First all grain attempt

[penguin69]

I am looking to do my first all grain brew. Have been doing extract for about 2 years.

Can anyone recommend a nice easy recipe for a first attempt?
Much appreciated.


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[estricklin]

I would say brew what you like for your first AG. Since it is your first AG, I would probably stay away from cereal mash, decoctions and anything otherwise really sticky, just to be on the safe side. Other than that though, anything goes!

 

[estricklin]

I am looking to do my first all grain brew. Have been doing extract for about 2 years.

Can anyone recommend a nice easy recipe for a first attempt?
Much appreciated.


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I have tons of my own recipes, recipe books and some I've found on this forum that work great if your looking for something particular I'd be glad to help.

 

[penguin69]

Was looking for a hefe or IPA. Not sure if these are the best to start with. If not a nice summer ale or English pale ale.


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[bberg]

What type of AG process will you be doing?

I just switched over (my last brew) to BIAB for a Lemon Lime Hefe. Don't know how it is yet (still another week of fermenting), but so far it wasn't bad at all.

 

[pvpeacock]

Do a SMASH with Maris Otter or 2 Row and keep it simple. Up the grain amount from the recipe in anticipation of lower efficiency. Otherwise, relax, enjoy the experience and learn from your mistakes. Good luck.

 

[WhamFish]

I'd also say something with a low mash temp where you are basically looking for full fermentability for a nice dry finish. Like an american pale ale or an IPA. As opposed to something with a higher mash temp where you are trying to guard against the wort dipping down into beta-amylase temps. With the caveat that I would not suggest a belgian style since that will require special considerations.

The reason is: When you brew something where you are looking for mouth feel and residual sugar or even starch your going to want to maintain a mash temp and not let it go bellow that level. You'll need to increase the temp of the mash ton during run off and also have the wort hit the kettle and have the burner on so that the wort never goes below the mash temp you were shooting for. Thats not that difficult but it can be a pain to worry about on your first go.

In contrast, if you pick an American ale recipe (APA, ABA, AAA, AIPA) you can aim to mash at like 150-151 then just run it off into your kettle. You'll still sparge with water that is ~190 degrees aiming to increase the temp of the mash-tun but you will not need to obsess about it since you want a dry finish with these beers. In fact, you could even miss your initial mash temp (missing it low or high), end up mashing at the wrong temp for 20 min while you sort out how to correct the temp, then correct it and you'll just end up producing more fermentable wort. Also, you can let your mash go longer if your running around still trying to get your sparge water up to temp or weighing out stuff. Basically, there is room for you to F it up in any number of ways and it will still make great beer.

 

[Demus]

Was looking for a hefe or IPA. Not sure if these are the best to start with. If not a nice summer ale or English pale ale.


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Hefs can actually be a bit tricky. The wheat lacks a hull which can lead to a stuck mash. It's easily countered with a few handfuls of rice hulls, but there's another complication as well. To really get authentic flavors you need to step mash. That is, have several "rests" at different temperatures. It's not that hard but prob not the best first time.
IPA on the other hand is about as simple as it gets. Maybe do a recipe you've done before subbing the extract base for 2-row or marris otter.


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[WhamFish]

Maybe the american pale ale recipe from BCS would be a good place to start. Unless you can just grab a kit with the grains already prepped.

 

[WhamFish]

Hefs can actually be a bit tricky. The wheat lacks a hull which can lead to a stuck mash. It's easily countered with a few handfuls of rice hulls, but there's another complication as well. To really get authentic flavors you need to step mash. That is, have several "rests" at different temperatures. It's not that hard but prob not the best first time.
IPA on the other hand is about as simple as it gets. Maybe do a recipe you've done before subbing the extract base for 2-row or marris otter.


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I'd second this, I tried to do a wit early on and wish I hadn't, it wasn't a very good beer. Hefs, wheats and wits all need special consideration because they employ grains without diastatic power. Yes these beers aren't that difficult but they just aren't as forgiving as beers that are mostly base malt.

 

[WhamFish]

Honestly the best advice I can give you is to do the simplest recipe you can. A SMASH (Single Malt and Single Hop) would be perfect. The reason isn't that you can't do something else successfully, the reason is that you need to collect a lot of data for yourself on this batch so that you can apply it to your next batch. The less you have to worry about the more time you'll have to accomplish this.

 

[WhamFish]

I wish someone had told me to do all of these things:

Take the temperature of the strike water and then the mash temp after you mash in to calculate the temperature loss in your system at mash in. (This is a bit unique to your system and knowing this will make every brew day easier)

Take the temp every 15 min during the mash and find out how much heat you loss over the mash (I lose 1 degree per hour, you'll want to maybe over shoot mash temps from recipes in the future)

If you mash out, write down the temp of the water you put in your mash at the end and the new temp you reach.

Basically, take temps of everything and write them down like crazy. You'll want to know at some point in the future.

 

[penguin69]

Wow you guys are great. Thanks a bunch for all the info.

I do want to keep it simple so that I can focus more on the process and how my equipment works. I have kind of a unique setup and need to see if it will all work as planned.
Is there a place to find a couple SMASH beers o do I just pick any base malt and a hop to match?



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[Lgaddy44]

Do a SMASH with Maris Otter or 2 Row and keep it simple. Up the grain amount from the recipe in anticipation of lower efficiency. Otherwise, relax, enjoy the experience and learn from your mistakes. Good luck.

I would agree with this, especially the part of anticipating lower efficiency. It could take a handful of brews with your system before you can accurately calculate your efficiency. This can impact your brews in many ways. Are you milling your own grains or buying them already milled? The crush will also effect your brew process and final product. This can be a big factor in your efficiency.

I would also suggest taking notes. Try to document and follow the same process every time you brew. Until you get everything dialed in, there are a lot of variables. It's not a bad thing to treat it like a science project, and reduce or eliminate the number of variables you have.

All and all, it's not an overly complicated process (if it was, most of us probably wouldn't be doing it :cross: ) Have fun with it, and once you get it down pat, don't be afraid to research and try different methods. As with anything, there's not always one exclusive way to do things.

 

[WhamFish]

Wow you guys are great. Thanks a bunch for all the info.

I do want to keep it simple so that I can focus more on the process and how my equipment works. I have kind of a unique setup and need to see if it will all work as planned.
Is there a place to find a couple SMASH beers o do I just pick any base malt and a hop to match?



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Try something like:

12 Lbs Maris Otter
Mash at 151 for 60min with 3.75 gal of water

Mash out with 1 gal of 190 water

run this into your kettle.

then get like 4 gal of water at 170 and sparge until you hit 6.5 gal in the kettle

boil for 1 hour

Hops
Centennial 0.5 oz 60 min
Centennial 0.5 oz 30 min
Centennial 1 oz 10 min
Centennial 1 oz 0 min

Irish moss at 15 min

 

[WhamFish]

Pale malt will work instead of Maris Otter, do you have a way to check gravity? If so look for something like 1.048 pre-boil and 1.056 post boil.

Pitch WLP001 Wyeast1056 or Safale US-05

Standard good fermentation practices apply, try to do everything you can to keep it around/below 68F.