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Hoppy, You could try alo Gilbertson & Page. They're in Fergus, ON. They have regular canadian malts but also import from England and Germany. Check out: www.gilbertsonandpage.com You can buy direct but have to go pick it up or have it shipped. I'm in the same club as Mikey and we...

Assuming you're making a 5 gallon batch, with a "normal efficiency of 75%, you should be able to get an OG 1.100! Mind you this will require a very long sparge and a bigger volume to boil (probably 6.5 - 7 gallons) and a 1.5 - 2 hr boil. When fly sparging, run the mash tun off at about 1qt per...

A hydrometer won't get "stuck" at a certain value. It floats so the liquid density will determine how deep it sinks. Have you done an iodine test at the end of your mash to see if you've gotten good conversion? I'm suspecting you might not be converting the starches due to improper pH in...

I agree with Alvin, your mash extraction will vary a lot depending on how fast you drain/sparge. Changing the water to grist ratio to a thicker mash will affect the fermentables so I wouldn't change that necessarily. You could try fly sparging very slowly (less than 1qt per minute) or drain...

Most modern malts are supposed to be well modified. GABrewboy is using american 2 row and belgian pale. These will be 100% fine in a single temp infusion mash. Sure, some people (George Fix for instance) have stated better yield (extraction) using a step mash. I've done it, didn't see a...

Sounds like you have it all under control! Good luck then with the first mash. Cheers, Seb

Man this really brings back memories... You'll probably be thinking how to separate the hops from the wort before getting the cool wort to the fermenter. What's your setup like? (fermenter type: glass carboy, plastic bucket?). Hops: plug, leaf or pellets? Do you have cheese cloth bags for...

Yes, sorry for not confirming that before. Plenty of space. For your chiller, you'll want to dump it into the kettle about 10 minutes before the end of the boil, to sanitize it. Make sure it is nice and clean first. You'll notice a drop in the boil, but it'll pick up fast right after...

What to look out for while boiling: 1- watch your kettle as it gets ready to boil. If you turn your back, it'll boil over. When you start hearing the rumbling noise get quiet, keep both eyes on it! 2- boil for about 15 - 30 minutes then add your bittering hops (60min hop additions). The...

No! For a 5 gallon batch, you want about 25 quarts pre-boil. This will boil down to about 20 qts. You need some room for the boil, to avoid a boil over - everyone's had one. It makes such a mess. Seb

I bet you if I ran cold water through a spent and cold mash, had runoff with pH above 6, you'll get the tannins out! Why would it be different for homebrewer than probrewers? We're just mimicking what they do but on a small scale. We just don't get the same efficiency for sure.

Reading your questions reminds me of my first AG days! Man, I was calling my buddy up every 10 minutes! Ok, so you've thoroughly mixed your hot water and grains together in the mashtun. Close it, cover it with a blanket and let it sit for 60 - 90 minutes. Don't touch it for now. In the...

I admit that high temperatures may affect (increase) tannin extraction, in a high pH condition, but not on its own. It is not the initial water pH that is a concern for tannin extraction, rather the pH of the runoff from your mashtun, after mashing, and more specificaly when you get near the...

Tannin extraction is pH dependant, not temperature. Continental brewers used to perform decoctions which involves boiling part of the mash (grains included). I've done decoctions and never perceived any tannins. It is recognized however that if you over-sparge and your runnoff exceeds 6.0pH...

Keep us posted on the results. Recipe's as good as any. Cheers.

A bit low. Try having about 4.5 gallons of water ready to mash, mashin, then check your temp as you go. If you can hit your mash temps with 4.5gallons, you wont need to adjust. As you keep brewing new recipes, you'll get a feel for it. Seb

Well, I guess I got in late in to the replies!

Hello GABrewboy, The idea to mashing (as you probably know) is to properly wet the grains and have them steep in hot water to release the enzymes so that they break down the starches into various sugars. There are different philosophies about the order in which you proceed: add grain to...

Don't forget drinking LOTS of beer!

Nah, I can only manage to weld a hole into a piece of stainless! All the welding and machining was done by a friend machinist who barters all work for beer (lucky me!) I slowly started picking up beer kegs which I bought from local metal salvage yards. I think they get dumped by metal...