Well I guess my draft post didn't take on Thursday, which was my actual brew day, so Ill post again.
I took Thurs off from work to do my first all grain brew, using a Rogue Oatmeal Stout recipe, that my Local Brew Shop helped me pull from BeerSmith. We altered the grain bit just a tad, and I altered the hop time, and I plan to make some variances in a secondary, to make this my beer my own.
9.625 lbs Pale Malt (Row2) US (2.0 SRM)
1.625 lbs Caramel/Crystal Malt - 120L (120.0 SRM)
1.625 lbs Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM)
1.438 lbs Oats, flaked (1.0SRM)
2.3 Oz Roasted Barley (300.0 SRM)
3.0 oz Cascade (5.5%) 60 min boil
1.0 oz Cascade (5.5%) 20 min boil
Mash Profile
Strike Water:5.5 gal
Strike Temp: 170.0 F
Mash Temp: 152.0
Steep Time: 62 Minutes
Sparge: Fly Sparge <*Edit...not a FLY sparge, just a regular sparge I guess>with 2.5 gal at 170F
Measured Orig Gravity: 1.070SG
I plan to rack into secondary and may add a few coffee beans into secondary. When I tasted while measuring OG, I could definitely taste the chocolate, and a very light coffee hint.
So for process I used a BIAB process, on the maiden voyage of the new propane turkey fryer I just purchased. The only real issue I encountered was removing the grain bag from steeping in kettle, was a bit messy as I tried to move it into another vessel before letting it drain completely. I will adjust my process to account for this next time. I found that hitting a perfect setting on the propane gauge to maintain a boil, without boil over was tricky, but got it eventually.
The next 'issue' i ran into was cooling. Not that it was an issue as much as I used an ice bath and constant circulating water, so it cooled fairly quickly. My problem, was that my thermometer dropped to about 85 then stayed there. It took me a while to realize that the thermometer just really didn't drop any further than that, even though it marks down to 50. So I took a bit of a gamble on pitching temp, but fairly certain it was around 70F. Not to self, but a new thermometer, and wort chiller.
Next was siphoning into the 6 gal primary. I ended up with about 5.25 gal of wort, which was right on schedule for what I was planning for. I pitched my WLP002 English Ale Yeast and put the fermenter in a plastic tote with cool water/towel wrapped and box fan blowing on it. Again, need a thermometer that will get a lower temp reading. Also dropped 12oz bottle of frozen water into the 'swamp cooler'. I also need a thermometer I can use for measuring the interior wort temp. That research is ongoing, and i see several options.
It took right at 24 hrs to see bubbling in the valve, but when it started, it started pretty impressively. In fact, I had looked at it 20 minutes earlier and didn't see any activity and was starting to worry. Fast forward 20 minutes and I happened to be doing something else in the room and my son walked in and said "wow!", pointing to the bubbling. SCORE! It has been going pretty steady for about 15 hours now, and seems like everything is on track. I replace the ice bottle about every 12 hours. Ambient temp in the room is about 70-77f. The cool water seem about low 60F. Ill pick up a better thermometer today so I can measure the water temp in the swamp cooler.
I know my process is a little 'less-scientific' than some brewers like, but I am doing this on a budget. I will get additional equipment as I go along, but for now everything seems to be going well. I'll update this as I go.
I took Thurs off from work to do my first all grain brew, using a Rogue Oatmeal Stout recipe, that my Local Brew Shop helped me pull from BeerSmith. We altered the grain bit just a tad, and I altered the hop time, and I plan to make some variances in a secondary, to make this my beer my own.
9.625 lbs Pale Malt (Row2) US (2.0 SRM)
1.625 lbs Caramel/Crystal Malt - 120L (120.0 SRM)
1.625 lbs Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM)
1.438 lbs Oats, flaked (1.0SRM)
2.3 Oz Roasted Barley (300.0 SRM)
3.0 oz Cascade (5.5%) 60 min boil
1.0 oz Cascade (5.5%) 20 min boil
Mash Profile
Strike Water:5.5 gal
Strike Temp: 170.0 F
Mash Temp: 152.0
Steep Time: 62 Minutes
Sparge: Fly Sparge <*Edit...not a FLY sparge, just a regular sparge I guess>with 2.5 gal at 170F
Measured Orig Gravity: 1.070SG
I plan to rack into secondary and may add a few coffee beans into secondary. When I tasted while measuring OG, I could definitely taste the chocolate, and a very light coffee hint.
So for process I used a BIAB process, on the maiden voyage of the new propane turkey fryer I just purchased. The only real issue I encountered was removing the grain bag from steeping in kettle, was a bit messy as I tried to move it into another vessel before letting it drain completely. I will adjust my process to account for this next time. I found that hitting a perfect setting on the propane gauge to maintain a boil, without boil over was tricky, but got it eventually.
The next 'issue' i ran into was cooling. Not that it was an issue as much as I used an ice bath and constant circulating water, so it cooled fairly quickly. My problem, was that my thermometer dropped to about 85 then stayed there. It took me a while to realize that the thermometer just really didn't drop any further than that, even though it marks down to 50. So I took a bit of a gamble on pitching temp, but fairly certain it was around 70F. Not to self, but a new thermometer, and wort chiller.
Next was siphoning into the 6 gal primary. I ended up with about 5.25 gal of wort, which was right on schedule for what I was planning for. I pitched my WLP002 English Ale Yeast and put the fermenter in a plastic tote with cool water/towel wrapped and box fan blowing on it. Again, need a thermometer that will get a lower temp reading. Also dropped 12oz bottle of frozen water into the 'swamp cooler'. I also need a thermometer I can use for measuring the interior wort temp. That research is ongoing, and i see several options.
It took right at 24 hrs to see bubbling in the valve, but when it started, it started pretty impressively. In fact, I had looked at it 20 minutes earlier and didn't see any activity and was starting to worry. Fast forward 20 minutes and I happened to be doing something else in the room and my son walked in and said "wow!", pointing to the bubbling. SCORE! It has been going pretty steady for about 15 hours now, and seems like everything is on track. I replace the ice bottle about every 12 hours. Ambient temp in the room is about 70-77f. The cool water seem about low 60F. Ill pick up a better thermometer today so I can measure the water temp in the swamp cooler.
I know my process is a little 'less-scientific' than some brewers like, but I am doing this on a budget. I will get additional equipment as I go along, but for now everything seems to be going well. I'll update this as I go.