or 3 brews, you will probably manage to get the temps pretty accurate.

Good luck.

-a.

 

[Chris_Dog]

1 thing is clear... I'm going to need a bigger boat

OK a pot but I figured what the heck!

 

[FireBrewer]

What temp. do you guys strike with?

More importantly what temp. should the water for the sparge be?

Takes a few batches to get a feel for what your system does...each is different. My strike water is 20-25* warmer, depending on the season, etc. I don't warm my mash tun with water beforehand.

As for sparge water, you want the grainbed to get to 160-168*. You're going to want your sparge water to be about 180*, depending on what method you're using, your system, and the temperature of the mash before sparging.

 

[Chris_Dog]

Man it is hot here today! 95° Here on my covered patio...

Just combined the pots and added the hops... About an hour to go on the boil time.

 

[Chris_Dog]

Clean as you go is the shiznit.

 

[Lil' Sparky]

Clean as you go is the shiznit.

You got it. I'm usually pitching yeast at the 3.5 hour mark and am done with the rest of the clean up by 4 hours. That's impossible if you don't clean as you go. Having a stand with multiple burners also helps.

 

[Chris_Dog]

All finished... that was a blast! I get such a kick making things from scratch. A lot of hot break... the sample I pulled for the OG reading looked chunky.

Here is what I got...

Preboil SG
1.035 (corrected for temp.)
Beersmith has the potential at 1.040

OG 1.061
Beersmith predicted 1.058

about 5.5-5.33 gallons.

I don't know if I am doing it right the Efficiency reads 76%

(If that is right... not bad for my first go!):fro:

 

[Lil' Sparky]

Way to go. That's really good for your 1st AG attempt.

Man it is hot here today! 95° Here on my covered patio...

You need to update your profile. We can't tell where "here" is.

 

[Chris_Dog]

Oh sorrry Orlando, FL

 

[Orfy]

That's good.

 

[Chris_Dog]

Thank you guys for putting me on the right track!!!

 

[Chris_Dog]

"Homey is rockin the Gonge" j/k

Fermenting is going on... Kind of odd though at least compared to the PM's I've done. Seems like the PM's blow out within a few hours after the CO2 starts going good. Not so this time, there was a thick layer of (what looks like the cold break) on the top. That had to subside before the blow out started about lunch today. Going strong now!
Cheers!!!
Chris