Probably getting bored with these, but I wanted to document it so you guys get the brunt of that.
My first first was to do an AG brew and in all I think it went pretty well. I did the "American Pale Ale" out of "Brewing Classic Styles".
My second first was using beersmith to run the show (recipe and instructions). I set up my equipment (10 gal brewpot doing BIAB). I put the an efficiency of 72% not knowing what it would be. Turned out to be a lot better than that. More on that later.
Second first was using my home made bag. That thing worked out awesome! One voile curtain backer from Lowes made 2 bags (could easily made 3) for $10. The bag held beautifully and my bike service stand made an excellent bag hanger for draining. Made the bag to fit the pot (round bottom with straight sides) and made it big enough that I could put the pot in it. Worked great.
Mash went great. I now know that when my garage is warmed up I dont lose much temp on the mash. I heated water to 163 and doughed in. Temp settled in at ~155 and held rock steady for 75min. I was shooting for 152 but I erred a couple of degrees high as my grain was a little cold. Turns out that I should follow the temp recommendation exactly (BS called for 160).
First weirdness of the day was with the post boil gravity. I put 11# of grain in 8 gal of water for the mash. I had about 7.25 gal left over after mash. Measured my gravity and it was ~1.068!(yep, thats at the right temperature and with a calibrated hydrometer). BS was estimating 1.041 for pre-boil and 1.052 for OG. Thanks to some quick replies from the fine folks here my panic was soon relieved by the reminder that 72% efficiency in BS was just a guess. I had no idea what it was going to be. I still dont know what was up with this reading because of what I got for OG.
Thought of two options. 1, do the boil and dilute the final wort to try and hit 1.052 or 2, do the boil and add some hops and make it an AIPA. Had plenty of hops on hand so that is what I did.
Third first of the day was a boil in my 10 gal pot with the new burner (bayou something or other, the round one). That kicked a$$. Nice quick boil and easy to adjust for boil overs etc. Did the boil, went from 7.25gal to about 5.25 in the 65 minutes of boiling. Was a little more loss than I though it would be.
Fourth first was using my new wort chiller (V2.0). That worked great as well. Cooled the entire 5.25 gal from 200F to 70F in about 10 minutes. Worked better that the V1.0 did. I guess thats what an extra 20' of coil will get you.
Second weirdness of the day was my OG reading which was 1.060. I dont know what the deal was with my pre-boil gravity but you can't lose 2 gal of water and go down in gravity (can you?). As I was cleaning up, I measured the liquid that had drained from the bag as it sat in the colander. That wort measured 1.060 as well, same as my OG. Don't know what the deal was there.
Fifth (and sixth I guess) first of the day was pitching my washed yeast. I washed it last night and got a nice inch or so in a pint jar. Warmed it up to room temp and pitched it.
Beer is sitting in the basement and I will see how long it takes to get some activity. All in all the brew day was ~4.5 hours. I have some tweaking to do in beer smith, but I think it was a success overall. I would be interested in your comments on my gravity issues. The other thread is catching them as well.
My first first was to do an AG brew and in all I think it went pretty well. I did the "American Pale Ale" out of "Brewing Classic Styles".
My second first was using beersmith to run the show (recipe and instructions). I set up my equipment (10 gal brewpot doing BIAB). I put the an efficiency of 72% not knowing what it would be. Turned out to be a lot better than that. More on that later.
Second first was using my home made bag. That thing worked out awesome! One voile curtain backer from Lowes made 2 bags (could easily made 3) for $10. The bag held beautifully and my bike service stand made an excellent bag hanger for draining. Made the bag to fit the pot (round bottom with straight sides) and made it big enough that I could put the pot in it. Worked great.
Mash went great. I now know that when my garage is warmed up I dont lose much temp on the mash. I heated water to 163 and doughed in. Temp settled in at ~155 and held rock steady for 75min. I was shooting for 152 but I erred a couple of degrees high as my grain was a little cold. Turns out that I should follow the temp recommendation exactly (BS called for 160).
First weirdness of the day was with the post boil gravity. I put 11# of grain in 8 gal of water for the mash. I had about 7.25 gal left over after mash. Measured my gravity and it was ~1.068!(yep, thats at the right temperature and with a calibrated hydrometer). BS was estimating 1.041 for pre-boil and 1.052 for OG. Thanks to some quick replies from the fine folks here my panic was soon relieved by the reminder that 72% efficiency in BS was just a guess. I had no idea what it was going to be. I still dont know what was up with this reading because of what I got for OG.
Thought of two options. 1, do the boil and dilute the final wort to try and hit 1.052 or 2, do the boil and add some hops and make it an AIPA. Had plenty of hops on hand so that is what I did.
Third first of the day was a boil in my 10 gal pot with the new burner (bayou something or other, the round one). That kicked a$$. Nice quick boil and easy to adjust for boil overs etc. Did the boil, went from 7.25gal to about 5.25 in the 65 minutes of boiling. Was a little more loss than I though it would be.
Fourth first was using my new wort chiller (V2.0). That worked great as well. Cooled the entire 5.25 gal from 200F to 70F in about 10 minutes. Worked better that the V1.0 did. I guess thats what an extra 20' of coil will get you.
Second weirdness of the day was my OG reading which was 1.060. I dont know what the deal was with my pre-boil gravity but you can't lose 2 gal of water and go down in gravity (can you?). As I was cleaning up, I measured the liquid that had drained from the bag as it sat in the colander. That wort measured 1.060 as well, same as my OG. Don't know what the deal was there.
Fifth (and sixth I guess) first of the day was pitching my washed yeast. I washed it last night and got a nice inch or so in a pint jar. Warmed it up to room temp and pitched it.
Beer is sitting in the basement and I will see how long it takes to get some activity. All in all the brew day was ~4.5 hours. I have some tweaking to do in beer smith, but I think it was a success overall. I would be interested in your comments on my gravity issues. The other thread is catching them as well.
