First AG Postmortem

[malweth]

I did my first AG today. I have a few questions at the end of the post... first, my notes:

My recipe - I built this off a brown ale with some of the tips from an Apple Pie Ale discussion elsewhere on HBT.

Apple Pie Ale

Grain:
5 lbs Maris Otter
2 lbs Maris Otter, 15 min @ 300°F
2 lbs Vienna (provided by LHBS as Biscuit/Victory replacement)
1.5 lbs Crystal 60L (not sure if it's 60L, LHBS had 3 types of Crystal: light, medium, and dark)
1/4 lb Chocolate
1/10 lb Roasted Barley

Mash @ 158

1.5 oz East Kent Goldings @ 60
1 oz East Kent Goldings @ 15
1 tsp Irish Moss
4 oz Apples @ 5
4 oz Boiled Cider (Cider reduced to 1/7) @ 5

Irish Ale Yeast (WLP004)

1 gal Apple Cider @ Secondary
1 tsp Pectic Enzyme @ Secondary
Yeast Nutrient @ Secondary
1 stick Cinnamon @ Secondary (5-7 days)
1 tsp Cracked Nutmeg @ Secondary (5-7 days)

So here's what happened...

1100 - Roasted Maris Otter (2 lbs of total)
1145 - Liquor at 170 degrees. I added this to the mash tun, and it was way too hot (around 165). Added cold water and mixed... and suddenly it was at 145!! Apparently I didn't wait long enough after mashing in. Next time I'll have to wait longer.

So... mashed at 145° for 15 minutes (while boiling 2 gal water). Added the 2 gallons slowly (one scoop at a time) to get the mash to 154.5°F. Mashed at 154.5° for 35 minutes.

After sparge, measured SG at 1.030 @ 142°F (1.047 @ 60°).

2 gal liquor at 180° (might have been 182°) went into the tun to sparge out. This mashed at 158°F (somehow much lower than I wanted - I think this should be around 170). This sat for about 15 min.

After the wort was extracted, I measured pre-boil gravity at 1.028 @ 134.5°F (1.043 @ 60°).

Boil started at 1330.
1.6 oz Goldings @ 1335 (60 min)
1 oz Goldings @ 1420 (15 min)
Apples & Boiled Cider @ 1430 (5 min)
Flameout at about 1433...

I went from boil to 120° in 5 minutes... down to 80° in 10 more minutes.

OG 1.052 with almost exactly 5 gallons (as measured by the ale pail)
Pitched at 2000 (about 5 hours later - the WLP004 did not want to floc out in the fridge - put it in around noon).

So... my major problems:

1. MASH TEMPS - I was too impatient to add cold water and I think (maybe) the hot liquor wasn't quite hot enough.

Questions: What does 145° do to the grain? Are enzymes active there? Did I lose anything in those 15 minutes? Did the 2 additional gallons screw up my 2nd sparge?

2. Irish Moss. I had it measured out and totally forgot to throw it in. I suppose I'll have to pick up a packet of gelatin.

 

[frazier]

This is a great story. Congrats - you had an adventure, and will have beer. All your difficulties, trial and tribulations, will be learning experiences - but you will still have beer!

The low initial mash temp is no biggie. If my mash starts out high, I toss in an couple ice cubes and stir. Keep your adjustments small, and don't panic.

For the mash-out temps, no biggie. I often don't bother; or at least I don't sweat the temps like I would for the mash. You'll be fine.

Taking gravity readings at those elevated temps is almost meaningless - I don't know if correction values are accurate. I usually put a hot sample in a glass and stick it in the freezer. I can then get a reasonable reading ten or fifteen minutes later. There's plenty to do while waiting for the sample to cool, and in any case, it is what it is. Sounds like you hit a pretty good OG.

Cheers!

 

[Bobby_M]

Put that 170F water in the tun BEFORE the grain goes in, that way you can let the cooler take the heat for 5 minutes. Less shock to the grain and less panic that you've overshot.