TheZymurgist
Well-Known Member
Hey everyone! I completed my first AG brew day two weeks ago and I think everything went really well. The beer has been fermenting away for the last tow weeks, and I plan on bottling next weekend. Here's a link to the mash process I used to make sure the desired mash temperature was reached.
I decided to go with a SMASH recipe, which I will be doing two more times over the next month. The first reason for the duplication is to make sure I can consistently hit my efficiency numbers, but also I want to have a side-by-side comparison of the effect of different mash temperatures. The first batch was mashed at 154*, the second and third will be done at 158* and 150*.
Equipment:
10 gallon MLT with false bottom
7 gallon kettle on propane burner for boil
Here's the recipe:
10 lbs Maris Otter
3 oz Amarillo Hops (1 @ 60min, 1 @ 15min, 1 @ flame out)
White Labs WLP005 British Ale yeast w/starter (2 cups water, .5 cup Amber DME prepared 2 days prior)
The process:
Target Mash Ratio: 1.4qts/lb = 14qts, or 3.5 gallons
Target Mash Temp - 154*
Calculated Strike Temp to be 166.29* (according to one of the online calculators) based on tun and grain temp. Used 168* to be safe.
Heat 4 gallons of water to Strike Temp
Add 2 - 2.5 gallons of Strike Water to Tun (I screwed up here and only added 1 gallon, but no harm done)
Add grains slowly, constantly stirring
Continue stirring, adding Strike Water to reach 154* (ended up using 15qts for a ration of 1.5qts/lb)
Mash for 60min, stirring and taking temperature readings every 20 min. - Temp at the end of mash was 152.2*
During mash, heat 4 gallons of water to 175* for sparge
Vorlauf, and drain first runnings into kettle
Add 2 gallons of sparge water, stir, and sit for 10 min.
Vorlauf, and drain second runnings
Add remaining sparge water, stir, sit for 10 min.
Vorlauf, and drain to reach pre-boil volume of 6 gallons (would prefer 6.5, but even 6 is pushing the limits of a 7 gallon kettle)
Pre-boil gravity: 1.049 @ 70*
Bring wort to boil, boil for 60 min, adding hops at above intervals
Cool wort in ice bath to 70*, transfer to carboy
Collected 4.5 gallons of wort, added .5 gallons to achieve 5 gallons total
OG: 1.057 @ 70*
Aerated using "shake and pray" method (my next purchase is an o2 kit)
Pitched entire starter slurry, fermented in swamp cooler
I decided to go with a SMASH recipe, which I will be doing two more times over the next month. The first reason for the duplication is to make sure I can consistently hit my efficiency numbers, but also I want to have a side-by-side comparison of the effect of different mash temperatures. The first batch was mashed at 154*, the second and third will be done at 158* and 150*.
Equipment:
10 gallon MLT with false bottom
7 gallon kettle on propane burner for boil
Here's the recipe:
10 lbs Maris Otter
3 oz Amarillo Hops (1 @ 60min, 1 @ 15min, 1 @ flame out)
White Labs WLP005 British Ale yeast w/starter (2 cups water, .5 cup Amber DME prepared 2 days prior)
The process:
Target Mash Ratio: 1.4qts/lb = 14qts, or 3.5 gallons
Target Mash Temp - 154*
Calculated Strike Temp to be 166.29* (according to one of the online calculators) based on tun and grain temp. Used 168* to be safe.
Heat 4 gallons of water to Strike Temp
Add 2 - 2.5 gallons of Strike Water to Tun (I screwed up here and only added 1 gallon, but no harm done)
Add grains slowly, constantly stirring
Continue stirring, adding Strike Water to reach 154* (ended up using 15qts for a ration of 1.5qts/lb)
Mash for 60min, stirring and taking temperature readings every 20 min. - Temp at the end of mash was 152.2*
During mash, heat 4 gallons of water to 175* for sparge
Vorlauf, and drain first runnings into kettle
Add 2 gallons of sparge water, stir, and sit for 10 min.
Vorlauf, and drain second runnings
Add remaining sparge water, stir, sit for 10 min.
Vorlauf, and drain to reach pre-boil volume of 6 gallons (would prefer 6.5, but even 6 is pushing the limits of a 7 gallon kettle)
Pre-boil gravity: 1.049 @ 70*
Bring wort to boil, boil for 60 min, adding hops at above intervals
Cool wort in ice bath to 70*, transfer to carboy
Collected 4.5 gallons of wort, added .5 gallons to achieve 5 gallons total
OG: 1.057 @ 70*
Aerated using "shake and pray" method (my next purchase is an o2 kit)
Pitched entire starter slurry, fermented in swamp cooler