All-grain, need help!

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Raggedwood

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I'm working on an all-grain ale, I've got 1lb of briess caramel malt. I've just milled them but I am not sure how much water to use for 1lb. Also, I forgot to get hops while i was at my brew store which is inconveniantly far away, will my beer taste ok without them? Thanks for the help!
 
Oof...one pound of caramel and no hops? You might want to get yourself a recipe and stick to that. This won't be beer.

+1, get a recipe and follow it/then for a couple of batches, get the process down.
 
I'm working on an all-grain ale, I've got 1lb of briess caramel malt. I've just milled them but I am not sure how much water to use for 1lb. Also, I forgot to get hops while i was at my brew store which is inconveniantly far away, will my beer taste ok without them? Thanks for the help!

Is that all you are using in your beer? No DME, LME, sugar?

I'm pretty sure you won't get any fermentables from just the caramel malt...?
 
Ok lets start for the beginning....


What style of beer are you interested in making? And how much!
 
Just got 5lbs of caramel malt, and 2oz of hops. I didn't think I needed sugar, do I?

A 100% caramel malt won't work. You won't have enzymes, you won't have fermentables, and you won't have alcohol. Get a recipe. This isn't the kind of thing you can just make up on the fly.
 
Dude. Here's the definition of fermentation: https://www.google.com/search?aq=f&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=fermentation

There's a great recipe section on here, check it out. You can also order kits to get you started from places like Morebeer or Austin Homebrew Supply. I would suggest doing some serious reading before trying to formulate a recipe on your own. You will want to start with extract and steeping grain before you attempt a mash. Brewing isn't all that hard but you need to get down some fundamentals first.
 
Did you explain what you are trying to do to the people at your LHBS? I hope they didn't send you on your way with just that.
 
I've done an extract brew, actually I have one fermenting now, and the guy at the brew shop basically told me 90% of his customers don't even consider all grain. I have all the vessels, the grains, and the hops, what else do I need?
 
I think you need to go to the liquor store, buy a 6 pack and sit back and relax and then do some learning because you are certainly not ready o make your own beer with that......
 
I've done an extract brew, actually I have one fermenting now, and the guy at the brew shop basically told me 90% of his customers don't even consider all grain. I have all the vessels, the grains, and the hops, what else do I need?

If all you have is 5 lb of caramel malt, you don't have everything you need. I'm all for jumping right into all grain brewing if that's what you want to do, but you need to start with a recipe of some sort or another.
 
Maybe you should do some research. Beer needs hops. Beer is hops. This might sound harsh, I know it's the beginners forum, but look before you leap. Take a few minutes, stop posting, and read up on how beer is made. Check out the How To Brew website. Get a book.
 
Just got 5lbs of caramel malt, and 2oz of hops. I didn't think I needed sugar, do I?

Yeast eats sugar to make alcohol (fermentation). Caramel malt gives colour and flavour, but no sugar. You need another base to get the sugar (actually, you could just use sugar). To get sugar from grains, you need a base malt, the most common being pale malt.

Also, 5lbs of caramel malt is a lot. I don't think you'd use all of that in one batch.
 
I agree with the others that you probably need to do some more research but I'll give you some basics. You need some base malt to go with that crystal. I rarely use more than 1 lb of crystal in a batch. Get 10 lbs of two row and only use 1 lb of the crystal, I repeat -only use 1 lb of the crystal. Make sure everything is properly milled. Combine your total of 11 lbs of grain with 3.5 gallons of 168F water and stir thoroughly to mix. Check the temp of the mash after you've added the water, it should be somewhere close to 150F. If it isn't, add more hot water or cold water to adjust until you're somewhere between 145 and 155 (152 would be perfect). Since you say you have all of the vessels, you should have some way of holding that temp for an hour. you can use insulation, some sort of heating, or place the whole thing in the oven at 150F, this is your mash. With 20 minutes left on the 60 mash, heat 5 gallons of water to 175 . At the 60 minute mark, use you lauter tun (you have this right?) and slowly run the 5 gallons of water at 175 through the grain (1 qt per minute is about right, this is called fly sparging). After you have collected roughly 6.5 gallons of wort in your boil kettle, to a boil. As soon as you reach a boil, add 1 oz of your hops. Continue to boil for 55 minutes, then add your second oz of hops and let boil 5 more minutes for a total of a 60 minute boil. Then cool down with your immersion chiller (you have this too right?), pour through a funnel or via hose/ball valve into your fermenter, aerate however you normally do, then pitch your yeast (you are familiar with Mr. Malty right? http://www.mrmalty.com/calc/calc.html it will help you determine how much yeast to use). Then let it sit for 3-4 weeks and bottle. THis will make beer. Easy peasy right?
 
I agree with the others that you probably need to do some more research but I'll give you some basics. You need some base malt to go with that crystal. I rarely use more than 1 lb of crystal in a batch. Get 10 lbs of two row and only use 1 lb of the crystal. Make sure everything is properly milled. Combine your total of 11 lbs of grain with 3.5 gallons of 168F water and stir thoroughly to mix. Check the temp of the mash after you've added the water, it should be somewhere close to 150F. If it isn't, add more hot water or cold water to adjust until you're somewhere between 145 and 155. Since you say you have all of the vessels, you should have some way of holding that temp for an hour. you can use insulation, some sort of heating, or place the whole thing in the oven at 150F. With 20 minutes left on the 60 mash, heat 5 gallons of water to 175 . At the 60 minute mark, use you lauter tun (you have this right?) and slowly run the 5 gallons of water at 175 through the grain (1 qt per minute is about right). After you have collected roughly 6.5 gallons of wort, put it in your boil kettle in bring to a boil. As soon as you reach a boil, add 1 oz of your hops. Continue to boil for 55 minutes, then add your second oz of hops and let boil 5 more minutes for a total of a 60 minute boil. Then cool down with your immersion chiller (you have this too right?), pour through a funnel or via hose/ball valve into your fermenter, aerate however you normally do, then pitch your yeast (you are familiar with Mr. Malty right? http://www.mrmalty.com/calc/calc.html it will help you determine how much yeast to use). Then let it sit for 3-4 weeks and bottle. Easy peasy right?

Decaff for you next time! :D
 
You need base malt. The grain you have is not to create beer but to modify the flavor. Suggest that you get some extract and steep the grain for 20 minutes at the end of the boil. We did extracts for a year, then partial Mash for 6 months and finally to all grain. Not that hard, but you do need to decide what you are making. You cannot make apple pie with just butter and spice. You need all of the the things that make an apple pie in the correct amounts and in the correct order.
 
You need base malt. The grain you have is not to create beer but to modify the flavor. Suggest that you get some extract and steep the grain for 20 minutes at the end of the boil. We did extracts for a year, then partial Mash for 6 months and finally to all grain. Not that hard, but you do need to decide what you are making. You cannot make apple pie with just butter and spice. You need all of the the things that make an apple pie in the correct amounts and in the correct order.

Just to be clear. Steeping should happen at the beginning of the boil. Extract should be added at the end.
 
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