First AG brew

[jbf101]

Will be doing my first AG batch this weekend, I'm sure some of you have seen my posts concerning water chemistry and such.

I plan on doing the SWMBO Slayer Belgian by BierMuncher with a few modifications.

6.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) (5 in original recipe)
4.00 lb Wheat Malt, Bel (2.0 SRM)
0.50 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 10L (10.0 SRM)
0.50 lb Wheat, Flaked (1.6 SRM)
0.25 lb Caravienne Malt (22.0 SRM)
0.25 lb Acidified Malt (3.0 SRM)
1.00 oz Williamette [5.50%] (60 min)

I plan on adding 1tsp of calcium carbonate (This is what my LHBS has) per 5g/water(Or whatever the equivalent for the amount I need is using a scale and some math) I'm only doing this because I was told my water is basically RO water... The acidified malt is for the same reason. This is per the Water Primer thread in the beer science stuff.

My only concern is the Chlorine/Chloramine issue, I'm not sure if the chloride levels (3.2ppm) refer to both chloramine and chlorine or what... I scoured through my water report looking for chloramine and the only thing close is the chloride reference. I figure ill just take a campden tablet, break it in half and use the first chunk for strike water and second for the sparge to be safe; unless anyone has some super secret brewing lesson for me.

Other that that, the reason I'm increasing the pale malt is to, hopefully, account for what I can only imagine will be sub-standard efficiency, being my first AG brew and all that. If I end up with good efficiency then no harm no foul and I learned a lesson.

I have a 10G MLT (Converted Rubbermaid cooler) 8G kettle (I installed a sight glass, thermometer, and ball valve in it to) (Will double as HLT and Boil Kettle) and a big bucket to hold my wort prior to my kettle being empty.

Using beersmith to calculate strike temps based on 1.25 qts/lbs, batch sparging. Shooting for about 6.75 pre-boil (Rather have to boil a little longer than have too little) And of course I will Relax and drink a homebrew while I do this.

Also I got this sweet 1g heatproof shatterproof pitcher with .5 quart marks for like 12 bucks on amazon (Go prime) which I feel will play a major roll in my adventures.

If anyone has any suggestions please feel free to let me know, or call me an idiot or whatever.

Thanks in advanced!

 

[Cyclman]

Sounds like you're well prepared. If you don't have one already, get a good digital thermometer, I love thermoworks for the price.

I used bottled water until I finally got a carbon filter, saved lots of money in the long term with that.

 

[redfoxale78]

I'm just about to plan my first AG, will look foreward to hearing what comes up on brew day that went different, well, or unexpected.
Slainte

 

[jbf101]

Sounds like you're well prepared. If you don't have one already, get a good digital thermometer, I love thermoworks for the price.

I used bottled water until I finally got a carbon filter, saved lots of money in the long term with that.

I have 2 already, im an avid bbq/griller so I have a short one for checking meat temps and one with a probe fit monitoring temp in the smoker. I plan on using the probe one in the mash since I can just close the lid on it.

I will definitely post my results on brew day and so on

 

[hogwash]

I have 2 already, im an avid bbq/griller so I have a short one for checking meat temps and one with a probe fit monitoring temp in the smoker. I plan on using the probe one in the mash since I can just close the lid on it.

I will definitely post my results on brew day and so on

Make sure that thermometer can be submerged in water. I have one of those for my smoker too but it says to just wipe it with a wet sponge to clean it, which I take to mean that it should not be left soaking in water. In fact, I think the directions say to not leave it in water.

 

[hogwash]

I have found that a "graduated" bucket is very helpful. Take your 5 gallon bucket and mark every half gallon, or quarter gallon. That way, you won't have to keep pouring water into your pitcher, dump it out, pour more, dump it out, forget how much you've poured so far, start over, etc. Also very helpful with knowing how much wort is going into your kettle. Also, watch for boilover, 6.75 in an 8 gallon pot will be closer to the top than you think.

 

[jbf101]

I have found that a "graduated" bucket is very helpful. Take your 5 gallon bucket and mark every half gallon, or quarter gallon. That way, you won't have to keep pouring water into your pitcher, dump it out, pour more, dump it out, forget how much you've poured so far, start over, etc. Also very helpful with knowing how much wort is going into your kettle. Also, watch for boilover, 6.75 in an 8 gallon pot will be closer to the top than you think.

Yeah my bucket came pre marked with marks, so that's covered. As far as the thermometer not being able to submerge, ill have to look into that. .. hmm.

Ill just buy some cheap tubing and worm clamp or ziptie the crap out of it around the probe area. Should work according to other peoples experiences.

Ive been doing full boil extracts and no boil over yet. Combo of stirring, spray bottle, and a little fermacap-s. But will definitely be vigilant.

 

[railwalker]

Compared to my first AG, with a zap-pap lauter tun, you are hilariously prepared.
A remote probe thermometer is also good for warning one that the boil will begin soon. I set the alarm at 205 deg. and get on position to prevent a boil over. Saves a lot of back and forth checking.

 

[jbf101]

6.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) (5 in original recipe)
4.00 lb Wheat Malt, Bel (2.0 SRM)
0.50 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 10L (10.0 SRM)
0.50 lb Wheat, Flaked (1.6 SRM)
0.25 lb Caravienne Malt (22.0 SRM)
0.25 lb Acidified Malt (3.0 SRM)
1.00 oz Williamette [5.50%] (60 min)

So, I went to my LHBS today to purchase the malt and so forth for the upcoming weekend. I ended up with...

6.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) UK (2.0 SRM) (Said Euro Pale Malt)
4.00 lb Wheat Malt (2.0 SRM) They only had 1 kind, so I just got that...
0.50 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 20L (20.0 SRM)
0.50 lb Wheat, Flaked (1.6 SRM)
0.50 lb Euro Caravienne Malt (22.0 SRM) (Is Euro the only kind? I dunno)
0.25 lb Acidified Malt (3.0 SRM)
1.00 oz Williamette [5.70%] (60 min)

They didn't have any Crystal 10, so I just got 20 figured meh, I can't imagine it will make too huge a difference and now I can call it my own recipe i suppose. I accidently measured .5lbs of caravienne instead of .25lbs and realized too late (I had already dumped it in my big bucket of stuff) so once again! Modifications...

The wheat malt just said wheat malt and didn't specific origin, once again not too concerned with it.

Now when I went to get the 2 row pale malt I couldn't find anything that specifically said "2 Row Pale Malt". This may have been a mistake of ignorance, but I saw something that said Pale Malt (Euro) and decided to go with it. The description said it was good for light Belgian ales, so I can't imagine I ruined my beer with such an action. However I wouldn't mind some form of clarity in regards to the subject. This being if plain old "2 Row Malt" is in fact "2 Row Pale Malt" or not.

All this is already milled and mixed together, so no going back. My beersmith has calculated it at

1.061 OG, 18.2 IBU, and 6.4 SRM.

I know the calculated OG is higher than the original recipe by BM, but like I said in my original post i'm sort of figuring ill have a lower brew house efficiency than him since its my first batch, if it turns out i'm super prepared and it turns out really well then ill just have a little stronger beer, and he is some sort of homebrew savant.

I also ended up with Wyeast #3944 instead of WL400, only because they just stock the Wyeast and not White Labs.

Overall, i'm not too worried about it all. More questions involving my actions so I can learn from them. Otherwise brew day will push forward as planned.

In other news, my last extract batch (Honey Orange Cream Ale). Not sure if it can still be considered a cream ale with an OG of 1.070, but I tested the gravity today and its 1.010, tastes great, slight hint of orange, nice smooth flavor. And this is only 1 week in the primary, still plan on letting it sit in primary for at least a week and half more, maybe secondary with some gelatin to clear it. But for my first real experiment with coriander and orange peel and such it is turning out to be a great beer. Can't wait for this one

 

[jbf101]

First AG batch is underway, Mash is holding steady at 154. Other than that the only observation I have is the desire for one of those quick pen thermometers. My digital therm is for meat and takes longer to get the temp. So that's on my list now. heating up my sparge water right now!

 

[jbf101]

Everything went smooth, my efficency was higher than expected and I ended up with 1.064 about 80%. 5.25 gallons of wort are now fermenting.

 

[jbf101]

This stuff is fermenting like crazy. Has probably a 4 inch thick layer of krauzen on it now.

 

[redcoldethyl]

Just curious...that Honey Orange Cream ale sounds amazing. is it your own recipe or do you have a link?

 

[NickTheGreat]

Congrats man! Tis a good feeling, your first AG batch.

I have a Thermapen for smoking/grilling. And it is handy for brewing. Might buy another one, for that very purpose.

 

[jbf101]

Just curious...that Honey Orange Cream ale sounds amazing. is it your own recipe or do you have a link?

Own extract recipe: As follows

6lb Light DME (Extra light if you can find it would work well to)

1lb Honey Malt
12 oz Cara Pils
4 oz biscuit malt
Steep these as you normally would, whatever your process would be. I personally just heat up my water with the grain bag suspended in there, once it hits 165ish I hold it there for about 15-20 minutes.

2lb Brown Sugar (You can leave this out or bump up the DME if you want more alcohol) I had never used Brown sugar in a batch so I wanted to see how it would change things. Either way I don't think its integral to the beer.

.75 oz Cluster at 60
.25 oz Cascade at 10

.5 oz Coriander at 5
.75 oz Sweet Orange peel at 5 (I also zested at fresh orange into the boil at the same time, partly cause I wanted fresh zest, partly cause I wanted to eat an orange)
Whirfloc at 15
Used Wyeast #1056

Comes out to 1.073, 16.5 IBU, and 10.3 SRM on beersmith, I ended up with an OG of 1.070. Its 1.055 OG without the Sugar and 9.1 SRM.

This is still sitting in primary, but the samples I've pulled for gravity have tasted great, very smooth with a hint of orange shining through. If I did it again I might bump up the honey malt to try to get some more of that flavor in there; once its carbonated/conditioned I think its going to be even better. (Its down to about 1.010 now). Going to throw it in a secondary and cold crash with some gelatin for a few days this weekend then bottle. This is also to free up room in my fermentation chamber and my primary carboys, so I can brew some more!!!!

And on the thermapen thing, I went out and bought a taylor something or other quick thermometer (Like 25 bucks at a chef supply store). It's far more accurate than my other one, and waaaay quicker. 90 bucks for a thermometer would make my wife angry... lol. My other little pen thermometer will stay for grilling, but my probe for the smoker has made a permanent transition, with tubes and zipties and stuff to make it waterproof, works great for the mashtun (And is actually more accurate than I thought after comparing it to my new one). I'll just buy another one, it was only like 10 bucks.

 

[d_striker]

A little late but calcium carbonate and acid malt work against each other in terms of ph.

 

[jbf101]

A little late but calcium carbonate and acid malt work against each other in terms of ph.

My little ph strip showed about the right color. I'm not too worried. Lol. But good to know!

 

[jbf101]

The one in the back is the ag brew

Apparently my phone wanted to turn it sideways. Oh well