First All Grain batch, lots of questions

[filthyastronaut]

This is my first post and I have been brewing since May, currently have my fifth and sixth batches fermenting. I have only done extract so far (with crowd-pleasing results), but like practically everyone I want to move into all grain and partial mash because it feels more legit and has promise of better beer.

Using Brewer's Friend, I created a Braggot recipe that should churn out a delicious beverage whether I have high efficiency or not. I chose a Braggot because it'll be a nice experiment and the honey can serve a similar purpose as malt extract in a partial mash brew, resulting in a very forgiving recipe. Shooting for 60 percent efficiency, if not better.

Rye Braggot

3 Gallons
3.5 Gallon boil

2 lb. 2-Row -22.2%
2 lb. Rye Malt -22.2%
2 lb. Crystal 60L -22.2%
3 lb. Honey -33.3% (added to fermenter)

.25 oz. Magnum Pellets -60 min.

I have 2 3-gallon pots and 1 5-gallon pot. I typically do a 3 gallon boil, losing about .5 gallon to 1 gallon during the boil. I intend to do a stove-top mash.

1. Should I mash with the grain loose in the pot, or with a grain bag lining it? If I were to do the first, I would likely pour the mash through the bag into my 5 gallon pot, let it drain, and then add the grain to my sparge water. Would this help or hurt the efficiency?

2. Is there any benefit to doing a pour-over sparge in addition to the ordinary sparge water? If I wanted to use three different pots instead of just 2, I could have both the original wort and the sparge wort pass through the grain on the way to the boil kettle. It seems as though this would help to maximize the sugars in the wort.

3. For the boil volume, I intend to have 3.5-4 gallons. 1.5 gallons of water for the mash and 3 gallons for the sparge equals 4.5 gallons. How much liquid absorption should I expect with 6 pounds of grain, and what can I tweak to hit my desired boil volume? With respect to efficiency, of course.

4. Any tips on the recipe? Was aiming for a rich malt flavor and I wouldn't shed a tear if that ended up drowning out the honey, but if both came through that would also be great.

Thanks!

 

[doug293cz]

This is my first post and I have been brewing since May, currently have my fifth and sixth batches fermenting. I have only done extract so far (with crowd-pleasing results), but like practically everyone I want to move into all grain and partial mash because it feels more legit and has promise of better beer.

Using Brewer's Friend, I created a Braggot recipe that should churn out a delicious beverage whether I have high efficiency or not. I chose a Braggot because it'll be a nice experiment and the honey can serve a similar purpose as malt extract in a partial mash brew, resulting in a very forgiving recipe. Shooting for 60 percent efficiency, if not better.

Rye Braggot

3 Gallons
3.5 Gallon boil

2 lb. 2-Row -22.2%
2 lb. Rye Malt -22.2%
2 lb. Crystal 60L -22.2%
3 lb. Honey -33.3% (added to fermenter)

.25 oz. Magnum Pellets -60 min.

I have 2 3-gallon pots and 1 5-gallon pot. I typically do a 3 gallon boil, losing about .5 gallon to 1 gallon during the boil. I intend to do a stove-top mash.

1. Should I mash with the grain loose in the pot, or with a grain bag lining it? If I were to do the first, I would likely pour the mash through the bag into my 5 gallon pot, let it drain, and then add the grain to my sparge water. Would this help or hurt the efficiency?

If the bag is slightly larger than the pot, then you should mash the grain in the bag. This will simplify the following steps. If the bag is smaller, then mash the grain loose, and filter thru the bag. Leave the grain in the bag to sparge.

2. Is there any benefit to doing a pour-over sparge in addition to the ordinary sparge water? If I wanted to use three different pots instead of just 2, I could have both the original wort and the sparge wort pass through the grain on the way to the boil kettle. It seems as though this would help to maximize the sugars in the wort.

A pour over sparge after a dunk sparge will have limited value. I'd skip it, unless you come up short on volume after the dunk sparge.

3. For the boil volume, I intend to have 3.5-4 gallons. 1.5 gallons of water for the mash and 3 gallons for the sparge equals 4.5 gallons. How much liquid absorption should I expect with 6 pounds of grain, and what can I tweak to hit my desired boil volume? With respect to efficiency, of course.

With brew in a bag you can expect about 0.1 gal/lb apparent grain absorption (if you drain well & don't squeeze), so you would lose about 0.6 gal there. Six lb of grain will displace about 0.5 gal, so you could mash with up to 3.5 gal in your 5 gal pot and still have room to stir. To maximize efficiency, you want to mash with about 2.5 gal of water, and then dunk sparge with about 1.85 gal (which you can do in one of your 3 gal pots.) Forget about "traditional" water to grain ratios for mashing. They only really apply when fly sparging. With this mash and sparge schedule you should easily exceed your projected 60% mash efficiency (you could get as high as 85% if you get really good conversion efficiency.)

4. Any tips on the recipe? Was aiming for a rich malt flavor and I wouldn't shed a tear if that ended up drowning out the honey, but if both came through that would also be great.

I got nothin'.

Brew on

 

[filthyastronaut]

If the bag is slightly larger than the pot, then you should mash the grain in the bag. This will simplify the following steps. If the bag is smaller, then mash the grain loose, and filter thru the bag. Leave the grain in the bag to sparge.


A pour over sparge after a dunk sparge will have limited value. I'd skip it, unless you come up short on volume after the dunk sparge.


With brew in a bag you can expect about 0.1 gal/lb apparent grain absorption (if you drain well & don't squeeze), so you would lose about 0.6 gal there. Six lb of grain will displace about 0.5 gal, so you could mash with up to 3.5 gal in your 5 gal pot and still have room to stir. To maximize efficiency, you want to mash with about 2.5 gal of water, and then dunk sparge with about 1.85 gal (which you can do in one of your 3 gal pots.) Forget about "traditional" water to grain ratios for mashing. They only really apply when fly sparging. With this mash and sparge schedule you should easily exceed your projected 60% mash efficiency (you could get as high as 85% if you get really good conversion efficiency.)


I got nothin'.

Brew on

Exactly the kind of information I was looking for. Thank you!