Over the past weekend I made the step up to all grain brewing and was surprised at how easy it was and how pleased I was with the results (so far, the true test is how does the beer taste).
The lead up to the weekend involved a fair bit of reading forums especially regarding equipment and techniques, and what I ended up doing was a Boil in a Bag type method with a batch sparge. While I doubt I am the first to have used this method I cant remember seeing a step by step for it online.
I was making the step up from extract with steeped grains methods and the only extra equipment I needed was the Chilly Bin (cooler box/esky), for which I bought a 25L one for $30 (without a spigot). (See total gear list at the bottom of this post).
The day went far from perfectly so im writing this as somewhat of a warning to others but also to remind myself of how to improve in the future.
The first mistake I made was not clearing myself enough time to complete brew day with full attention. I off off to a late start that required me to multitask when I should have been giving it my full attention. Approximately 6 - 7 hours is required with this method and equipment.
The first step was heating 25L water for the Mash up to 77C in my big pot on the gas ring, and being a qualified chef in a previous life i had little trouble with this. While this was going on i set up my Mash bag, which involved tying a knot at one end of some muslin cloth (it comes as a tube in New Zealand, I don't know about elsewhere) which forms a sock, appox. 10cm longer than my chilly bin is high. I tied the top of this "sock" at the top of the Chilly bin to secure it with the mouth wide open and then measured out my grain and put it in.
When the water was up to 77C this when in on top of the grains which started bubbling away as the water made its way through the grain. I then gave it a good stir, topped up the water and stirred again and took the temperature (70C). The water was right to the brim, and a bit spilt as I locked the lid on. At 60 minutes I opened it up for a quick stir and checked the temp (69C) and then locked the lid on for another 30 minutes and my small pot was filled and heated to 70C.
After 90 minutes I lifted the bag out of the Chilly Bin (mash tun) and let it drip out until the wort flow had slowed. The wort was then put into the big pot and I took a gravity reading which 1.064 from memory (after cooling the wort), while the bag was returned to the Mash Tun and refilled it with hot water, stirred and the lid back on for 5 mins before again lifting the bag out, however this time I tied the bag to a hook on the ceiling and left it to drip dry into a spare container.
The wort from the sparge was 1.020 something and I got around 25L (6.5 gal) of wort for the boil.
The wort then went through the boil with hop additions and some Irish Moss and was cooled in 2 water baths split between my two pots.
I siphon my wort into the fermenter through a sieve to remove hop material and help aerate it. I added 3L of cool water to bring it up to 23L, with starting gravity of around 1.048, I calculated my brewhouse efficiency at around 65%.
I feel I should have let the wort settle some more before siphoning into the fermenter, as I ended up with and lot of the break material in my fermentor, however it has settled so hopefully doesn't affect the beer too much, but there is a think trub layer. It also doesn't help that the wort misses out on the filtering effect of lautering
So there you have it, my first all grain attempt. For those of you who read this and think that sounds like it went well I have missed out the frustrations of having the bottom pop off my hydrometer tube 5 times, almost burning the house down with the gas hose unscrewing, very nearly running out of gas and having to run up and down the stairs watching my favourite rugby team challenge for the Ranfurly Shield.... (which they lost in a close fought game).
All in all I feel the end result was pretty good, and know where I need to improve for next time. I am open to any suggestions on improving my method, and happy to answer any questions. I will also update on the all important taste test in a month or so
Happy brewing everyone.
Recipe - English Pale Ale
4kg Pale ale malt
1kg flaked maize
500g Crystal (90)
20g Roasted Barley
27g Northern Brewer 60 mins
9g Northern Brewer 15 mins
1 tsp Irish Moss
1 sachet Mangrove Jacks Craft series Burton Union M79
Gear list
30L (8 gal) Stainless pot
15L (4 gal) Aluminum pot
25L (7 gal) Chilly bin (cooler box) with lid
30L (8 gal) Plastic fermenter barrel
Muslin Cloth
Gas burner and tank (Full!!)
Thermometer and Hydrometer
Ice
Sieve
Hoses
Scales
Rope
Big Spoon
The lead up to the weekend involved a fair bit of reading forums especially regarding equipment and techniques, and what I ended up doing was a Boil in a Bag type method with a batch sparge. While I doubt I am the first to have used this method I cant remember seeing a step by step for it online.
I was making the step up from extract with steeped grains methods and the only extra equipment I needed was the Chilly Bin (cooler box/esky), for which I bought a 25L one for $30 (without a spigot). (See total gear list at the bottom of this post).
The day went far from perfectly so im writing this as somewhat of a warning to others but also to remind myself of how to improve in the future.
The first mistake I made was not clearing myself enough time to complete brew day with full attention. I off off to a late start that required me to multitask when I should have been giving it my full attention. Approximately 6 - 7 hours is required with this method and equipment.
The first step was heating 25L water for the Mash up to 77C in my big pot on the gas ring, and being a qualified chef in a previous life i had little trouble with this. While this was going on i set up my Mash bag, which involved tying a knot at one end of some muslin cloth (it comes as a tube in New Zealand, I don't know about elsewhere) which forms a sock, appox. 10cm longer than my chilly bin is high. I tied the top of this "sock" at the top of the Chilly bin to secure it with the mouth wide open and then measured out my grain and put it in.
When the water was up to 77C this when in on top of the grains which started bubbling away as the water made its way through the grain. I then gave it a good stir, topped up the water and stirred again and took the temperature (70C). The water was right to the brim, and a bit spilt as I locked the lid on. At 60 minutes I opened it up for a quick stir and checked the temp (69C) and then locked the lid on for another 30 minutes and my small pot was filled and heated to 70C.
After 90 minutes I lifted the bag out of the Chilly Bin (mash tun) and let it drip out until the wort flow had slowed. The wort was then put into the big pot and I took a gravity reading which 1.064 from memory (after cooling the wort), while the bag was returned to the Mash Tun and refilled it with hot water, stirred and the lid back on for 5 mins before again lifting the bag out, however this time I tied the bag to a hook on the ceiling and left it to drip dry into a spare container.
The wort from the sparge was 1.020 something and I got around 25L (6.5 gal) of wort for the boil.
The wort then went through the boil with hop additions and some Irish Moss and was cooled in 2 water baths split between my two pots.
I siphon my wort into the fermenter through a sieve to remove hop material and help aerate it. I added 3L of cool water to bring it up to 23L, with starting gravity of around 1.048, I calculated my brewhouse efficiency at around 65%.
I feel I should have let the wort settle some more before siphoning into the fermenter, as I ended up with and lot of the break material in my fermentor, however it has settled so hopefully doesn't affect the beer too much, but there is a think trub layer. It also doesn't help that the wort misses out on the filtering effect of lautering
So there you have it, my first all grain attempt. For those of you who read this and think that sounds like it went well I have missed out the frustrations of having the bottom pop off my hydrometer tube 5 times, almost burning the house down with the gas hose unscrewing, very nearly running out of gas and having to run up and down the stairs watching my favourite rugby team challenge for the Ranfurly Shield.... (which they lost in a close fought game).
All in all I feel the end result was pretty good, and know where I need to improve for next time. I am open to any suggestions on improving my method, and happy to answer any questions. I will also update on the all important taste test in a month or so
Happy brewing everyone.
Recipe - English Pale Ale
4kg Pale ale malt
1kg flaked maize
500g Crystal (90)
20g Roasted Barley
27g Northern Brewer 60 mins
9g Northern Brewer 15 mins
1 tsp Irish Moss
1 sachet Mangrove Jacks Craft series Burton Union M79
Gear list
30L (8 gal) Stainless pot
15L (4 gal) Aluminum pot
25L (7 gal) Chilly bin (cooler box) with lid
30L (8 gal) Plastic fermenter barrel
Muslin Cloth
Gas burner and tank (Full!!)
Thermometer and Hydrometer
Ice
Sieve
Hoses
Scales
Rope
Big Spoon