First All Grain -- couldn't be more pleased

[brewbama]

I learned a ton on my first all grain. All in all my 71.9% brew house efficiency calc by Brewer's Friend wasn't too bad for the first shot. I definitely have corrections to make next time based on my notes. Thanks to all here including Denny and Yooper, and a few guys on You Tube such as Don Osborn and the guys at AHA with the Batch Sparge videos.

I missed my expected 1.052 OG by 6 points (1.046) but I believe I know the reasons why: (1) I calculated a 10*F loss in strike water temp after dough in but in actuality it was a 12*F loss. (2) I also calculated a 1*F loss over the hour sacc rest but I again lost 2*F. So I was 4*F off total. I could have added some DME to make up the lost points but I decided to take what I get by going grain to glass without any alterations.

I also lost 2*F between my 170*F sparge water temp in the time it took to vorlauf and lauter the mash. I only have one kettle so I heated the sparge water and held it in my bottling bucket until I needed it for my batch sparge. I'll account for that next time as well.

However, I did hit my volumes dead on. My calc for dead space in the mash tun and brew kettle as well as grain absorption, predicted first runnings, and sparge water volume to ensure equal runnings all dead on.

So, I know what I need to do next time. I think I'll call it Ersten Fasan Alt (First Pheasant Alt). Here's a few photos to document the event.

Here's my ghetto set up.



10 lbs of grain



my mash tun heating up with strike water



dough in



sparge runnings



startin the boil



had a pheasant visit during the brew



coolin the wort

 

[RM-MN]

Congrats on your first all grain. I think you did well.

Here's some thoughts on your observations. Losing a couple degrees in dough in and in mashing do not change the efficiency, just the fermentability so your final gravity may be a little lower than you expect. The crush of the grain has way more effect on the efficiency and there are 2 ways to overcome that. First is to get the grains milled a little finer. That may or may not be possible for you. The other is a work around for grains that aren't crushed well and it only works to a point but mashing longer will extract more sugars.

Unless you are fly sparging, you don't need to do a mash out since in batch sparging you aren't leaving the grains at mash temps much longer than it takes to stir and drain.

 

[brewbama]

Thanks RM-MN. Do you think a 90 min mash will do it?


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[JDGator]

congratz on the first all grain!!

 

[RM-MN]

Thanks RM-MN. Do you think a 90 min mash will do it?


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I'd try a 75 minute mash first. If you hit your numbers, that's all you need. If not, try 90. If that isn't enough, look for your own mill.

 

[brewbama]

Will do. Thanks.


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[CB_in_Tokyo]

What a beautiful ambiance to be brewing in!

 

[pbntoast]

I have the exact same setup, and in my experience I think the biggest variations are from the crush, as mentioned. My efficiency seems to change depending on the brew shop. With your own mill, you control another variable in the process.

An iodine test is the simplest way to tell if there are any starches remaining in the mash. I haven't done this yet, but one day I'll remember to go pick some up. I rarely mash longer than 60 minutes, and my efficiency floats somewhere between 70-74%. I have a suspicion that it is pointless to leave it longer than 40 minutes, but it's only another 20 minutes. 90 might be necessary for mashes that are lacking grains with sufficient diastatic power, but I think an hour is plenty.

Something else I've learned about this setup is not to open the lid too often to check the temperature! As long as you mixed the mash well to begin with, there shouldn't be any reason to stir it part way through. Patience!

 

[brewbama]

I appreciate the comments. I had it in my mind that anywhere between 70 and 75% brewhouse efficiency would be good enough so I am happy with my ~72%. I used the iodine and it turned brown so I thought I got good conversion. I used Northern Brewer to crush my grain because I don't have a LHBS. I thought it looked pretty good. A mill is not in the cards right now but maybe at some point I'll pick one up and can expect my efficiency to rise.

All in all, I believe I should have added a grain scale up factor and more closely monitored my temps.

Edit 0800 13 Apr: I used Wyeast 1007 German Alt Yeast I harvested from a starter I made prior to pitching my last extract brew. It's rockin and rollin in the fermentor now.

I brewed the same extract and all grain beer to blind taste test the difference. I can imagine they will be vastly different since the extract OG was 1.052 and the all grain is 1.046.