mr_cad
Well-Known Member
This is the day I have been waiting for. I was so nervous. The only brewing I have done is with a brewclub clinic and it was extract. I decided to give brewing a shot but skipped the extracts and went for PM. I did a few things I am not sure about but the final result looked ok.
First: I did not steep the grains in a bag. I built an 10 Gal Igloo MLT with a T-type braid and added my grains in there. Recipe called for 155 deg and I was a little low (151). I let that sit for 45 minutes then rinsed the grains with 1.75 quarts of water ( it was only 3.5 lbs). I collected all I could and then added water I had been heating approx 6.5 gallons and did a full boil with this.
Second: I used beersmith to determine water needed but I was not sure of what I was doing. It said 6.92 gallons. Halfway through the boil I checked with my spoon which is notched at 5 gallons and it was just a bit above my mark so I got scared. I added 2 quarts of pre-boiled water and the rest of my LME. I added half at the start of the boil.
Third: Chiller arms too short. I did not realize this until i was ready to chill. I figured since it came with my kit it would work, but next time I will make the arms longer and taller so the joints are not sitting over my wort. Chiller did not leak but the last 10 degrees were pretty slow going.
In the middle of my brewing session I had to move into the garage cause the wind was kicking up. Seemed like everything was going wrong. I got done and used my sample thief to check SG and i read 1.046 and looked at recipe and it said 1.05! After all the worrying everything seemed to work out. Thank the beer gods!
I learned alot about my setup today. Will be building a pre-chiller and some kind of tier setup. Moving things around is a PITA especially when you set up then have to move indoors.
Thanks for all your help guys. Without this site I don't think I would have ever tried this.....now I'm hooked.
First: I did not steep the grains in a bag. I built an 10 Gal Igloo MLT with a T-type braid and added my grains in there. Recipe called for 155 deg and I was a little low (151). I let that sit for 45 minutes then rinsed the grains with 1.75 quarts of water ( it was only 3.5 lbs). I collected all I could and then added water I had been heating approx 6.5 gallons and did a full boil with this.
Second: I used beersmith to determine water needed but I was not sure of what I was doing. It said 6.92 gallons. Halfway through the boil I checked with my spoon which is notched at 5 gallons and it was just a bit above my mark so I got scared. I added 2 quarts of pre-boiled water and the rest of my LME. I added half at the start of the boil.
Third: Chiller arms too short. I did not realize this until i was ready to chill. I figured since it came with my kit it would work, but next time I will make the arms longer and taller so the joints are not sitting over my wort. Chiller did not leak but the last 10 degrees were pretty slow going.
In the middle of my brewing session I had to move into the garage cause the wind was kicking up. Seemed like everything was going wrong. I got done and used my sample thief to check SG and i read 1.046 and looked at recipe and it said 1.05! After all the worrying everything seemed to work out. Thank the beer gods!
I learned alot about my setup today. Will be building a pre-chiller and some kind of tier setup. Moving things around is a PITA especially when you set up then have to move indoors.
Thanks for all your help guys. Without this site I don't think I would have ever tried this.....now I'm hooked.