First all grain brew!

[Egmonster]

My first all grain brew has gone great so far. Many things learned on here made the brew day a success. Several lesions learned.

My home made counter flow worked better than I expected. Went from boiling to 65, whole 6 gallons in 6 minutes. Cold water here though.

Made the Zombie Dust clone off of here but forgot the carafoam. Still it smells awesome. Just put it in the keg with a carbonation stone. Blowing it down to depth as we speak. I hope to be drinking it for New Years.

Can't say enough good things about this community. Lots to learn here. Cheers!

Oh and my sister just gave me two pounds of hop pellets. One pound Galaxy one pound Crystal. Now I have to find beer to put it in, any suggestions? Love hoppy ipa.

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1451533664.690996.jpgView attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1451533689.992013.jpgView attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1451533723.931210.jpgView attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1451533735.899516.jpg

 

[RM-MN]

Forgetting the Carafoam isn't a problem, if the rest of your process was good you will have plenty of material for making a head on the beer and if your mash temp was over about 152 your beer will still have the body that it needs without the Carafoam.

What yeast did you use for the fermentation and what temperature did it ferment at? How long did you leave it before kegging?

 

[jschein]

Welcome and great setup.
Keep an eye out on the co2 always have a back-up for special occasions like the first taste of all grain
Happy NEW Years!

 

[Egmonster]

I used a ohmbrew fermostat with a fermwrap heater. Also a thermowell. I read how important temperature control is during fermentation. I kept it right in the 64.5-65.5 range for 5 days. Then up to 70 for three days for dry hopping and finishing. Then cold crash for 2 and 2 finning with gelatin.

I rushed it a bit but I wanted to drink it for New Years. I started carbonation with a stone early yesterday. Started at 5 psi and raised it by 2 an hour till I hit 14. Left that overnight. Tasted it today and it's delicious!! Very aromatic but less bitter than I expected. Almost totally clear but not quite sparking.

I lost a lot of foam out of the blow off tube initially. Does this lower bitterness??

I mashed at 152 but being my first time it probably went down to 149 before I had to add a little heat and I overshot to 154 for a bit. I learned a lot during this first all grain. I did brew in a bag.

Very excited to be drinking this tonight! Hopefully. Lol.View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1451581848.956578.jpg

 

[Egmonster]

Oh and thank you for the compliments! Good plan on the co2 backup. I'm in a small town with co2 being not very easy to get.

Happy New Years to y'all!

 

[Egmonster]

Eff it! I'm getting into it! Can't wait! Cheers all! View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1451598152.961915.jpg

 

[Elkobrewer]

Congrats on your first all grain. Looks good.

 

[HomeDrewBrew]

Love the colour!

 

[Egmonster]

One major problem encountered. The wife likes it!!! Bloody hell! I thought I put enough hops in it to keep her out of it. She doesn't like beer.

Thanks you guys!

 

[RM-MN]

One major problem encountered. The wife likes it!!! Bloody hell! I thought I put enough hops in it to keep her out of it. She doesn't like beer.

Thanks you guys!

Congratulations on making a beer that your wife likes. With her approval, additional equipment and grains won't be a major source of contention. You've done well.

 

[Egmonster]

Well..... I drank what I figure was about 3 litres last night. A bit rough around the edges but not too bad. Hehe. Good stuff!

 

[JosephN]

How did you make your counter flow set up? Could you maybe go through how you made it with us?

 

[Brentski]

Well done! Sorry about your wife's interest, my wife drinks wine and "swears" she's not the one drinking all my good brews, (I hope she's not right behind me). The pictures are excellent, your chiller looks very clever but I can't make out the details.

 

[Egmonster]

Sorry for the long delay in responding to your question JosephN. I got called back to work in the Middle East.

It was super easy to make. I based it on a video I found on YouTube but changed it to suit my locally available materials. I didn't bother with the spiral in the video and it works fine. Here is the video.

http://youtu.be/DVf-lTFpR2c

I highly recommend the build. It works fabulous and was pretty cheap to build.

 

[Egmonster]

I used a solder on 3/4 to 1/2 to 1/2 t though. Super cheap and easy.