First all grain in years

[AiredAle]

Just finished my first AG in ten years. You folks are responsible for seducing me away from extract brewing. It went really well, though I had a struggle getting my mash-in water at the right temp. I forgot to account for the cooling effect of the cooler itself... Doh.

Anyway, I now have five gallons of Beerfan's SNPA clone in the fermenter, and I hit all my numbers except for the above and the fact that I boiled off 1/2 gallon more than I expected. No problem, made it up with left over hot water from the batch sparge water. Which, by the way I found much less stressful than fly sparging (from my previous foray into AG brewing).

It took me 7 hours from start up to clean up, and my normal extract plus steeping grains takes me 5 hours. We'll see if the extra time is worth it.

I did notice that throughout the brew day I was less rushed than I get doing an extract brew, for some reason. Anyone else notice this?

 

[EdWort]

Welcome to the club, The All Grain Club. All Grain brewing changed my life. Man, it is so different and SO SO SO MUCH BETTER! (sorry, I'm a flaming EAC).

I'm only rushed when SWMBO is in a foul mood, but a couple of glasses of Apfelwein takes care of that every time.

Congrats !

 

[RichBrewer]

Welcome back to the AG world. It sounds like you did quite well.
Be sure to pre heat your tun before you add your strike water and another good trick is to over shoot your mash in temp by a few degrees and let the water cool to your target before you add the grain.

 

[AiredAle]

EdWort, for months now I've been wondering what EAC stands for, pray tell, what is it?

RichBrewer, good advice, thanks, I'll definitely be doing that, running up and down stairs from the basement brewery to the kitchen gas stove to boil water was not much fun. I hadn't set up my burner yet, was just using my electric heated cornie HLT for mash water. I think I can see what I need to do next time.

 

[Beerrific]

EdWort, for months now I've been wondering what EAC stands for, pray tell, what is it?

This is where it started:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=18679

This was before my time...I read almost the entire thread to figure it out

 

[AiredAle]

Thanks Beerrific, very entertaining.

 

[EdWort]

Just remember, those who seek EAC status, shall not find it.

You must be chosen.

 

[the_Roqk]

Just remember, those who seek EAC status, shall not find it.

You must be chosen.

Or... " Those that think,....therefore they are!....

 

[AiredAle]

Now that I know what it is, I would never presume to seek EAC-hood, rather I suspect it will creep up behind and seize one when one's guard is down. I wonder though, does Moshiach realize how immortalized his attemped insult has become?

 

[malkore]

I did notice that throughout the brew day I was less rushed than I get doing an extract brew, for some reason. Anyone else notice this?

keep in mind i'm only getting starting with PM brewing...but I'd say the slower, more patient process of mashing, vs. adding extract and worrying about boilover or scorching it...is why it felt more relaxing. You got to get into the flow of brewing for a couple hours before any water was even boiled.

 

[AiredAle]

Malkore,

You could be right. I'd get pretty busy setting up the keggle, opening malt cans, draining and rinsing them, weighting LME, DME and steeping grain, heating water, weighting water treatment gypsum, getting the LME dissolved, the DME dissolved, boiling it all up, getting CFC sanitized and ready, and so forth. Crap, I forgot the hops and the Irish Moss. Now I need to sanitize the fermenter... I get the point.

So the slower start of mashing in, and the hour for conversion to take place could be why it was so much more relaxing. Not to mention I always wanted to finish in as short a time as possible, since there are last winter's home improvement projects to finish, the lawn to mow, the boat to fix and, wait, I hear the QFU asking me what I'm doing, she wants me to go carpet shopping again, she thinks she knows (now) which one she really wants.

I love them dearly, but I'm damn glad my kids are grown and out of the house.