Just wanted to post some info about my first AG brew experience. I suppose I went and tried this maybe before most would recommend. I have only brewed one beer prior, a partial mash. Anyway, I ended up coming up short on my starting gravity, 1.032. This could have easily been avoided if I had checked my gravity before adding water to the wort to come up with my total volume. So a quick run down. I used 5lbs 2row UK, 5lbs torrified wheat, 1lb rice hulls, an oz of goldings,an oz of coriander, an oz of bitter orange peel. I started off striking with 3.5 gallons water @ 164, this temp settled at 154 for the duration of an hour. I added 5.2 to the strike water. I also struck again at the same temp with around a gallon or so.
Once seeing that my gravity was less than expected I added a bit of amylase enzyme. I would have added a bit of extract to bring up the SG but I had none and it was to late to run down to the HBS. I also added a bit of yeast nutrient to the mix.
After cleaning up things last night I sat down to enjoy a small glass of what was let in my MLT. Not sure if everyone here calls this wort at this stage, I called it tea. It taste great! No worries. I'm not so concerned about coming up short on my SG, I figure it was more to do with a bad crush on my grain, had to hand crush the wheat. So, I think I will maybe try this again this weekend and get another batch started and see if I can hit closer to 1.045-1.055. Has anyone brewed a Belgian Wit that can give me some advice. I suppose you need not have brewed this to give me advice...
So thats a quick rundown...maybe forgetting some things as i'm still on my first cup of coffee.
Once seeing that my gravity was less than expected I added a bit of amylase enzyme. I would have added a bit of extract to bring up the SG but I had none and it was to late to run down to the HBS. I also added a bit of yeast nutrient to the mix.
After cleaning up things last night I sat down to enjoy a small glass of what was let in my MLT. Not sure if everyone here calls this wort at this stage, I called it tea. It taste great! No worries. I'm not so concerned about coming up short on my SG, I figure it was more to do with a bad crush on my grain, had to hand crush the wheat. So, I think I will maybe try this again this weekend and get another batch started and see if I can hit closer to 1.045-1.055. Has anyone brewed a Belgian Wit that can give me some advice. I suppose you need not have brewed this to give me advice...
So thats a quick rundown...maybe forgetting some things as i'm still on my first cup of coffee.
