motobrewer
I'm no atheist scientist, but...
So, wendesday night "on a whim" brewing is NOT exactly how I planned on starting all-grain, but it seemed to have went ok....
So Tuesday, while at Gander getting a hunting license, I saw a 5-gallon Rubbermaid for $25, so I grabbed it. My plan was to do partial-mashes. Me and the wife had been talking about throwing a new years eve party, and I wanted another beer to serve for that. Sitting at work, I was thinking that since I'm going to be gone all next week, the earliest I could brew would be the 28th. Might not be ready. So I decided to go to the brew store and whip one up that night, and I decided to tone it down gravity-wise in order to drink it by dec 31. "well, if i tone it down to 50, then I might be able to get away with all-grain...". Doughed in at 8:30. Fell into bed at 1:30am....
Anyway, here's my process. I know I did a lot of stupid things along the way, but please point out the stupidest.
6.00 lb Pale 2-Row
2.50 lb Munich 10L
0.50 lb Caramel 40L
0.50 lb Black Patent
0.50 lb Chocolate
1.50 oz Goldings (60) -Wanted East Kent, HBS only had US.
0.50 oz Williamette (40)
0.50 oz Williamette (15)
Irish moss + Wyeast nutrient
WL001, double-pitched
Target OG was 1.048 for 5.5 gallons, I bought a lb of Briess Golden Light DME to bump it up to 1.050 once I knew the mash gravity.
Preheated mash tun. Brought 13.75 quarts of water to 167F. Put grains in a grain bag (had no time to construct a false bottom), and doughed in. Mash settled at 154F, target 155F. After 30 minutes I checked the temp, 149F. Wanted to step to 158, so beersmith told me to add 2 quarts of 212F. I did, only settled back to 155F. Oh well, nbd. Let rest for another 30 min.
While I was mashing, I was trying to figure out how I was going to heat my 3.5 gallons of sparge. I only have one 8 gallon kettle. Nothing in the kitchen was bigger than 1.5 gal, not that my stove could get remotely close anyway. So i decided to use my newly bought fermentation bucket (my primary is full) to hold the 1st runnings while I heated my sparge in the boil kettle.
Mash was done (I'm guessing, didn't have any iodine or idophor) so I recirculated a few times. The "stock" faucet on those coolers is very annoying, I can't wait to convert to a false bottom with valve. Well, I got a stuck sparge almost immediately. So I lifted the grain bag and "set" it on top the liquid. I should have recirculated again, but didn't. Drained about 2.5 gallons off the 1st runnings, gravity of 1.060. Added 3.5 gal of 180F sparge water, let rest for 15.
This is where things got a little stupid. I didn't have a quiet way of getting the mash in the kettle. no canes or hose sanitized. So, yes, I poured. Worried about hot side aeration, but oh well. 2nd runnings went the same as the first, except eventually I just took the grain bag out and dumped the whole thing in. I took a reading, can't seem to find it...
Preboil was 1.042 w / 5.5 gallons, target was 1.048. 65% efficiency. I'll take that, being my first, in a 5-gallon cooler, with a giant grain bag. This also meant i needed the entire pound of dme to get to 1.050, which I did, and it hit exactly.
Rest of the boil went as normal, except I added the 40-min Williamette at 25. From dough-in to oxyclean was 5 hours exactly.
I tasted the pre-fermentor hydrometer reading, and it was damn close to the Sierra Nevada porter (this was a bit of a clone) i was drinking right next to it. so, i'm kind of excited.
So Tuesday, while at Gander getting a hunting license, I saw a 5-gallon Rubbermaid for $25, so I grabbed it. My plan was to do partial-mashes. Me and the wife had been talking about throwing a new years eve party, and I wanted another beer to serve for that. Sitting at work, I was thinking that since I'm going to be gone all next week, the earliest I could brew would be the 28th. Might not be ready. So I decided to go to the brew store and whip one up that night, and I decided to tone it down gravity-wise in order to drink it by dec 31. "well, if i tone it down to 50, then I might be able to get away with all-grain...". Doughed in at 8:30. Fell into bed at 1:30am....
Anyway, here's my process. I know I did a lot of stupid things along the way, but please point out the stupidest.
6.00 lb Pale 2-Row
2.50 lb Munich 10L
0.50 lb Caramel 40L
0.50 lb Black Patent
0.50 lb Chocolate
1.50 oz Goldings (60) -Wanted East Kent, HBS only had US.
0.50 oz Williamette (40)
0.50 oz Williamette (15)
Irish moss + Wyeast nutrient
WL001, double-pitched
Target OG was 1.048 for 5.5 gallons, I bought a lb of Briess Golden Light DME to bump it up to 1.050 once I knew the mash gravity.
Preheated mash tun. Brought 13.75 quarts of water to 167F. Put grains in a grain bag (had no time to construct a false bottom), and doughed in. Mash settled at 154F, target 155F. After 30 minutes I checked the temp, 149F. Wanted to step to 158, so beersmith told me to add 2 quarts of 212F. I did, only settled back to 155F. Oh well, nbd. Let rest for another 30 min.
While I was mashing, I was trying to figure out how I was going to heat my 3.5 gallons of sparge. I only have one 8 gallon kettle. Nothing in the kitchen was bigger than 1.5 gal, not that my stove could get remotely close anyway. So i decided to use my newly bought fermentation bucket (my primary is full) to hold the 1st runnings while I heated my sparge in the boil kettle.
Mash was done (I'm guessing, didn't have any iodine or idophor) so I recirculated a few times. The "stock" faucet on those coolers is very annoying, I can't wait to convert to a false bottom with valve. Well, I got a stuck sparge almost immediately. So I lifted the grain bag and "set" it on top the liquid. I should have recirculated again, but didn't. Drained about 2.5 gallons off the 1st runnings, gravity of 1.060. Added 3.5 gal of 180F sparge water, let rest for 15.
This is where things got a little stupid. I didn't have a quiet way of getting the mash in the kettle. no canes or hose sanitized. So, yes, I poured. Worried about hot side aeration, but oh well. 2nd runnings went the same as the first, except eventually I just took the grain bag out and dumped the whole thing in. I took a reading, can't seem to find it...
Preboil was 1.042 w / 5.5 gallons, target was 1.048. 65% efficiency. I'll take that, being my first, in a 5-gallon cooler, with a giant grain bag. This also meant i needed the entire pound of dme to get to 1.050, which I did, and it hit exactly.
Rest of the boil went as normal, except I added the 40-min Williamette at 25. From dough-in to oxyclean was 5 hours exactly.
I tasted the pre-fermentor hydrometer reading, and it was damn close to the Sierra Nevada porter (this was a bit of a clone) i was drinking right next to it. so, i'm kind of excited.
