Going all grain

[aprichman]

Just ordered a 7.6 gallon cooler mash tun setup to make the switch over to all grain. I'm pretty sure I've got everything down, but I just wanted to double my method for making the wort.

*Put ~1 gallon hot water in mash tun to preheat

*Bring "strike water" to temperature , finding the temperature with a strike water calculator and a ratio of ~1.25-1.5 qt of strike water per lb of grain.

*Dump out preheating water and add strike water to mash tun,

*Stir the grains into the water, trying to avoid clumping

*Check temperature, adjust if needed (should be ~153F)

*Seal mash tun and let sit for ~60 minutes

*Drain into boiling kettle, gently add the first few pints back into the mash tun to get rid of any sediment

*Add sparging water, using a calculator to find the temperature to get the grain & water to ~170F

*Seal mash tun and let sit for ~10 minutes

*Drain off into boiling kettle

*Should try to hit ~2.8 gallons of wort preboil in order to have ~2.5 gallons to hit the fermenter


Does this sound like an okay plan? I've heard of fly sparging but I'm trying to keep things as simple as possible since it's my 1st all grain batch and I'll be using new equipment.

Cheers

 

[itchygomey]

Pretty much. To preheat, i just put my strike water in hotter than strike temperature and let it sit for a while. When it comes down to the temperature I want, I dump in my grain. Just a thought for ya

 

[tooldudetool]

I add my whole volume of strike water to the mash tun, but 10 degrees higher than the calculated strike water temp, let it sit for about 5 minutes so the mash tun absorbs the heat, then its usually within a degree of the right temp. Add grains to hot water, I use a 24" plastic mash paddle in a cordless drill to mix it up. Put top on, cover it up with a blanket. Open stir and take temp at 20 min in and 40 min in. I usually lose less than a degree or two over the 60 min mash. I also mash at 1.6 quarts per gallon, so that my strike water and sparge water are usually within a gallon or so. Your intended mash temp will be based on the style of beer you are making, an IPA you'll mash around 149-150, a porter or stout maybe 155-156. When I add my sparge water I stir it up again with the drill paddle, let it settle for a few minutes, vorlauf (recirculate until clear), then run off into the kettle at with the valve fully open. You don't really need to seal it and let it sit for 10 minutes. You are only rinsing the grain at this point, not mashing anymore because the conversion has already happened. Sounds like you've got a good plan though, and don't get discouraged if your numbers end up off the first few batches. Every brew setup is different and it usually takes a few all grain batches to get it all dialed in. Of course that's one of the things that makes all grain so much more fun then extract, all those extra variables!

 

[seigex]

Keep some cold and boiling water available to adjust mash temp until you know your equipment well enough to be able to properly calculate it. It will save you headaches trying to come up with adjusting water on the fly.

 

[sputnam]

Just ordered a 7.6 gallon cooler mash tun setup to make the switch over to all grain. I'm pretty sure I've got everything down, but I just wanted to double my method for making the wort.

*Put ~1 gallon hot water in mash tun to preheat

*Bring "strike water" to temperature , finding the temperature with a strike water calculator and a ratio of ~1.25-1.5 qt of strike water per lb of grain.

*Dump out preheating water and add strike water to mash tun,

*Stir the grains into the water, trying to avoid clumping

*Check temperature, adjust if needed (should be ~153F)

*Seal mash tun and let sit for ~60 minutes

*Drain into boiling kettle, gently add the first few pints back into the mash tun to get rid of any sediment....i use a colander to put the water back in

*Add sparging water, using a calculator to find the temperature to get the grain & water to ~170F

*Seal mash tun and let sit for ~10 minutes

*Drain off into boiling kettle
don't forget to vorlauf here as well

*Should try to hit ~2.8 gallons of wort preboil in order to have ~2.5 gallons to hit the fermenter
you should be boiling off about a gallon, so you will want 3.5 gallons preboil

Does this sound like an okay plan? I've heard of fly sparging but I'm trying to keep things as simple as possible since it's my 1st all grain batch and I'll be using new equipment.
are you fermenting in an LBK?

Cheers

it's acting as if i didn't reply and telling me to lengthen my message

 

[madscientist451]

I stir my mash and check the temperature every 15-20 min, many people just put it in there and don't worry about it.
I'd use more than 1 gallon of water to pre heat, but I also like the idea of putting all the mash water in the cooler and just adding the grain when the temp. gets hits your indicated strike temp.
If your mash temp goes too low, use a step mash calculator to determine how much hot water to add to bring it up.
I split my batch sparge water in half and do two, but you can do it all at once, don't forget to stir when you add your batch sparge water.
I put the initial wort from the mash on to boil while my batch sparge is going, it gets the process moving along a little quicker.
Keep a notebook and make notes about your process, what your temps are, what problems you had, you can go back and review this later, sometimes a mistake will actually make a better beer or a different beer.
Whats your plan for cooling the boiled wort?

 

[Conan]

I've never preheated the mash tun. BeerSmith tells me that to hit 152 I should strike ~163 and it's always right. So, room temp tun, strike at the indicated temp, and add grain. Easy peasy. It doesn't make a difference in the final product which way you do it.
On sparging I heat more water than I need to reach preboil volume. If my system needs 4.75 preboil to hit 3.25 into the fermenter and 3 into the keg I will typically recover about 1.25 on my first runnings. I'll need 3.5 to sparge, so during the last 20 minutes of the mash I heat 4.5 gallons to an arbitrary temperature above 170. Once my run off is complete and I know how much wort I recovered from the mash I'll sparge just what I need to hit preboil. Sight glasses work wonders on the boil kettle and HLT but aren't necessary. Kyle

 

[eric19312]

Just use a calculator and skip preheating the mash tun. The calculator will have an input for the mash tun mass that is used to figure out how much of the heat you add with the mash water will be used to increase the temperature of the mash tun to your rest temperature. I usually am within 1F without preheating and it works well for both large and small batches.

Also when you add your sparge water remember Yooper's advice and get in there and "stir it like it owes you money". That has helped me a lot with getting predictable efficiency.

 

[MyCarHasAbs]

I actually haven't heard the method of preheating the mash tun. I just pour 2.5 gallons of 170F water (so it will drop to about the 150's) and then add the grains to stir and sit for an hour.

 

[BlueHouseBrewhaus]

Just a thought, but if it's not too late, you may want to get a 10 gal round cooler (Home Depot, et al). This will still work for your 2.5 gal batches but leaves you room if you want to move up to 5 gal brews. One case of beer (2.5 gal) goes awfully fast

 

[aprichman]

Just a thought, but if it's not too late, you may want to get a 10 gal round cooler (Home Depot, et al). This will still work for your 2.5 gal batches but leaves you room if you want to move up to 5 gal brews. One case of beer (2.5 gal) goes awfully fast

Would a 7.6 gallon not be big enough for 5 gallon batches under 1.070 OG

 

[aprichman]

it's acting as if i didn't reply and telling me to lengthen my message

Voraluf? Lbk?

Not sure what those are.

 

[sputnam]

Voraluf? Lbk?

Not sure what those are.

when you drain wort into a pitcher and pour it back into the mash tun, that is called vorlauf.


LBK - probably should only know this one if you use it...Little Brown Keg, the 2.5 gallon beer fermenter from Mr. Beer

 

[sputnam]

just an fyi, a 10 gallon mash tun is too big for low abv (<4%) 3 gallon batches. i mean, it WILL work but it's only like 2-4 inches deep and doesn't filter very well.

 

[seigex]

Would a 7.6 gallon not be big enough for 5 gallon batches under 1.070 OG

All depends on your grain bill and how your cooler's set up. I did a 1.046OG hefeweizen, and it took up a little more than half the room of the 10 gallon home depot mashtun. When you start your sparge, it adds more volume to the keg depending on how you do it (especially if you batch sparge).

But you also don't want TOO much room, or (IMHO) it becomes harder to control the temp for an hour due to the extra headspace, and less volume in the tun to buffer the heat.

 

[aprichman]

when you drain wort into a pitcher and pour it back into the mash tun, that is called vorlauf.


LBK - probably should only know this one if you use it...Little Brown Keg, the 2.5 gallon beer fermenter from Mr. Beer

Ahh thanks for the clarification. I thought I might need to "vorlauf" after the mash out but wasn't sure. I'll be sure to do this in a smaller container.

I'm fermenting in 3 gallon glass carboys, 2.5 gallons usually gives me just enough headspace around 1.050

 

[aprichman]

All depends on your grain bill and how your cooler's set up. I did a 1.046OG hefeweizen, and it took up a little more than half the room of the 10 gallon home depot mashtun. When you start your sparge, it adds more volume to the keg depending on how you do it (especially if you batch sparge).

But you also don't want TOO much room, or (IMHO) it becomes harder to control the temp for an hour due to the extra headspace, and less volume in the tun to buffer the heat.

Sounds like I'll probably need to experiment a bit, I've got the 7 gallon cooler on the way. I'm shooting for ~1.05x @ 2.5 gallons post boil