First AG brew!!!

[carliezdad]

Today was my first AG brew!!!! Home made MLT 10 gal boil pot 5 gal pot for strike water and an espresso porter in the carboy! I was only one degree off for my mash temp which is awesome. I was low for my starting gravity by 8 but my boil amount was higher than expected which is what I think caused it. No worries though as it'll make a great session beer (I hope). I can't hardly wait to try it!

 

[Daver77]

How did you end up with more water, in what part f the process?

The reason I ask is because I'm doing my first all grain today and was kind of worried about that.

btw my set up looks a ot like yours, i even have a red cooler! good luck hope it tastes great!

 

[Chap]

Congrats. Getting that first AG in the carboy is a great feeling Here's to many more

 

[carliezdad]

How did you end up with more water, in what part f the process?

The reason I ask is because I'm doing my first all grain today and was kind of worried about that.

btw my set up looks a ot like yours, i even have a red cooler! good luck hope it tastes great!

I batch sparged and I believe I used too much water. Over shot it by about a gallon! Or I set my efficiency too high in beersmith. I guess I could have left some in the mash tun and probably would have hit the mark. Good luck with yours!

 

[osagedr]

Getting the perfect amount of liquid all the way through your process will come with experience. Learn from the little things that go wrong and adjust accordingly for future brewdays. In the OP's case, I would say sparge to your pre-boil volume then stop and boil. Who cares if you throw away some second runnings? If you ended up with too much in your kettle you have to boil for some extra time to get your volume down to where you want.

 

[Daver77]

OK, so the second running is just to fill to your pre boil mark! Got it!

Thanks, and congrats once again.

 

[azscoob]

Congrats on your first AG brew! A few more batches and you will feel like you have been doing it forever. I had trouble with absorption volumes, but once I figured it out, calculating my preboil volume became simple, and that in itself made the whole process more relaxing for me.

 

[beowulf]

Congrats on your first AG! While it's not always exact, I usually estimate ~40% grain absorption on my first runnings and then calculate my next two sparges from there. I batch sparge in a cooler much like yours. Here's an example:

Strike water volume: 4 gal
Pre-boil target: 6.5 gal

First running: 4 gal x 60% = 2.4 gal (so I'll need ~4.1 gal for sparge)
Second running: 2.1 gal
Third running: 2 gal

Keep in mind this is approximate, but I come pretty close to 60% volume on first running most of the time. It's not that critical, so don't sweat it if you have a little extra...

Anyway...congrats and I hope you enjoy that espresso porter...sounds delicious!

 

[carliezdad]

Congrats on your first AG! While it's not always exact, I usually estimate ~40% grain absorption on my first runnings and then calculate my next two sparges from there. I batch sparge in a cooler much like yours. Here's an example:

Strike water volume: 4 gal
Pre-boil target: 6.5 gal

First running: 4 gal x 60% = 2.4 gal (so I'll need ~4.1 gal for sparge)
Second running: 2.1 gal
Third running: 2 gal

Keep in mind this is approximate, but I come pretty close to 60% volume on first running most of the time. It's not that critical, so don't sweat it if you have a little extra...

Anyway...congrats and I hope you enjoy that espresso porter...sounds delicious!

Thanks for the example! I get it now. I'm looking forward to the next brew! I'm thinking the next one should b a hefeweizen.
Cheers!

 

[cvstrat]

When I was starting out I took a piece of PVC pipe and graduated it by pouring a gallon of water at a time in my pot and marking the level with a sharpie.

After brewing a few batches I realized my low and wide pot boiled off about 1.5gal per hour. My goal for a six gallon batch was 7.5 gallons.

I totally F'd up one night and ended up with something like 9 gallons in the kettle.. I ended up boiling it for an hour to get to my desired starting volume, then took it from there. Just make sure you figure this out before you add hops.

You could add corn sugar to the carboy to boost the alcohol content if you wanted.