So I've made several partial boil extract batches, some good, some so-so. I figured it was time to move up to all grain, so I picked up a turkey fryer and a cooler to build a MLT with. I went down to my new LHBS and got the following ingredients for my first all grain, a simple IPA:
10.25lb 2-row
10oz Caramel 60L
.75oz Cascade (90min)
.50oz Magnum (90min)
1.00oz Mount Hood (60min)
1.00oz Cascade (15min)
I seriously overestimated the amount of heat my cooler and grains and ended up mashing in around 158. Over the course of the hour and my repeated opening of the cooler to check the temp, it came down to 154.
I think I'm gonna look for something better than the stainless braid I have, as I had quite a bit of chunks in the boil. Probably not going to affect anything, but I can be a little obsessive about things like that. I also need to alter my design a little so I don't leave so much liquid in the cooler.
I forgot to take an initial gravity reading before my boil and I also either missed my volume or my boil off is faster than I thought. I ended up with around 4 gallons, but the gravity was pretty high, so I topped it up to 5 and hit pretty close to the OG ( I got 1.056 and the recipe said 1.057).
I think I had some issues with my boil, as it seemed the foam just wouldn't stop. If I turned the flame down it would settle down to a rolling boil, but if I turned the flame back up it would foam and try to boil over. I'm guessing this is just me learning my new equipment, because I had plenty of hot break material left in the pot.
My next purchase will be some kind of wort chiller, as the ice bath thing isn't very fun and is kinda messy. I did get the wort down to around 72° in about 30 minutes. I know I should have made a starter, but I just pitched a vial of WLP 001 straight into the fermenter. I'm guessing it's gonna increase my lag time, but overall probably not gonna hurt it too badly. It is now in my temperature controlled freezer set to 65°.
overall, I learned a few good lessons and I'm hoping this one turns out good. I'm gonna dry hop on 2 oz of Cascade, so I think it should be pretty tasty. I need to make a few refinements to my equipment and process, but I'm still really enjoying this hobby. Time to start planning the next batch.
10.25lb 2-row
10oz Caramel 60L
.75oz Cascade (90min)
.50oz Magnum (90min)
1.00oz Mount Hood (60min)
1.00oz Cascade (15min)
I seriously overestimated the amount of heat my cooler and grains and ended up mashing in around 158. Over the course of the hour and my repeated opening of the cooler to check the temp, it came down to 154.
I think I'm gonna look for something better than the stainless braid I have, as I had quite a bit of chunks in the boil. Probably not going to affect anything, but I can be a little obsessive about things like that. I also need to alter my design a little so I don't leave so much liquid in the cooler.
I forgot to take an initial gravity reading before my boil and I also either missed my volume or my boil off is faster than I thought. I ended up with around 4 gallons, but the gravity was pretty high, so I topped it up to 5 and hit pretty close to the OG ( I got 1.056 and the recipe said 1.057).
I think I had some issues with my boil, as it seemed the foam just wouldn't stop. If I turned the flame down it would settle down to a rolling boil, but if I turned the flame back up it would foam and try to boil over. I'm guessing this is just me learning my new equipment, because I had plenty of hot break material left in the pot.
My next purchase will be some kind of wort chiller, as the ice bath thing isn't very fun and is kinda messy. I did get the wort down to around 72° in about 30 minutes. I know I should have made a starter, but I just pitched a vial of WLP 001 straight into the fermenter. I'm guessing it's gonna increase my lag time, but overall probably not gonna hurt it too badly. It is now in my temperature controlled freezer set to 65°.
overall, I learned a few good lessons and I'm hoping this one turns out good. I'm gonna dry hop on 2 oz of Cascade, so I think it should be pretty tasty. I need to make a few refinements to my equipment and process, but I'm still really enjoying this hobby. Time to start planning the next batch.