superfluent
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So, my first brew ever is now kegged. I first looked at doing a couple of extract brews but after having read up on the subject of AG and mashing I decided to go directly to AG. Here's my report:
Now, going AG on the first batch witout a forum like this probably would have been next to impossible but with a good book on the subject, meticilous preparation the help of the search function on this forum (and probably a bit of luck!). I decided to use a somewhat unusual RIMS mash and sparge technique used by a couple of homebrewers here in northern europe. I managed to do an all grain mash with 79% efficiency.
I then preceeded to adjust the boil volume and recepie (hop additions), boiled for 90 minutes and to hit my OG (1054) more or less spot on.
Since I did not have a chiller and used a 30litre catering boiler (built in heating element) I had to carefully transfer the hot wort to a 30 litre plastic bucket (my fermenter) sitting in my bathtub and use cold water to chill it. This turned out to be the biggest headeach. I got 5C cold water right from the tap but still plastic is such a poor conductor that it took well over 2 hrs to cool the wort to pitching temperature. I had the lid on the worth the whole time to protect from infection. The slow chill probably also affected the cold break.
The big "OH, NO!" moment came when I had chilled the wort and took the last temperature reading to make sure the temp was right for pitching the yeast. The glass thermometer I used had somehow cracked and I did not see this until it was way down in the wort, draining the red spirits into the wort. Not what you want to see after 6+ hours of hard work and worries...
Anyway, I figured time would tell if the wort had been ruined by the thermomether fluid and I pitched the yeast and airated for five minutes before putting on the lid, the airlock and put it to ferment in my second bathroom.
Fermentation went perfect and after 8 days i took a reading of 1012, again spot on. I decided to do a secondary and siphoned the beer to another 30litre bucket. I decided to discard the yeast cake because of the thermomether fluid.
I put the secondary in an insulated box on my balcony (heated with a tiny electric heater) and let it clear for 3 weeks while waiting for my kegs to arrive. After a week I added pellets to dry hop (for two weeks). No hop bag, just directly into the secondary. I put my trust in gravity and my siphoning skills. After a week and a half all hops had dropped to the bottom.
The last few days I lowered the temperature to 0C and kegged two 9 litre (2.5 gl) corny's.
I tasted the first pint yesterday (SNPA clone) and allthough still undercarbonated it's clear with just a faint hint of haze, spot on color, decent bitterness (could be a tad bit more). It has too much hop aroma from the dry hopping, but that's expected, right? All in all I think it will be perfect in about a month or two! I put it in two kegs so I can taste (waste) one during maturation and keep the otherone until it has reached its full potential in a few months.
H
Now, going AG on the first batch witout a forum like this probably would have been next to impossible but with a good book on the subject, meticilous preparation the help of the search function on this forum (and probably a bit of luck!). I decided to use a somewhat unusual RIMS mash and sparge technique used by a couple of homebrewers here in northern europe. I managed to do an all grain mash with 79% efficiency.
I then preceeded to adjust the boil volume and recepie (hop additions), boiled for 90 minutes and to hit my OG (1054) more or less spot on.
Since I did not have a chiller and used a 30litre catering boiler (built in heating element) I had to carefully transfer the hot wort to a 30 litre plastic bucket (my fermenter) sitting in my bathtub and use cold water to chill it. This turned out to be the biggest headeach. I got 5C cold water right from the tap but still plastic is such a poor conductor that it took well over 2 hrs to cool the wort to pitching temperature. I had the lid on the worth the whole time to protect from infection. The slow chill probably also affected the cold break.
The big "OH, NO!" moment came when I had chilled the wort and took the last temperature reading to make sure the temp was right for pitching the yeast. The glass thermometer I used had somehow cracked and I did not see this until it was way down in the wort, draining the red spirits into the wort. Not what you want to see after 6+ hours of hard work and worries...
Anyway, I figured time would tell if the wort had been ruined by the thermomether fluid and I pitched the yeast and airated for five minutes before putting on the lid, the airlock and put it to ferment in my second bathroom.
Fermentation went perfect and after 8 days i took a reading of 1012, again spot on. I decided to do a secondary and siphoned the beer to another 30litre bucket. I decided to discard the yeast cake because of the thermomether fluid.
I put the secondary in an insulated box on my balcony (heated with a tiny electric heater) and let it clear for 3 weeks while waiting for my kegs to arrive. After a week I added pellets to dry hop (for two weeks). No hop bag, just directly into the secondary. I put my trust in gravity and my siphoning skills. After a week and a half all hops had dropped to the bottom.
The last few days I lowered the temperature to 0C and kegged two 9 litre (2.5 gl) corny's.
I tasted the first pint yesterday (SNPA clone) and allthough still undercarbonated it's clear with just a faint hint of haze, spot on color, decent bitterness (could be a tad bit more). It has too much hop aroma from the dry hopping, but that's expected, right? All in all I think it will be perfect in about a month or two! I put it in two kegs so I can taste (waste) one during maturation and keep the otherone until it has reached its full potential in a few months.
H
