O-Ale-Yeah
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jan 3, 2019
- Messages
- 180
- Reaction score
- 34
This is my attempt to make a checklist for me and my newbie friends. I did everything wrong with my first brew and did a little better with my current brew.
5.5 Gallon Brew Directions
o Set 9 gallons of water out for 1 to 2 days to rid it of chlorine or boil for 15 minutes.
o Warm or cool water to:
o 137°F if needing a protein rest mash temp of 122°F if recommended for your grist.
o 140°F for mash-in temp of 125°F if a clean, thin, dry, watery beer, with higher alcohol value is wanted.
o 167°F for a mash-in temp of 152°F if recommended for your grist or if shooting for moderate body & moderate alcohol content.
o 172°F to mash at 157 °F if a full-bodied, sweeter, thicker-feel beer with lower alcohol content is wanted.
o Heat water to 180 for a 10-minute mash-out temp of 170°F if you want.
o Pour 1.5 quarts of strike water per pound of grist into mashtun & stir in grist. Stir every 15 minutes if you want.
o Check mash pH and adjust if needed.
o Adjust temperature as set durations if doing step mashing by adding hot water or removing, heating, & returning mash. Total mash duration ranges from 60-90 minutes.
o Prepare your yeast:
o Sanitize a 2-cup container. Boil 1.5 cups of water for 3 minutes & pour 1.25 cups into container. Cover container with lid, foil, or cling wrap & allow to cool to 70°F before sprinkling in dry yeast.
o Heat kettle water to 170°F to prepare fly sparge water or your chosen temp if batch sparging.
o After 30 to 90 minutes check wort using iodine to see if all starches have been converted to sugar, if you want.
o Vorlof, filter some wort back into itself 3 or 4 times to run clean before filtering back into the kettle.
o If Fly sparging, randomly sprinkle 170°F water into mash keeping a 1 to 2-inch layer of water above the grain. Open ball valve draining mashtun at a slow pace as you fly sparge over a duration of 45-60 minutes until reaching desired kettle volume, or,
o If batch sparging, drain mashtun & fill with chosen volume of chosen water temp.
o Boil wort for 60-90 minutes (in KC water boils at 201°F).
o Toss in hops at designated durations.
o Place wort chiller in boil 5 minutes before end of boil to sterilize it (takes 2 minutes to sterilize)
o Cover & cool rapidly down to 70°F with wort chiller &/or ice bath around pot. Keep it covered as much as possible since wort is now vulnerable to contamination. From here out, everything that touches the wort must be sanitized.
o Check & record specific gravity.
o Whirlpool wort to create trub cone & transfer into fermenter through a fine filter, if you like,
o or siphon wort through superfine filter, if you want, into fermenter to filter out the bulk of the trub,
o or just dump wort into fermenter if you do not mind sediment.
o Shake to oxygenate the wort.
o Pitch yeast into wort making sure that yeast water, & wort are within 10°F of one another.
o Set up airlock w/ recommended liquid trap, or bung & blow off tube & blow-off bottle 1/3rd full of sanitizer mix.
o Store at 65-70°F for ale, in darkness for 2 to 4 weeks.
o 3 to 5 days after the yeast stop swimming & the blow off or airlock stops bubbling, check the gravity to see if beer if finished fermenting. Final gravity, FG, should be 20-25% of original gravity, OG.
o Boil 1-2 cups of water with: 5 oz of corn sugar, or 0.66 cups of white sugar, or 1.25 cups dry malt extract. Cool to room temp & pour into bottling bucket. Use 100% of recommended sugar in relation to beer volume for full carbonation or 3/4th of recommendation for lightly carbonated beer.
o Carefully, smoothly, siphon beer into bottling bucket.
o Siphon beer into sanitized bottles with the goal of not hydrating or splashing the beer. Place a cap on each bottle as you go & clamp down after each, or wait to clamp all after you are done with all the bottles.
o Store bottles in 65 to 75°F space for 2 to 4 weeks. If storing for longer than 4 weeks, move bottles to refrigerator.
5.5 Gallon Brew Directions
o Set 9 gallons of water out for 1 to 2 days to rid it of chlorine or boil for 15 minutes.
o Warm or cool water to:
o 137°F if needing a protein rest mash temp of 122°F if recommended for your grist.
o 140°F for mash-in temp of 125°F if a clean, thin, dry, watery beer, with higher alcohol value is wanted.
o 167°F for a mash-in temp of 152°F if recommended for your grist or if shooting for moderate body & moderate alcohol content.
o 172°F to mash at 157 °F if a full-bodied, sweeter, thicker-feel beer with lower alcohol content is wanted.
o Heat water to 180 for a 10-minute mash-out temp of 170°F if you want.
o Pour 1.5 quarts of strike water per pound of grist into mashtun & stir in grist. Stir every 15 minutes if you want.
o Check mash pH and adjust if needed.
o Adjust temperature as set durations if doing step mashing by adding hot water or removing, heating, & returning mash. Total mash duration ranges from 60-90 minutes.
o Prepare your yeast:
o Sanitize a 2-cup container. Boil 1.5 cups of water for 3 minutes & pour 1.25 cups into container. Cover container with lid, foil, or cling wrap & allow to cool to 70°F before sprinkling in dry yeast.
o Heat kettle water to 170°F to prepare fly sparge water or your chosen temp if batch sparging.
o After 30 to 90 minutes check wort using iodine to see if all starches have been converted to sugar, if you want.
o Vorlof, filter some wort back into itself 3 or 4 times to run clean before filtering back into the kettle.
o If Fly sparging, randomly sprinkle 170°F water into mash keeping a 1 to 2-inch layer of water above the grain. Open ball valve draining mashtun at a slow pace as you fly sparge over a duration of 45-60 minutes until reaching desired kettle volume, or,
o If batch sparging, drain mashtun & fill with chosen volume of chosen water temp.
o Boil wort for 60-90 minutes (in KC water boils at 201°F).
o Toss in hops at designated durations.
o Place wort chiller in boil 5 minutes before end of boil to sterilize it (takes 2 minutes to sterilize)
o Cover & cool rapidly down to 70°F with wort chiller &/or ice bath around pot. Keep it covered as much as possible since wort is now vulnerable to contamination. From here out, everything that touches the wort must be sanitized.
o Check & record specific gravity.
o Whirlpool wort to create trub cone & transfer into fermenter through a fine filter, if you like,
o or siphon wort through superfine filter, if you want, into fermenter to filter out the bulk of the trub,
o or just dump wort into fermenter if you do not mind sediment.
o Shake to oxygenate the wort.
o Pitch yeast into wort making sure that yeast water, & wort are within 10°F of one another.
o Set up airlock w/ recommended liquid trap, or bung & blow off tube & blow-off bottle 1/3rd full of sanitizer mix.
o Store at 65-70°F for ale, in darkness for 2 to 4 weeks.
o 3 to 5 days after the yeast stop swimming & the blow off or airlock stops bubbling, check the gravity to see if beer if finished fermenting. Final gravity, FG, should be 20-25% of original gravity, OG.
o Boil 1-2 cups of water with: 5 oz of corn sugar, or 0.66 cups of white sugar, or 1.25 cups dry malt extract. Cool to room temp & pour into bottling bucket. Use 100% of recommended sugar in relation to beer volume for full carbonation or 3/4th of recommendation for lightly carbonated beer.
o Carefully, smoothly, siphon beer into bottling bucket.
o Siphon beer into sanitized bottles with the goal of not hydrating or splashing the beer. Place a cap on each bottle as you go & clamp down after each, or wait to clamp all after you are done with all the bottles.
o Store bottles in 65 to 75°F space for 2 to 4 weeks. If storing for longer than 4 weeks, move bottles to refrigerator.
Last edited:
