First All-Grain attempt Tonight!

[McGreen]

Tonight I will be making my first All-Grain. I am pumped, but feel like I'll screw it up. So I am throwing it out on here for some pointers. I have done extract and partial grain before, but this is very new to me.

I am starting with an easy Irish Red. Here is what I have for the mash:

6 lbs. Briess 2-Row Malt Barley
2 lbs. Crystal Malt Barley
1 lb. Caramalt Barley

-Here is my first question right off the bat: I am supposed to mash the 2-row for 60 mins at 154 degrees F. Do I also mash the Crystal and the Caramalt, or are those considered specialty grains? If they are specialty, are they in the boil, or after the boil?

-Then I am supposed to sparge. I am confused at this process only because I have not physically done it before. So I will triple check the sticky on mashing above.

Any pointers on the mash is greatly appreciated. I have gas stove, so that will reduce scorching.

Here is what I have for the boil:

1 oz U.K. Kent Golding Hop pellets for 60 minute boil
1 oz U.K. Northern Brewer Hop pellets for 30 minute boil

-Question again: Do I boil the Kent Goldings for 60, THEN another 30 with the Northern Brewer? Or do I put in the Northerns half way? ANY advice is appreciated.

More on the boil:

1 tsp. Irish Moss 15 minute boil

-Same question: Is this AFTER 90 minutes of boil? Or when there is 15 minutes left of the 60 minute boil? Sorry if that is a confusing question. Just trying to get it right.

Fermentation:

Wyeast 1084 (Irish Ale Yeast) - following the directions on the package after I cool the wort.

Bottling after primary:

Corn sugar

I may use bottles or one of those keg things that have a gravity feed, not CO2, anybody have any luck with those?

So that is about it. Sorry I hit you guys with a lot. I am sure each question could have it's own post... and I am sure it has all been asked before.

Any extra pointers for quick reference are good too. I'll be doing this in about 4 hours.

Cheers!

 

[homebrewdad]

Pretty sure that you mash the specialties at the same time. Even though you are really only steeping them (and could steep them by themselves), it won't hurt to do them with the mash - and it's a lot more efficient to do all of the grain at once.

Add the kent goldings when there is 60 minutes left in the boil. When you get down to 30 minutes left, add the northern brewer.

Same thing for the irish moss - add with 15 minutes left in the boil.


Those are the questions I can help with... best of luck!

 

[McGreen]

Pretty sure that you mash the specialties at the same time. Even though you are really only steeping them (and could steep them by themselves), it won't hurt to do them with the mash - and it's a lot more efficient to do all of the grain at once.

Add the kent goldings when there is 60 minutes left in the boil. When you get down to 30 minutes left, add the northern brewer.

Same thing for the irish moss - add with 15 minutes left in the boil.


Those are the questions I can help with... best of luck!

Thanks so much, man! Great blog site btw! I am a father of 3, so I get it!

How long should the boil be in total? You mentioned I add the Kent with 60 mins left, but I was under the assumption my boil was only 60 minutes after sparging. Am I incorrect?

 

[homebrewdad]

Thanks so much, man! Great blog site btw! I am a father of 3, so I get it!

How long should the boil be in total? You mentioned I add the Kent with 60 mins left, but I was under the assumption my boil was only 60 minutes after sparging. Am I incorrect?

Sorry, I thought I had read that you were boiling for 90 minutes. You aren't using pilsner malt, so I *think* that 60 minutes is fine for the boil... in which case, add the kent at the start of the boil.

Thanks for the kind words. I'll be blogging about brewing Revvy's Leffe Blonde clone shortly.

 

[McGreen]

Sorry, I thought I had read that you were boiling for 90 minutes. You aren't using pilsner malt, so I *think* that 60 minutes is fine for the boil... in which case, add the kent at the start of the boil.

Thanks for the kind words. I'll be blogging about brewing Revvy's Leffe Blonde clone shortly.

Revvy has helped me out so much as a home brewer. I'm sure it will come out great.

 

[homebrewdad]

Verifying: yes, definitely go ahead and add specialties to your mash.

Edit: Revvy is the man.

 

[Yooper]

Are your grains already crushed and mixed together? Three pounds of crystal malt is too much, so cut it down in half if it's not already mixed!

 

[tcrums]

I have only done one all grain myself and am a complete noob, but you didn't say if you are batch or fly sparging. I batch sparged and used Denny's technique. Here is the link for how to do it if you haven't seen it yet.

http://hbd.org/cascade/dennybrew/

 

[tsellmeyer]

Agree with Yooper that the crystal may be too much for a red and would decrease it and increase the two row equally. But if crushed and mixed, would go ahead with it. From a purely simplistic stand point, all crushed grain can be added to the mash at the desired temp (low 150s) will get you what you want. Then you drain the wort from the "oatmeal" you just created and let rest for an hour. Your goal is to collect enough wort in the boil kettle that after you boil(sounds like 90min) you have evaporated/concentrated it to the volume of beer you want to have (1gallon, 5gallons, 10gallons, 7bbl). This is somewhat specific for YOUR equipment. Mine loses a little over a gallon an hour at a full boil. So if I want to have a 5 gallon batch and do a 90 minute boil, I have to collect 6.5 gallons to end up with 5 at the end. Sparging is (simplistically) adding hot water to rinse the grains as you collect wort. Batch Sparging means you run off all water (wort) initially and then add more to the grain to give you the exact amount you want pre-boil. Fly Sparging is sprinkling hot water on top of the grain WHILE the wort is running out to your boil kettle. Finally, the times listed for hops or Irish moss or any others are conventionally listed as times left in the boil. Hope this helps. Happy brewing! Cheers.

 

[McGreen]

It was not already mixed. I took your advice and scaled it down to a 2 lb. combo of 1.5 lbs. crystal and .5 lbs. caramalt. I am mashing currently. Will update with pics. Thanks so much for all your help, guys and gals (if there are gals reading this - didn't wanna leave you out).

 

[McGreen]

Some of you may rag on me for this, but Smithwick's is one if my favorite beers. Enjoying it with the start of the mash.

Enjoy my daughter's artwork from preschool too.

 

[McGreen]

Going well. Getting the temp correct and steady is harder than I thought. But it's covered around 157 and the heat is off. I'll check again soon. In the meantime...

 

[jeffd10]

McGreen,

Cheers to your all-grainess....Concerned about that yeast pack...Did you smack it ?

BTW Love the art...

Cheers

Jeffd

 

[McGreen]

Yeah. I smacked the hell outta that thing. I may have to wait for the wort to cool anyway. Maybe early tomorrow morning in about 6 hours.

 

[jeffd10]

Yeah. I smacked the hell outta that thing. I may have to wait for the wort to cool anyway. Maybe early tomorrow morning in about 6 hours.

Been there, done that !!!

Right on :rockin:

 

[McGreen]

Thanks for the heads up. The first time I used Wyeast, I didn't know you needed at least 3 hours. Didn't find out until I was about to pitch. Needless to say, that sucked.

Thanks again!

 

[Dawnhulio]

Thanks for sharing your process - I'm interested to see how it turns out!

 

[McGreen]

The boil is almost done. Hops in. Looking real good.

The pre boil gravity was high, and the wort was very sweet. But I have high hopes. Pretty pumped.

 

[McGreen]

OG was 1.041. Almost exact to what the profile said when I entered it in on my calculator. I'll keep you guys updated. Thanks for the advice!

 

[McGreen]

Fermentation seems to be going well. I will take gravity readings in a few weeks (I opt for a 3 week primary). I am super pumped! Thanks for all your help, guys!