Jimbob
Well-Known Member
I brewed my first all grain batch a few weeks ago. Let me begin with, I may misuses some terms as I have not quite got them all down
please correct me if I misstate something. I wanted to give the process a try and hadnt really visited the forum in a while to figure out what to do. I just wanted to try my hand at to see what would happen. I set out early to begin expecting a long day of work but it only added an extra 2 hours to the job. This was the first thing that struck me as odd, as I have heard that you really get into a brew day when you start all-grain brewing.
Having spot read Palmers stuff on all-grain, added the grain to the mash tun and then hit with my strike water, which was about 160F and got me to a mash temp of 150F. I was able to hold the around 150F for the hour, I believe that the temp came down about 3 degrees. During that hour I prepped, my sparge water. At the end of the hour, I preformed a vorlof and then began the run-off. I kept the water about an inch above the top of the grain adding water gently so not to disturb the grain bed. This took me about 20 minutes to get 6.5 gallons of wort to begin my boil. Then I began the boil process as I had done with extract. I ended up with right at 5 gallons at the end of the boil.
It had been in primary for about two weeks. When I looked at it on Friday, there was still quite a head of kruesen on the top. I pulled about half a pint, covered the top with plastic wrap and a rubber band, and went up to the HS. By the time I had gotten there the plastic wrap was bulging at the top (over about 20 minutes). We took a gravity reading at the shop and the beer was at 1.010. Tasting has signs of soapy and astringent flavors.
I have racked this beer to a keg right now and Ive chilled it to crash out the yeast. I wont carbonate it for a week or so. I believe the off-flavors are a result of not rinsing my equipment well after cleaning (used oxyclean for cleaning and iodophor for sanitzation).
Some things that I already know I need to do in the future:
1) Take gravity readings
2) Slower run-off into boil pot
3) Better planning prior to brewing
4) Spend more time studying the process
Not that this has taken the wind out of my sail, but this is the second batch with the off-flavors. I had to pour one batch out, as mentioned in another post over the weekend. The wife said I looked like some had told me that Santa Clause wasn't real again. I would appreciate any thoughts or recommendations on the process and the off-flavors.
Having spot read Palmers stuff on all-grain, added the grain to the mash tun and then hit with my strike water, which was about 160F and got me to a mash temp of 150F. I was able to hold the around 150F for the hour, I believe that the temp came down about 3 degrees. During that hour I prepped, my sparge water. At the end of the hour, I preformed a vorlof and then began the run-off. I kept the water about an inch above the top of the grain adding water gently so not to disturb the grain bed. This took me about 20 minutes to get 6.5 gallons of wort to begin my boil. Then I began the boil process as I had done with extract. I ended up with right at 5 gallons at the end of the boil.
It had been in primary for about two weeks. When I looked at it on Friday, there was still quite a head of kruesen on the top. I pulled about half a pint, covered the top with plastic wrap and a rubber band, and went up to the HS. By the time I had gotten there the plastic wrap was bulging at the top (over about 20 minutes). We took a gravity reading at the shop and the beer was at 1.010. Tasting has signs of soapy and astringent flavors.
I have racked this beer to a keg right now and Ive chilled it to crash out the yeast. I wont carbonate it for a week or so. I believe the off-flavors are a result of not rinsing my equipment well after cleaning (used oxyclean for cleaning and iodophor for sanitzation).
Some things that I already know I need to do in the future:
1) Take gravity readings
2) Slower run-off into boil pot
3) Better planning prior to brewing
4) Spend more time studying the process
Not that this has taken the wind out of my sail, but this is the second batch with the off-flavors. I had to pour one batch out, as mentioned in another post over the weekend. The wife said I looked like some had told me that Santa Clause wasn't real again. I would appreciate any thoughts or recommendations on the process and the off-flavors.