Lessons in AG brewing

[Wamphyriification]

I have been brewing for 3 months. I never had the desire to brew from extract and jumped right in to all-grain. I wanted to brew something like Celebration ale, Titan IPA or Lagunitas Red and figured extract was not an option. My first batch was an AG kit. 10 pounds of grain for a 5 gallon batch. Pretty average. My second was a Surly Furious look alike and it sucked. My next batch was a total crap hole and I threw it out....same with #4. I then discovered that I should not boil the wort with a lid on..and be patient! I then went with a recipe I found online. 4 weeks later and it is what I was hoping for. I brewed a kick ass IPA that even my wife loves.

My advice to all "green" AG brewers (things I wish I had been told)

1. Take your time collecting the wort. 90 minutes minimum.
2. Do not boil wort with lid on...it can fowl the taste.
3. Cool down the wort. Use a chiller!
4. Do not rush the process. Your beer is not ready after 2 or 3 weeks.
5. Wait 2 full weeks once kegged at a standard 12 psi.

Hope this helps somebody get it right the 1st time instead of the 5th.

Cheers

 

[Beerbuck]

This will help alot of ppl, always good to remember thing that you think you know and you dont.

 

[basisforaday]

I have been brewing for 3 months. I never had the desire to brew from extract and jumped right in to all-grain. I wanted to brew something like Celebration ale, Titan IPA or Lagunitas Red and figured extract was not an option. My first batch was an AG kit. 10 pounds of grain for a 5 gallon batch. Pretty average. My second was a Surly Furious look alike and it sucked. My next batch was a total crap hole and I threw it out....same with #4. I then discovered that I should not boil the wort with a lid on..and be patient! I then went with a recipe I found online. 4 weeks later and it is what I was hoping for. I brewed a kick ass IPA that even my wife loves.

My advice to all "green" AG brewers (things I wish I had been told)

1. Take your time collecting the wort. 90 minutes minimum.
2. Do not boil wort with lid on...it can fowl the taste.
3. Cool down the wort. Use a chiller!
4. Do not rush the process. Your beer is not ready after 2 or 3 weeks.
5. Wait 2 full weeks once kegged at a standard 12 psi.

Hope this helps somebody get it right the 1st time instead of the 5th.

Cheers

I agree with everything but #2. I have done several boils on my stove with the lid on all the way but maybe a half inch to help achieve a nice rolling boil and have had no problems with foul flavor. I guess i'm just curious as to how this can cause a foul flavor. I'm not the most experienced brewer by any means and I am always down to learn something new.

 

[pkeeler]

I agree with everything but #2. I have done several boils on my stove with the lid on all the way but maybe a half inch to help achieve a nice rolling boil and have had no problems with foul flavor. I guess i'm just curious as to how this can cause a foul flavor. I'm not the most experienced brewer by any means and I am always down to learn something new.

When you boil wort, it produces DMS. It off gases with the bubbles. Leaving the lid on traps the DMS, leaving it in the beer in large quantities. You probably avoided that by having your lid partially off. DMS can condense on the lid, as long as it doesn't fall back in, you can get away with partial lidding.

 

[Yooper]

When you boil wort, it produces DMS. It off gases with the bubbles. Leaving the lid on traps the DMS, leaving it in the beer in large quantities. You probably avoided that by having your lid partially off. DMS can condense on the lid, as long as it doesn't fall back in, you can get away with partial lidding.

Yes, it's a chemical reaction.

From BYO:
Dimethyl sulphide (DMS) is an intensely aromatic compound present in most beers. When it’s present in amounts large enough for it to be tasted and smelled, it can be an important flavor characteristic or defect. At low levels it smells of corn or sweet corn. When it is more intense it can resemble over-stewed vegetables or even garlic. In some European lagers, it is an important part of the flavor profile; a large regional brewer in the United States (Rolling Rock) also features it.

DMS is formed from s-methyl-methionine (SMM), which in turn is produced from amino acids during malting. SMM is converted to DMS by heat and then the DMS is volatilized and whisked away with the steam during wort boiling. Some homebrewers who leave a lid on the kettle find that this compound is re-introduced when the steam condenses on the lid and drips back in. Unless the precursor is all removed, then more DMS can be formed during wort clarification and this DMS will survive to the final beer. This is a problem in commercial breweries using whirlpools. For this reason, homebrewers should attempt to cool their wort as quickly as possible after the boil is complete.
_______________________________________________________________________________
I've tasted DMS in several brews, and when I've asked, the brewers have answered that they did indeed have to boil with the lid on. Boiling with the lid off lowers the chances of this off-flavor. Longer boils can help too with some ingredients. For example, pilsner malt contains more of the SMM, the precursor to DMS, so many brewers boil beers with pilsner malt for 90 minutes routinely.

 

[Wamphyriification]

Basically my first 4 batches with lid on turned out pretty bad. The cooked corn flavor was very prevalent in the taste. Being a complete greenhorn, I wasn't sure if this was a normal or not. I know what I wanted in a beer and these were not it! I dumped out 3 of them for no other reason than to make room to start a new batch. It may be coincidental that my first two batches without a lid during turned out marvelous but I tend to doubt it. No off tastes at all.

 

[northernlad]

All good points, but number one needs some clarification.I assume you fly sparge and some including me batch sparge so 90 minutes is a long time.

 

[kendrid]

All good points, but number one needs some clarification.I assume you fly sparge and some including me batch sparge so 90 minutes is a long time.

I was wondering about this also. I'm on my 3rd all grain (last year was all partial mash) and and I batch sparge. It takes about 30 minutes between the two (10 for the first runnings, 20 for the second).

 

[SumnerH]

All good points, but number one needs some clarification.I assume you fly sparge and some including me batch sparge so 90 minutes is a long time.

Yeah, #1 is especially out there for single-vessel all grain. You can basically pull the grain bag and start heating toward boiling immediately while it drains and then sparges.

 

[suprchunk]

All good points, but number one needs some clarification.I assume you fly sparge and some including me batch sparge so 90 minutes is a long time.

I fly sparge and 90 minutes is way above normal for me. I've actually never heard anyone that does a 90 minute draw on purpose, and as a minimum.

 

[Killervector]

I usually keg after secondary, go to 50 PSI and shake for a few mins. Go back a couple hours later, relieve pressure and drink up! Never had any issues... although the beer does smooth out a bit after a couple weeks in the keg.

 

[trub quaffer]

In addition to messing with the flavor of your beer, boiling with the lid on is a hell of a good way of increasing your chances of leaving a good portion of your wort on the floor after a nice big boil over.

 

[steakandale]

AND... I just had this happen to me, left the lid on for too long (but only about 20-30 mins), and did not reduce volume enough during the boil - giving slightly lower efficiency, and lower OG.

the lid off is key to driving the volume down, condensing and strengthening your beer! and boiling off the nasties.

 

[Wamphyriification]

Sorry for the confusion. I was referring to the mash and collection of wort as one process.

5 Gallon AG batches
Mash 60 minutes
Collection 30 minutes minimum using fly sparge method.

My point is for rookies to take their time here as I had a tendency to rush and my brew suffered.