First brew ever! -- One-gallon all-Chinook IPA-type-thing...

[LilRoundHouse]

My very first brew! I've been devouring books (and new beers) for the last month, and reading up a lot online getting ready for my first brew.

It's a one gallon test batch, did it all in-kitchen. All-grain, strainer-sparged (a-la Brookyln Brew Shop technique) and fermenting in a 4L Carlo Rossi jug. Slight variation on a SMASH IPA recipe, trying to keep things straightforward, ingredients-wise (Maris Otter, Crystal 40, whole leaf Chinook, Safale US-05) Looking to plant a bunch of Chinook hops this year at the farm, so I figured I might as well start by brewing with them. Public sentiment on Chinook as a flavor and aroma hop is divisive and mixed. Fingers crossed!

Overall, I think things went pretty well. Controlling mash temp in a thin stockpot on a glass top stove is a bit like playing Flappy Bird, but I think I managed to keep the overall temps in the sweet spot for the vast majority of the mash. It'll be easier next time having done it once. It made our entire house smell like boiling Grape Nuts (which I loved, my girlfriend... less so).

Biggest error I made was not keeping track of liquid volume during the boil. Was shooting for a one-gallon batch, and I ended up having to top off with a quart of sterilized/cooled water right before I pitched and was still a bit short.

Got everything strained and into the jug pretty smoothly... was fastidious about the Star San on everything and I'm hoping that will save me from having any infection issues.

Tasted some of the last drippings from the boil that didn't make it into the jug, and it was surprised at how much it kinda already tastes like beer. The wort was sweet, strong, and actually had a good strong hoppy flavor.

Currently sitting in our guest shower at a dead-steady 59°F ambient. Fermentation hasn't been like a lot of the yeast-splosions I see posted up everythere, but it's getting foamy on top and putting out bubbles once every second or two from the blowoff tube, so it seems to be progressing nicely.

Pictures below! I suppose I'll be back in full on noob-mode when I see a speck in the foam or to ask everyone if it's infected, but for now I'm pretty pleased with how things went the first time. Thanks to all here for the warm, welcoming and supportive environment I have experienced so far as a new guy. It helps a lot.

Obligatory dog-brew-buddy shot. She gives zero f***s about brewing as it turns out. Next time I'll drop hot dogs at regular intervals to keep her interest up.

 

[mtnagel]

Congrats! Love the dog shot and seeing Deschutes in the background

A couple of tips:
- Controlling temps on that small scale is pretty easy. Through it in the oven. You may not even need to turn it on, but you can if you need to. Or you can wrap your pot in some blankets, sweatshirts, jackets, etc.
- For measuring the volume - get a plastic stick and mark off the volume on that and then you'll always have an idea of what your volumes are.

 

[LilRoundHouse]

I'm kinda embarrassed I didn't think of the oven thing... that's fantastic! The lowest my oven goes is 170... would that be too hot if I just preheated it and then turned it off before setting the mash pot inside? Maybe with the door open?

The stick is a good idea too, thank you for both!

 

[fury413rb]

Looks good! I just recently started one gallon brewing myself!

 

[mtnagel]

I'm kinda embarrassed I didn't think of the oven thing... that's fantastic! The lowest my oven goes is 170... would that be too hot if I just preheated it and then turned it off before setting the mash pot inside? Maybe with the door open?

The stick is a good idea too, thank you for both!

I've never done it myself (I brew outside in a 10 gal pot), but I'm pretty sure people don't even turn it on and just use it as insulation basically. You could always preheat it for a few minutes just to get it warm inside so it doesn't steal any heat from your mash right after you put it in there, but you have a relatively big thermal mass that should stay pretty warm. A little experimentation will tell you want to do.

 

[Kirkwooder]

Search for "Spent grain dog treats". My dogs love them, and your just throwing the grains out anyway.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/spent-grain-make-your-best-friend-cookies-87097/

 

[kombat]

I'm kinda embarrassed I didn't think of the oven thing... that's fantastic! The lowest my oven goes is 170... would that be too hot if I just preheated it and then turned it off before setting the mash pot inside?

Not at all, in fact that's exactly what I do and my mash temperature only loses a degree or two over an hour long mash.

I actually just posted a thread about 10 Things I Love About 1 Gallon Brewing. And here's a thread showing a 1 gallon brew day of mine, with pictures. Welcome to the craft!

 

[Calichusetts]

Def. preheat to 170 then turn it off. Place pot inside and you are all set. Mine actually will climb a degree or two. Congrats!

 

[LilRoundHouse]

Not at all, in fact that's exactly what I do and my mash temperature only loses a degree or two over an hour long mash

Do you do "oven door all the way open", "oven door cracked open" or "oven door shut"? Curious minds want to know.

 

[kombat]

I close it.

I preheat it to 170° F while I'm heating my strike water and doughing in. Then I turn it off, open the door, move the pot (with lid) into the oven, and close the door. Opening the door to put the pot in causes the oven to lose a bit of heat (after all, we don't actually want the oven to stay at 170 if we're mashing at 148), but it will still hold some residual heat radiating off the elements and in the metal interior of the oven itself. I haven't quantified it, but the end result is that when I pull my mash out an hour later, it's still at around 148° F and I've achieved full conversion (confirmed with an iodine test and observing the clarity of the wort).