Best tip for a new all grain brewer

[idahobrew]

Just wondering what's your best tip for a new all grain brewer? I know there are some award winning experts here and others that have been craft brewing for a long time. Hopeing that you can share with some of us new guys some of your best tips based on experience. I did my first all grain last weekend. Did a BIAB as it was the most economical way for me to get into all grain. I'm sure I made some mistakes but hit my OG, 75% efficiency. Have been reading up a storm on brewing for the last month or so. BTW this forum is the best!

 

[studmonk3y]

Get a good thermometer!

 

[BobBailey]

Regardless of the type of brewing, things at the top of my list are, good sanitization habits, keeping a good brew log and patience.

 

[RM-MN]

+1 on a good, accurate thermometer. When doing all grain using whatever method the temperature you mash at determines the final flavor of your beer. Mash too low and you get a dry beer, too high and it gets too sweet. Go outside the limits of the amylase conversion and you don't get fermentable sugars. You want a thermometer that is accurate to within 2 degrees at mash temperatures. For instance, the red ale I made I intended to mash at 152 but my thermometer had been dropped and while reading 152, the mash was really at 148. This beer should have had a final gravity of 1.012 to 1.015 but ended up at 1.002. Not what I wanted at all.

 

[JonM]

Yep, thermometer.

Also, Maris Otter tends to gum up the sparge. Use lots of rice hulls.

 

[dbals]

RDWHAHB

That said I usually hand write out my steps, yes I said hand write. I realized in college chem class that if I hand wrote the steps for the lab the day before I would finish at least 45mins faster than other people in the lab. I feel that doing this makes it less likely that I make as many mistakes!

enjoy!

 

[JonM]

This! I wrote out grain temp, mash temp, strike temp, and sparge temp, as well as volumes and hop additions. It's a tremendous help.

 

[stikks]

Use a starter with liquid yeast,Fermentation starts faster.

 

[Copbrew133]

Allot yourself plenty of time for an all grain brew day, don't rush, plan and write out steps as stated before especially when you have a couple of your previous brews during the process. Can get pretty easy to miss a hop addition or temp.

 

[Snafu]

Don't get caught up in all the bling bling gadgets. Lots of flashy systems on here. Stick to your basics, focus on your technique. Early investments should be a "good" thermometer with a back up. I have 2 brewmometers, a standard 6" dial thermomentor, a lab style "mecury thermometer" (that I use to verify all other thermometers) and lastly my fav, my "Big Red" waterproof pocket probe. Another good investment is a refractometer. If you focus on controlling temps in your mash and during fermentation you'll make good beer.

+1 on good record keeping, measure and record everything. It pays in the end when your dialing in software and process.

 

[Snafu]

RDWHAHB

That said I usually hand write out my steps, yes I said hand write. I realized in college chem class that if I hand wrote the steps for the lab the day before I would finish at least 45mins faster than other people in the lab. I feel that doing this makes it less likely that I make as many mistakes!

enjoy!

Haha, thats true, I always lay out my hops and any other additions in small cups with the time written on either the cup or a piece of paper in the cup. I use Promash as my software, but I use Beersmith to make a printout of the brewsheet. Its step by step.

 

[QuaffableQuips]

+1 on having an accurate, reliable thermometer. Most important piece of equipment for AG brewing, I think. You can pretty much improvise, brute force, or work around everything else, but it's essential that you be able to trust your temperature readings.

 

[Nierika]

For me it helps to have my equipment, carboys, sanitizer, etc. set up the night before. I haul all my stuff up from the basement, and even though it's not a huge deal, it makes brew day go much smoother.

Also, clean you equipment as soon as your done with it! It makes for a lot less work later. Ever smell an igloo mash tun that you forgot about for a few days

 

[dbrewski]

If you focus on controlling temps in your mash and during fermentation you'll make good beer.

I second (third? fourth?) temperature control. During the mash but also as said here during fermentation. As a newbie I did not pay any attention, I fermented at room temp which depending might range from 68 to 77. It was still beer, but the results were uneven, unpredictable. It really affects the flavors that the yeast will impart. So yes, fermentation temp control is one that is easy to miss at first.

 

[kafkasbug]

The biggest help for me was using brewing software that created a brew-day document, which outlined all the steps to take, all the temps to hit and the times at which they must be hit. It's extremely reassuring to have that written out. I've begun tinkering with the process, and have improved upon. But having that initial guideline was crucial.

That said, my first AG brew was an unmitigated disaster due to my cpvc manifold falling apart during dough-in and again during my sparge. I think I missed every temp. I ended up using my auto-siphon inside a paint strainer bag to get the wort out of the MLT. I moved to a SS mesh tube which works like a champ.

 

[bighorn_brew]

Move your brewing outside .....

 

[kh54s10]

My order of importance:
1) Sanitation
2) Temperature control throughout the entire process
3) Pitching proper yeast counts (starters)
4) Patience - allow the yeast to do the job - including bottle conditioning.

These are really ALL almost equal in importance.

 

[ShinyBuddha]

My order of importance:
1) Sanitation
2) Temperature control throughout the entire process
3) Pitching proper yeast counts (starters)
4) Patience - allow the yeast to do the job - including bottle conditioning.

These are really ALL almost equal in importance.

This.

Plus I've purchased a traceable thermometer on amazon for around 25$ and a refractometer on ebay for the same price. Great tools.

edit: looks like the price is now $34 for the thermometer (still worth it IMO)

refractometer link. Also, I use my refractometer for pre-fermentation measurements only and a hydrometer for post-fermentation.

 

[idahobrew]

These are all great tips, I appreciate and thank everyone that contributed to this post, hopefully it will help others as much as it's helped me!

 

[RM-MN]

I use a long stem dial thermometer which I can put in my pot for strike water. It goes through a hole in the lid and lets me monitor the temperature as I heat it but when it gets really close to the strike temp, I switch to a lab grade glass thermometer for its better accuracy. Once I have doughed in and checked my mash temp, I switch back to the dial thermometer since it is much harder to break. That way I get accuracy and convience. Lab grade thermometers are much less than the $34 referenced above. The dial plus the lab grade are still less than that, maybe nearly by half.

 

[QuaffableQuips]

Also, I use my refractometer for pre-fermentation measurements only and a hydrometer for post-fermentation.

Same here. When I extract brew, I never bother with pre-fermentation gravity readings anymore because you're pretty much guaranteed to hit your OG. But I like using the refractometer for AG batches -- if I miss my target pre-boil OG, I can adjust with some water or DME.

I also save the hydrometer for measuring FG.

 

[HeavyKettleBrewing]

Make sure you are getting a good crush. If you are getting your grains locally, inspect it before you leave. If you buy online, get a grain mill. Outside of the temps and sanitation, it all starts with a good crush.

 

[NuclearRich]

Good crush is for suer something you will want to pay attention to.

Temperature accuracy and getting your temps on your system dead on is an artform that you will do best to hone your skills in. i.e. I now preheat my cooler MLT with hot tap and let it sit while i setup everything else. once strike water is getting close to temp, I drain MLT and set it up. This has kept my strike temp more accurate.

Find something to do with those spent grains!

 

[bk0]

Can someone describe a 'good crush'? Do you want the grain pulverized into near-powder? Just curious, I'll be doing my first AG batch soon.

 

[TBAY]

Good crush is for suer something you will want to pay attention to.

Temperature accuracy and getting your temps on your system dead on is an artform that you will do best to hone your skills in. i.e. I now preheat my cooler MLT with hot tap and let it sit while i setup everything else. once strike water is getting close to temp, I drain MLT and set it up. This has kept my strike temp more accurate.

Find something to do with those spent grains!

Preheating the cooler makes it so much easier to control mash temp. That plus having most of the grain crushed finer allowed me to go from my 3rd all grain attempt to hit 84% from 70% on my previous batch. In fact I way overshot my OG and was able to get 3 gallons of bonus beer with only a single lb addition of DME. When I bought my malt online I specified that all on my 2 row get crushed finer and the rest crushed normal so a grain filter bed could get established.

 

[mjohnson]

The more I've been brewing, the more I'm convinced that mash pH is nearly as important as temperature. I don't think lacking an understanding of water chemistry should stop one from going to all-grain. However, I do think that in order to get some consistency in your results, you're going to need to understand the basics.

So along with a decent thermometer, I'd try to pick up a pH meter and start taking readings.

 

[PistolsAtDawn]

The more I've been brewing, the more I'm convinced that mash pH is nearly as important as temperature. I don't think lacking an understanding of water chemistry should stop one from going to all-grain. However, I do think that in order to get some consistency in your results, you're going to need to understand the basics.

So along with a decent thermometer, I'd try to pick up a pH meter and start taking readings.

Absolutely true. Make a couple pales or IPAs that have that nasty astringent flavor on the back end and you'll be wishing you had monitored pH and done adjustments.

 

[HeavyKettleBrewing]

Can someone describe a 'good crush'? Do you want the grain pulverized into near-powder? Just curious, I'll be doing my first AG batch soon.

Sift your hands through the grain and if there is an unusual amount of grains that are still intact, you got a poor crush. Some will make it through the mill. Making flour out of your grain may "stick" and cause a stuck sparge. Think of real coarse ground pepper as far as the grind is concerned.

I also experimented with different sparge techniques until I found one that worked for me. You will want to try batch sparging (easier) and Fly sparging (time consuming). Try each several times and record your results. If you change too many variables at once, you will have a hard time figuring out a regimen that works for you and your equipment. You wil lbe consumed by this hobby, especially after going AG! Good luck RDWHAHB

 

[afr0byte]

Yep, thermometer.

Also, Maris Otter tends to gum up the sparge. Use lots of rice hulls.

Huh? I've never had that problem.

 

[davidr2340]

I have nothing to add, but great thread! Keep the tips coming!