On To All Grain!

[421Brew]

Alright, so it may be a little premature to start all grain with only two extract batches under my belt but I figured what the heck. Ive probably done more reading about brewing over the last month than total reading during my four years in college. So, on to my question...
I brought a recipe (found online) into the brew store and they helped me modify it to this:

8 lb. Marris Otter
1 lb. chocolate malt
1 lb. roasted barley
1 lb. Vienna malt
0.5 lb. cara-pils malt
0.5 lb. crystal malt, 56° Lovibond
1 lb. Munich malt
2 oz. Perle hops (8% alpha acid), for 20 min.
1 oz. crystal hops (3.2% alpha acid), for finishing
White Labs California Ale Yeast

My question is, that adds up to 13 pounds of grain. At a ratio of 1.25 gallons of water per 1 pound grain, that comes out to 4 gallons water to be mashed with the grain. Then, keeping those 4 gallons of water in mind and using a ratio of 1.5 gallons sparge water per 1 gallon mash water, thats another 6 gallons of water. That leaves me with 10 gallons of wort, pre-boil. I realize I will loose maybe 1-2 gallons of water during the boil, but where am I not comprehending that this will turn into a 5 gal batch of beer when I'm done??? Maybe those water ratios dont take affect when trying to make a high alcohol (claimed 10% in the recipe) stout? Please help!
Thank you much,
Carl

 

[Sir Sudster]

You are forgetting to allow from absorbtion of the grain, which can be substantial. Don't have access to promash at the moment but I bet you'll
loss 1.75 - 2 gal due to absorbtion.

 

[Darth Konvel]

I have only done a few brews before giving AG a shot. I just read as much as I could before impulses took over

A general rule of thumb I've seen for absorbtion is 0.1 gallons per pound of grain. Of course that will vary with grain type, and doesn't account for water lost to other factors.

 

[Rhoobarb]

Sudster is right; count on grain absorbtion. I just did an IPA last Sunday that had 13.5 lbs of grain and I was shooting for a 6 gallon batch from a 60 minute boil using 1.12 qts./lb.

I ran it through ProMash and it calculated that I needed 11.78 gallons of water - 3.78 for the mash, 7 for the sparge and 1.62 for grain absorbtion. Damn if I didn't get a smidge over 6 gallons. My target OG was 1.063 and I hit 1.060. Not bad!

Not that you asked, but after reading a lot of good things about ProMash, coupled with ORRELSE's recommendation, I downloaded the free demo of ProMash and really loved it. I ended up buying it for $25 and it is a valuable tool for doing AG!

 

[421Brew]

Thanks for all the great advise guys! Looks like brew day will be Sunday if things go as planned. I'll let everyone know how it goes!
Carl

 

[JeffPhD2005]

Carl,
I started AG after only two extract brews as well. The two books that helped alot: Dave Miller's Homebrewing Guide and Ray Daniel's Designing Great Beers.
Haven't made a batch of beer yet that wasn't at least drinkable.
I looked at your recipe and the only thing that sticks out is the 1-lb of roast barley. That is alot of roast barley, sure you want that much of a bite? Do you know what the SRM will be for that much, (I bet it is way bigger than 45).
Anyway the rest looks pretty tasty. Good luck and please let us know how it turns out and how many hours it takes you to brew.
Jeff

 

[421Brew]

Jeff, thanks for the reply! To be honest I have no idea what this beer will turn out like... I actually showed up at the store with an extract brew recipe, and within a half hour of talking with the guys, decided to start all grain brewing. Im sure you're right though...I doubt an airplane runway light could shine through this stuff when its all said and done! Should be a great winter season brew (the temps are dropping off here in Michigan )
I will let you know if we live through this brew session!

Carl

 

[Walker]

I actually showed up at the store with an extract brew recipe, and within a half hour of talking with the guys, decided to start all grain brewing.

That's a shining example of good salesmanship!

If the man wants eggs for an omlette, sell him a chicken, a bag of feed, and a small coop to keep the chicken in.

-walker

 

[421Brew]

Haha you're darn right. Im a sucker for spending money on a great hobby. So....what do you guys think this beer will turn out like, or will only time tell. Im planning on adding some unsweetened bakers chocolate to the boil with about 15 minutes left. How much would everyone recommend?

 

[Rhoobarb]

I did an extract Imperial stout (one of my last extract brews) where I used 8 oz. of Nestle's cocoa powder and 8 oz. of lactose. It's a big brew and won't be ready until December, but I had a sample about a month ago and it was pretty tasty. Still a little flat, but warm, smooth, some roasty flavors with just a hint of chocolate.

 

[JeffPhD2005]

Carl,
I read somewhere that instead of actual chocolate a guy used a chocolate extract flavoring. His rationale is the addition of chocolate caused some problems, i.e. excessive trub, stuck fermentation, etc. But adding the extract flavoring in secondary gave it the flavor with out the problems. Has anyone tried this out?
Jeff

 

[david_42]

Don't use any kind of chocolate in the wort, only cocoa powder (4-8 oz). The fats in the chocolate can really mess things up. I love chocolate, but I've learned to only use chocolate malt in my Church of Chocolate Brown. Real chocolate needs a lot of sweetness to come through and I don't like my browns too sweet. I have found a few drops of vanilla extract (not vanillin) works well with chocolate malts.