About to do my first all grain batch can you guys tell me if my plan is right?

[Beer Viking]

Hi everyone,

I'm about to do my first all grain batch! Everything came in the mail today except for the hops which I am still waiting on. Can you tell me if my plan to make beer makes sense?

Step one: Measure out my malt and put it in my mashtun and then boil water in my kettle and when the strike water temp is right dump it in my mashtun for 60 mins ( I'll be making a hefeweizen).

Step two: Put the mash water into my boil kettle and boil it and add hops.

Step three: at flameout use my IC to get the temp down, and then get the wort into my primary fermenter and pitch the yeast.

I'm familiar with what to do past this point because I have made beer from beer kits.

Let me know if this plan makes sense to you all!

Thanks!

 

[lumpher]

Change to step 1: get your mash water up to about 165, then stir in your grains. If you add water to the grain instead of pouring your grain in while stirring, your grain will be all clumped up and won't mash well.

 

[firerat]

Yeah add grains to the water not the other way around. And do it SLOWLY, making sure to stir it up good and break up any dough balls.

 

[Sammy86]

Step one: Measure out my malt and put it in my mashtun and then boil water in my kettle and when the strike water temp is right dump it in my mashtun for 60 mins ( I'll be making a hefeweizen).

I would preheat the mash tun before adding grain and mash water. Boil up a gallon of water, put it in the cold tun, close the top and let it sit 10-15 minutes then drain add water and grains.

You’re also going to need to drain the mash tun with the first runnings…when I was a cooler mashtun guy i put the first runnings in my fermentation bucket, put the sparge water in, mixed and let it sit before getting the runnings.

Step two: Put the mash water into my boil kettle and boil it and add hops.

Its called wort, and yes add hops as directed. If you’re worried about clarity I would use a hop sock…if not no big deal!

Step three: at flameout use my IC to get the temp down, and then get the wort into my primary fermenter and pitch the yeast.

Yes, quickly as your water temp will let you!

Good luck! Takes lots of notes and no brewski’s before pitching yeast!

 

[Beer Viking]

You’re also going to need to drain the mash tun with the first runnings…when I was a cooler mashtun guy i put the first runnings in my fermentation bucket, put the sparge water in, mixed and let it sit before getting the runnings.

What do you mean by my first runnings? Do I need to preheat the mash tun, drain it then add the strike water and then drain it and then add new strike water? What is the purpose of this process?

 

[redrocker652002]

I am in no way a pro, but here is what I do. Measure out my mash water and put it on my kettle and on the propane burner to get up to temp. While that is working, I start milling my grains and measure out my hops and put them in small plastic cups with labels with what time in the boil they go in. I set my 5 gallon stock pot on my stove and measure out my strike water, but don't start heating right away. Once the mash water has reached temp, I grab the bucket and pour the grains in fairly slowly into the bag and stir to break up the clumps. I then turn my propane burner on really low, like just a small little blue blame coming out of the holes in the burner and monitor the temp to keep it around 152 or so. At about the half hour mark of my mash I go into the kitchen and turn on the stove and get my sparge water going. I usually try and get that to about 170 or so. It is usually times about right that my sparge water is ready when my mash is done. At that point, I go get my 10 gallon Igloo cooler that I have repurposed into my sparge tank and dump the grains from the bag into the cooler. Then I add the sparge water from the 5 gallon pot and stir for a minute or two. then close the lid of the cooler and let it sit for about 15 to 20 mins. I then run the sparge water from the cooler back into my kettle thru a tube and filter I have installed on the cooler thru the drain port. I usually have to tilt the cooler to get most of the sparge liquid out, and run it into the kettle. I turn up the heat on the propane burner and monitor for the boil paying very close attention to foam and rising liquid as it nears the boil. Once I get a good boil going, I then use a homemade hop spider to add my hops at the right times. With about 15 mins left in the boil, I add my Immersion Chiller to get it sanitized and get my other cooler ready with a pond pump and cold water with ice to start the cool down process. Once cooled, I open the butterfly valve and let the wort run into my bucket, add yeast, give it a bit of a shake (not much cause at this point it is heavy and awkward for me). Put the lid on the bucket, put in the airlock and off into my ferm fridge at the desired temp. is my method perfect? Heck no!!!! But it has been working for me for about 3 years now. I have enjoyed the beer I have been putting out there so take it for what it is worth. These folks are way better than me, so I would take their suggestions and get a process that works best for you. Rock On!!!!!!!

 

[Brewsmith]

I’ll say this: you have the big picture correct.

Within that are a thousand details that all depend on equipment, brewing method, recipe, and techniques. The more you brew, the more you will figure out what works for you, what details you really need to focus on, and which ones you can not worry about.

If you have done kits, then everything from the boil on should be fairly similar.

For your first all grain, don’t worry about specific numbers, but at least be in the ballpark. If you are off on the mash temperature by a couple degrees, no big worry.

Have more water on hand than you think you need. It’s easy to add more hot water to correct for a low temperature when it’s already there. Having to heat up more from nothing takes time. Think of ways to measure out volumes of water from lines marked out on a kettle to using a quart Pyrex measuring cup.

The ingredients want to become beer. You’ve got this.

 

[shoengine]

Step one: Measure out my malt and put it in my mashtun and then boil water in my kettle and when the strike water temp is right dump it in my mashtun for 60 mins ( I'll be making a hefeweizen).

I would definitely add milling the grain to step 1!

 

[Jim R]

I would take copious notes every step of the way. It took me several batches to fine tune my steps and avoid mistakes.

With my cooler mashtun, I preheat the cooler for 15 min with 170 degree water. Then I use water at exactly 169-170 degrees to mix the mash. After I add the grains and mix them in well, I almost always hit exactly 153 degrees for my mash.

I struggled with my first batch or two with stuck sparges but finally got my processes down with my grain milling, false bottom, vorlaufing, etc. to avoid this hassle. Siphoning from the boil kettle to the fermenter was also a learning process. I think my first batch was a comedy of errors in retrospect. Like the old saying - "saying it and doing it is two different things." Hopefully yours goes well. Keep good notes so you don't make the same mistakes twice. Good luck.

 

[Sammy86]

What do you mean by my first runnings?

First runnings are what its called when you drain the mash tun the first time after your 60 minute mash.

I’m guessing you are going to have to drain out some liquid from the mash tun before adding sparge water because in my experience you can’t add both at the same time the tun can’t hold everything.

So when I say drain the tun of first runnings I mean taking out some liquid (wort) then adding your sparge water to get more wort.

 

[Sammy86]

Do I need to preheat the mash tun, drain it then add the strike water and then drain it and then add new strike water?

No, preheat the mash tun with boiling water. Let it sit for 10 minutes and then get rid of that water down the drain.

Now you add your strike water and grains to mash.

What is the purpose of this process?

The purpose is to get your tun to temperature to make sure you hold temperature better.

 

[Beer Viking]

First runnings are what its called when you drain the mash tun the first time after your 60 minute mash.

I’m guessing you are going to have to drain out some liquid from the mash tun before adding sparge water because in my experience you can’t add both at the same time the tun can’t hold everything.

So when I say drain the tun of first runnings I mean taking out some liquid (wort) then adding your sparge water to get more wort.

Thanks, I think I get this now. So I drain my mash water into my kettle and then add sparge water and drain it to get the rest of the malty goodness out and to make up my pre boil volume?

Also this might be a stupid question but if I am mashing for 60 mins does that 60 mins start after I have stirred in my mash? Or is it as soon as I start to add mash?

 

[firerat]

Also this might be a stupid question but if I am mashing for 60 mins does that 60 mins start after I have stirred in my mash? Or is it as soon as I start to add mash?

It honestly doesn't matter. It's only going to take you a few minutes to stir in your mash. I usually stir everything in making sure all the dough balls are broken up and everything is mixed then hit the start button. But honestly it doesn't matter.

 

[Beer Viking]

Ok great! When I lauter should I drain it off right away or should I let it soak up the sugars for a bit and then drain it into my kettle?

 

[Sammy86]

Ok great! When I lauter should I drain it off right away or should I let it soak up the sugars for a bit and then drain it into my kettle?

put the sparge water in, mixed and let it sit before getting the runnings.

Let the sparge water sit 10-15 minutes after stirring and drain!

 

[Jim R]

Here is the exact mash process that I use with my 5 gal Igloo cooler and Titan stainless false bottom. I first put a couple gallons of 170 degree water in the cooler for 15 min or so to preheat it. Then I dump this water in a bucket to use for cleaning later. Then I put about 4 gal of 170 degree strike water (exactly 170 degrees) into the cooler and stir in my grains. If there is room in the cooler I fill it right to the top with water with just enough space to get the cooler top on. When I check the temperature after stirring the grains in well, I am almost always right at 153 degrees.

60 min later, I very slowly open the bottom valve to start my first runnings. I put the first couple quarts back into the top of the cooler and then drain as much as possible into my boil kettle. I usually get 3-3 1/2 gal of wort on the first runnings. Then I add another 16 quarts or so (about 4 gal) of strike water to the cooler to fill it to the top again. I sometimes let this sit in the cooler for a few minutes but often just start my 2nd runnings right away. I usually can get my goal of 6+ gal of wort total with this. Occasionally I will need to add another 2-4 quarts of strike water to the cooler to get a small amount of 3rd runnings to get my desired wort volume but this is often unnecessary. Then I check my gravity and start my boil.

 

[Beer Viking]

Thanks everyone, you've made me understand this process! Should my lautering water be the same temp as the strike water?

 

[Bobby_M]

No, preheat the mash tun with boiling water. Let it sit for 10 minutes and then get rid of that water down the drain.

Now you add your strike water and grains to mash.




The purpose is to get your tun to temperature to make sure you hold temperature better.

I never understood that rational. You just spent a ton of energy getting that water hot, and you'll put it into the mash tun for a little while and it will get a little cooler in temp. Then you dump out all that spent energy down the drain only to put more hot water in? It's wasteful. Put the strike water into the tun about 15F hotter than you need it, let the mash tun take whatever heat it needs and then MAYBE have to put a cup of cold water in to make a small adjustment.

Summary for clarity. Heat strike water to 175F. Add it to the tun and close the lid. Wait 10 minutes. Open it, stir until you get down to 165F and then add your grain. That's assuming a ratio of about 1.25 quarts per pound of grain. That's how you preheat without wasting energy or water.