First AG batch due up this weekend!!

[lombo34]

Just got my FB in the other day, and had my buddy, who owns the LHBS, order my supplies. Don't have a thermometer or sight glass installed in either the MT or BK yet, but I think I'll get by. Have 2 keggles that I'll be using...just going to do a 5gal batch to start things off...then once I can afford to buy the pump, and I get around to cutting the HLT keggle, I'll bump it up to big boy batches.

Stay tuned, I'll be sure to post pics during the process. Thanks to all of you on HBT, and a certain few local people with a wealth of knowledge, I think this will be a good jump...

 

[halite]

good luck with the new set up.

 

[nebben]

IMHO, a sight glass is helpful in determining how much water to add to your mash, but you can do without it if you can measure water some other way. A thermometer of some kind is necessary though- otherwise, you wont know if you're at 130F or 180F. In my MLT, I just have a false bottom and drain valve. All temperature measurements are done after stirring the mash with a big spoon and putting in a "lab" thermometer to get a spot check.

Good luck this weekend, and remember to just take it easy and have fun!

 

[lombo34]

Yeah, that's what we'll use this weekend, is just a regular thermometer to periodically check. I'd eventually like to install one right above the drain valve, though. Just looks and feels better I guess.

 

[lombo34]

Ok, didn't get this done on Sunday as planned, but just finished up tonight. Couldn't take pictures as I was a little nervous about keeping everything as planned, right temps, etc. w/ my first AG. Aside from a few minor hiccups, it didn't go all that bad...3-4 weeks time will tell I guess.

Friend and fellow (much better) brewer let me borrow his Blichmann Boilermaker, that I used as my MT, mostly b/c it has the thermometer built in. This was something that I thought was good, but turned out to mess w/ my head the entire time. I luckily had a floating thermometer also, because I never ONCE got even close to the same readings...and didn't know which one to trust. So, who knows if my mash was too high/low. I tended to trust the floating thermometer, but even that seemed off sometimes.

Once I was done mashing/sparging, I got the boil going (and without a sight glass on my BK, had what I thought was approx 6 gallons in the BK). Figuring I'd take a break for dinner while boiling, and waiting for next hop addition, I put a cover on the BK, slightly off centered but just to keep crap out while I went inside...MISTAKE...BIG TIME. Came out after dinner to find the batch bubbling over, and hops ALL OVER the inside of the BK. Needless to say, I was PISSED!! But whatever, I pressed on.

Second mishap, didn't have enough hop bags, so I decided to take a long piece of SS tubing that I have and use it to hold the hop bag from the 5 min addition until the 1 minute. Worked fine until I filled the bag w/ the 1 min, went to put it back and that piece of SS tubing was DAMN HOT!! Both fell in BK, not so much of a big deal, but the point of the hop bags went out the window...LOL.

So, other than that, I chilled w/ my IC to about 90 until my son turned the hose off and I didn't feel like running back/forth again, and racked to primary...will pitch in the AM, once I know it's down to room temp (approx 65-68 normally).

The only thing I'm wondering now, is that when I was inside eating, and the BK was boiling over, I must've lost a TON of wort...unless I just didn't start with as much as I thought...because I only got about 4.5 gallons of finished product. Kind of bummed, but have another recipe to try out either this weekend or next.

Thoughts?? Suggestions HIGHLY welcomed...

 

[joex444]

Looks like a normal brew day to me...

I jest, but much less than you think. You have to get a reliable thermometer. Calibrate it against boiling water. It may not line up with ice, but will be more accurate for mash temps. Still, realize that your thermometer is off and figure out a reasonable estimate of how much; you can easily determine which direction it is off by and always keep that in mind.

Here's my personal take on AG: You can get your gravity or your volume but rarely both. You got 90% of the volume, but how was your gravity?

I brewed up my 8th all grain batch today, a Saison following Jamil's recipe. I hit both my gravity and volume -- a first. From this, I'd say that about 10% of the time things go as planned

It is very important you get a reasonable expectation of your efficiency. You won't know what this is for a while, and I'm still trying to figure it out (seems about 75% here). In the mean time, try your best but you are fighting an uphill battle until you get that number down. I always favor hitting gravity over volume, but when you do so you probably miss your IBUs as well.