1st AG went better than I thought!

[Wreck99]

I know you guys like to read these 1st's stories...so here's mine!

I've been doing extracts for a while now and decided to take the plunge and try AG. It was a little nerve racking, and I was sure to make mistakes...but in the end went better than I thought. According to BeerSmith, I achieved a 68% efficiency. I was expecting like 50% lol. I made a Citra Pale Ale. OG was 1.050 (when I was aiming for 1.054). Mashed 148F for 75 mins, 2-step batch sparged (stirred every 20 mins or so), and 60 min boil for 5 gallons. Volume was 5gal exactly into the fermenter, the grain bed only lost 1 degree over the 75 mins. The only obvious mistake I made was the dreaded boil over I'm sure I made others, but I hope to perfect the process in time. I bought a new aluminum 30qt pot and wasn't used to it yet (probably should've gone bigger but couldn't say no to the 30qt turkey fryer set including burner and stand for $48). The SS 20qt one I've used for all the extracts I never had a boilover on so that was a shock to me. But it all happened so fast...and before it hit 210F on the thermometer. I was not expecting that!

This was also the first of a couple other things. First time I used a yeast culture. I tried the wash/reuse from the Cream Ale, made a starter and well...tonight its fermenting like a mofo. Its also the first beer I'm making that will be dry hopped.

So despite the minor setback, and taking a little longer than I was expecting I call this a success! I'll be planning better for the next one.

I'll definately be doing another one as AG. That was alot of fun and I learned alot. Already got plans for improving for next time. I don't think I'll give up extracts entirely. It will come down to time. I'll do an extract kit if pressed for time and need to get a beer going. I have 4 kids and its very hard to block out 5-6 hours to make beer...but I really enjoyed it so I'll be finding the time

 

[krazydave]

Good work!
Next time if you're worried about boil over, Fermcap S works great to help you there.
I used to boil in a kettle with only about an inch of head space with a 13gal boil in it. The Fermcap S was like cheap insurance for me!

 

[Wreck99]

Thanks for the tip!

 

[ardonthorn5]

Congratulations!

 

[wilserbrewer]

Good job! Now that you have been bitten by the boil over you are wiser, in time you can tell how close you are by observing the tell tale signs, my tip would be to stir the preboil foam back into the wort, otherwise it acts as a layer of insullation which makes a boilover sudden and dramatic...guess you saw that part already

148 is pretty much at the hard low end for mashing IMO, ah heck I will RDWHAHB

Oh and if it is fermenting like a mofo as you say, best to keep it in an acceptable range, actual temp of the beer being 65-70 tops FWIW. Going like a mofo at 75-80 is not a good thing.

 

[Wreck99]

I think the beer has hit its peak in fermenting (i.e krausen filled the fermenter, now has been residing since last night), of course I'll leave it be for a couple weeks anyway. But yes, its in a room that is 68F, however the fermometer reads 72F. The yeasts did not see the wort until it was 75F (wort chiller FTW!).

I'll definately try to stir that preboil foam back in. You're right, thats what caught me by surprise...I couldn't see the hotbreak until it was too late.

Here's a couple pics of the fermentation. I brewed 5/16 early AM. 1st is after 12 hours, 2nd is roughly 24 hours, and 3rd is about 36-48 hours in.

 

[Wreck99]

The airlock is now cloudy. Should I change the water? It was starsan in there. This is the first time I've gotten this aggressive of a fermentation in my 6.5 carboy w/o a blowoff tube. Didn't think this beer needed it lol. Looks like I cut it close!

 

[wilserbrewer]

I would clean the airlock if you blew some beer / foam up into it, just put foil or plastic wrap on the opening while doing it. The diry airlock would get a little ripe otherwise I'd imagine.

 

[StanJohnson]

I always have a spray bottle of Star San around on brew day. I use that to spray on the foam to prevent boil overs.

 

[Wreck99]

I have a spray bottle with starsan, just never thought of using it for this. When do you start spraying? 200F? The boilover happened so fast (at below 210 even) I just didnt have any time to react. The first thing I did was quickly grab the pot off the burner and start cleaning up, then returned to a boil. I have a glasstop so I didn't want to ruin the glass by continuing a boil for an hour on all that crap. It never got angry again. I was watching the thermometer like a hawk going "ok, 205F we're still good..." then BOOM! I was not expecting that to happen until close to 212F, oh well.

What would cause this to behave differently than the extracts I was doing? I didn't have a boilover out of all those brews I've made...got about a dozen extract brews under my belt now. Only thing different I can think of was the new brew kettle. Is this a downside of aluminum pots? My 20qt kettle was SS.

 

[kh54s10]

I always have a spray bottle of Star San around on brew day. I use that to spray on the foam to prevent boil overs.

I just use cold water in the spray bottle. And, hopefully. a quick hand on the gas valve.

I would suggest that you start all your fermentations with a blowoff tube. If you rely on seeing a soiled airlock and cleaning it eventually you will miss it, then you will be cleaning krausen off the ceiling.

 

[Wreck99]

...I would suggest that you start all your fermentations with a blowoff tube. If you rely on seeing a soiled airlock and cleaning it eventually you will miss it, then you will be cleaning krausen off the ceiling.

Yeah, I will probably start doing this for insurance. This was the first time anything got in the airlock. I only was doing blowoff tubes for higher gravity beers because the 1.050 and lower ones never came close. But I guess every beer is different and you just never know from what I'm reading on here. It's just too easy not to do it.

 

[Wreck99]

Well, I'm happy to say the 2nd AG brewday was much better. No boilovers and better efficency...just over 77%! I'm happy with that, considering I set my BeerSmith for 75%. Can't wait for these 2 to be ready to drink. The Citra Pale Ale I did last week just great and the Oatmeal Stout I made tonight smells delicious.

 

[sylvan]

Two AG brew days in less than a week?! So much for not having the time! Haha. I did my first AG brew last Saturday and everything went pretty smooth for me, as well. Keep it up.

 

[dannedry]

Congratulations! I switched to all grain after exactly 1 year of extract brewing. I don't regret it for a second! Takes a bit longer, but results speak for themselves.

 

[Wreck99]

Haha I'm desperately trying to make the time. Its a lot of fun I'm hoping the results come out nice. So far both in primary, one for a week. 68% and 77% efficencies. I'm wondering if I should try and make a manifold to up that.