Another first A.G thread

[tuxnerd]

Did my first A.G brew today, was also my first original recipe, had a couple hiccups, but it will still turn into something beer-like.

I filled my mash tun with boiling water to pre-heat it, but still ended up dropping more than BeerSmith predicted (168.1 degrees, dropped down to 147), but I managed to get it up to 156 where I wanted it by adding about 1 more quarts of hotter water.

Originally only ended up with only 1.020 O.G, which was like a 32% efficiency... so I tried improvising and probably messed stuff up. I heated the wort back up and ran it through the grain in a 2 batch sparge at the original sparge temperature.... it raised up my efficiency to around 80% and an O.G of around 1.030.... but I really have no idea what type of side effects doing that might have had.

The second mistake I made (really the first), was starting late in the day after work, so I didn't have time to boil down as much as I would have to get to the O.G my recipe was expecting, but at that point I figured to hell with it, lets see how it turns out. I may try another batch this weekend if I can find some time.


tl; dr; I did my first A.G with my first original recipe and probably made some awful beer, but I'm still excited to try again this weekend.

 

[Gunfighter04]

without knowing the recipe, it's really hard to say what your OG should have been. One statement that you make is that you added 1 more quart to go from 147 to 156, which seems like a huge jump for so little a heat addition. Make sure that you stir, stir, stir, then stir some more before you take your temp readings, it's very easy to get hot and cold spots that vary widely until the mash stabilizes. a 60min mash is just an approximation that is necessary to get conversion. get your temps stabilized then go ahead and start the clock. It won't hurt for it to mash for too long. Once that's done sparge by adding your water, stir, stir, stir again, and drain it off, all you're doing with this step is to rinse the sugar off of the grains, one step or two is only dependent on the size of your tun and the amount of water you need to get to your pre-boil volume.

 

[GammaRay4130]

Think of it as a good learning experience. I have only done 6 AG batches so far but I have gotten some pretty good results so far and get a little better at the process each time. I've done a few extract batches after work but when doing AG I start early on a weekend so I won't feel rushed. Anyway hope your first turns out well even if it wasn't what you originally planned and keep at it!

 

[tuxnerd]

thanks guys, I still had a blast doing an A.G, I'm excited to do another one