first AG done!

[brewnman]

Well my first AG is under my belt. I cant wait to do my next. It was a great learning experience. The main thing i learned Once again, don't start brewing after 8pm haha. I think i ended up going to bed around midnight with a nice Buzz. All i can say is work was a little fuzzy yesterday.

 

[Dr Vorlauf]

You did your first all grain in 4 hours? Thats awesome.

 

[brewnman]

In Total i would say more like a month

 

[explosivebeer]

I did my first AG batch last weekend and it took me six hours! I wasn't able to focus on it the entire time so my timing was a little off but it was great to get it under my belt. Nice work on getting yours done so efficiently!

 

[TexLaw]

Congratulations, man! Isn't it fun?


TL

 

[mrk305]

30 minutes, to get water up to temp and get equipment ready
60 minutes mash time
30 minutes sparging
30 getting 6.5 gallons up to boil
60 minute boil
30 minutes cool down
30 minutes clean up

4 hours 30 minutes was my quickest, but I have only done 3 all grain

I usually start about 9 o'clock saturday night

 

[Wables]

Four hours sounds about right if you are humping it. Very good for your first try. Little tricks can save you time on your brew day, such as:

1) Weigh and crush your grain the day before.
2) Sanitize your carboy(s) the day before. (I always do this with star san because the bubbles are gone by the next day.)
3) Have 2 pots and burners. One for the mash water, and one to preheat your mash tun.
4) Start heating your first runnings as soon as you collect them. You will come to boil faster.
5) Faster sparging, assuming that you are batch sparging.
6) Clean as you go. Get that mash tun clean during the boil, etc.
7) Obviously more BTU's to heat your water and wort speed things up. Efficient cooling helps a lot as well.
8) Always be ready for the next step well before you get there.
9) Carve out a full 4 or 5 hours with no distractions!
10) Don't start drinking until your mash water is heating up.

I don't think that I have ever beat 4 hours for a 5 gallon AG batch. I am usually between 4:00 and 4:15 with clean-up. I now mostly do 10 gallon batches, and they take a good 5 hours. The extra time is from heating up mash water and wort, and cooling, about 15 minutes extra each. I am sure I could get a 10 gallon batch down to 4 hours, but I don't want to spend the money in even bigger burners and better cooling. I have too many other hobbies that need the money.

Once you get a system down, you can effectively multi-task. I am usually cleaning the garage or reloading while I brew.

 

[98EXL]

congrats! Welcome to the dark side! I can't wait to get home and brew over X-Mas break.....I want another burner and pot

 

[brewnman]

Thanks everyone and hell yea it was fun! I am contemplating doing another batch this weekend. Does anyone out there have a good 5ish gallon IPA recipe. (I would like to stick to 5 gallons till i get a few AG's in me. I Have the equipment to do 10 gallon) I have been looking under the recipe forum and found a couple. I have a empty carboy staring me in the face saying "PLEASE FILL ME!!!" Please keep in mind this will only be my 2nd AG.

My first batch was edworts Haus Pale Ale and i would like to say thanks for the great recipe and i cant wait to try it. I would recommend that recipe for anyone trying there first AG.

Oh and just to let everyone know that 4 hour mark was not fully complete either. Lets just say my patio looked like a bomb went off when i went to bed. The only thing i did was wash my equipment, as for putting everything away that was done the day after lol.

 

[FSR402]

Does anyone out there have a good 5ish gallon IPA recipe. (I would like to stick to 5 gallons till i get a few AG's in me. I Have the equipment to do 10 gallon) I have been looking under the recipe forum and found a couple. I have a empty carboy staring me in the face saying "PLEASE FILL ME!!!" Please keep in mind this will only be my 2nd AG.

Stonehenge IPA
India Pale Ale


Type: All Grain
Date: 8/12/2007
Batch Size: 5.50 gal
Brewer: Part Time Brewing
Boil Size: 7.00 gal Asst Brewer:
Boil Time: 60 min Equipment: Brew Pot (15.00 gal) and Igloo Cooler (20 Gal)
Taste Rating(out of 50): 45.0 Brewhouse Efficiency: 66.20
Taste Notes: Taste great and the hops come thru very nice, good bold hops but not over powering or to bitter. Could maybe use a little more bittering hops maybe go to 1.5 oz

Ingredients

Amount Item Type % or IBU
10 lbs 8.0 oz Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 84.00 %
1 lbs Caramel/Crystal Malt - 20L (20.0 SRM) Grain 8.00 %
1 lbs Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 8.00 %
1.00 oz Centennial [10.20 %] (Dry Hop 14 days) Hops -
1.00 oz Magnum [13.10 %] (60 min) Hops 42.2 IBU
1.00 oz Centennial [9.50 %] (15 min) Hops 15.2 IBU
1.00 oz Centennial [9.50 %] (5 min) Hops 6.1 IBU
1 Pkgs SafAle English Ale (DCL Yeast #S-05) Yeast-Ale



Beer Profile

Est Original Gravity: 1.055 SG
Measured Original Gravity: 1.050 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.014 SG Measured Final Gravity: 1.011 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 5.26 % Actual Alcohol by Vol: 5.08 %
Bitterness: 63.5 IBU Calories: 221 cal/pint
Est Color: 6.8 SRM Color: Color


Mash Profile

Mash Name: Single Infusion, Full Body, Batch Sparge Total Grain Weight: 12.50 lb
Sparge Water: 4.37 gal Grain Temperature: 80.0 F
Sparge Temperature: 168.0 F TunTemperature: 80.0 F
Adjust Temp for Equipment: TRUE Mash PH: 5.4 PH

Single Infusion, Full Body, Batch Sparge Step Time Name Description Step Temp
60 min Mash In Add 4.13 gal of water at 165.5 F 153.0 F



Mash Notes: Simple single infusion mash for use with most modern well modified grains (about 95% of the time).
Carbonation and Storage

Carbonation Type: Kegged (Forced CO2) Volumes of CO2: 2.4
Pressure/Weight: 10.7 PSI Carbonation Used: -
Keg/Bottling Temperature: 39.0 F Age for: 7.0 days
Storage Temperature: 68.0 F

 

[brewnman]

thanks FSR402.

I brewed up this recipe and everything went smooth! My OG was 1.051. I don't know how good/bad that is (i haven't spent any time studying efficiency calculations yet, more working on technique.) . The wort tasted great! nice and hoppy. Doing this a second time went very smooth vs my 1st batch.

I had one question about the 'Dry hop 14 days' I added 1oz of hops to my primary fermenter. I am going on vacation for a couple weeks and figured it would be a good time to dry hop. I normally dry hop in my secondary (doing extracts in the past). My question is i have read there are negatives to dry hopping in your primary like the fermentation will remove some of the hop flavor etc.. My question is can i dry hop in the secondary as well? I have 1oz of Centennial now and figured it couldn't hurt to add it to my secondary?

 

[WBC]

Dry hoping in the primary is fine as long as the blowoff activity has slowed down (ie: 3 to 5 days). Just let it go 2 weeks total time in the primary (or longer if you desire). I do not use a secondary for ales any more.

 

[Ó Flannagáin]

Congratz! Welcome to the AG world, sounds like you are rocking it. I can't even do an AG in under 4 hours yet lol

 

[FSR402]

thanks FSR402.

I brewed up this recipe and everything went smooth! My OG was 1.051. I don't know how good/bad that is (i haven't spent any time studying efficiency calculations yet, more working on technique.) . The wort tasted great! nice and hoppy. Doing this a second time went very smooth vs my 1st batch.

I had one question about the 'Dry hop 14 days' I added 1oz of hops to my primary fermenter. I am going on vacation for a couple weeks and figured it would be a good time to dry hop. I normally dry hop in my secondary (doing extracts in the past). My question is i have read there are negatives to dry hopping in your primary like the fermentation will remove some of the hop flavor etc.. My question is can i dry hop in the secondary as well? I have 1oz of Centennial now and figured it couldn't hurt to add it to my secondary?

If you are like me and LOVE big hop beers then heck yeah I would rack it over and let it sit on an oz for 2 more weeks. As far as fermenting and dry hopping at the same time, I have no idea. I have never done it.

If I were you I would cold crash this for 2-3 days before keg/bottle to clear it up nice.

1.051 would give you high 60's for eff.
This brew was my worst for eff. all my others are 80-90%.

 

[ohiobrewtus]

4 hours on your first AG is pretty impressive. I bet it took me 10-12 brews to get to a 5 gallon session in 4 hours or less.

 

[98EXL]

I think a big help in getting the AG batch time down has a lot to do with OCD!

Ever since my first AG batch, I couldn't just sit around and not clean up, not prepare for the next step etc. I literally am always waiting on the next step to finish and I'm ready for the next....that has seemed to help out a lot time-wise.

 

[Tribe Fan]

I think a big help in getting the AG batch time down has a lot to do with OCD!

LOL.... that's just what I was thinking. What do you guys do for a hobby?

 

[98EXL]

LOL.... that's just what I was thinking. What do you guys do for a hobby?

I wrench on cars, go to the movies, ski, watch football, like to travel....and things that have to do with beer

 

[TexLaw]

As far as fermenting and dry hopping at the same time, I have no idea. I have never done it.

Adding dry hops before fermentation is complete is a waste of hops. The CO2 coming off the beer will scrub away much of the fresh hop aroma, which comes from volatile compounds. Yeah, it won't get rid of all of it, but much of it.

Wait and add dry hops after you rack and after the beer sits in the secondary for at least a couple days to let fermentation complete or just to gas out a little more.


TL