tdbc2011
Well-Known Member
I brewed my first all grain today. It was great! It was an AHS Red IPA with Pacman yeast, 11.5 lbs of grain and a target SG of 1.059.
I raised my strike water to 170 hoping the grain would bring it down to 154 but it only brought it to 160 so I added a couple of cold bottles of water and got it to 157-8. I used a ratio of 1.25 quarts per lb and then added another 1.5 quarts because of the false bottom. The temp finely dropped to 154 but it took 20-30 minutes of the hour. When I raised the temp (direct heat), I recirculated using a quart measuring cup.
I did not know how much I should recirculate (vorlauf). So I probably did about 1.5 gallons. I had the valve open pretty good so it did not take long.
After an hour mash, I fly sparged with enough 170 degree water to get 6.75 gal (I was hoping to get 6.5 but turned the valved the wrong way). I tried to keep about an inch of water above the grain. I also tried to stay at a rate between 1pt and 1 qt per minute. I forgot to mark the time I started sparging so I do not know the exact rate. (I was using the stopwatch on my phone to time it using a measuring cup and spilled water on it an it quit. lol)
I checked the gravity at 3.5 gallons, 5 gallons and 6.75 gallons. At 6.75 gallons is was 1.011.
Using an online calculator, the efficiency was about 73%.
The boil took about 25 minutes longer but I did wait the last 15 minutes to put in the flavor hops, Irish moss, and yeast nutrient.
My SG was 1.060! I was excited that it was so close to the AHS target.
The yeast was harvested and washed from a cake on February 17. I made a 24 oz yeast starter the day before and it had about 24 hours to start. I pitched at 2:15 and I had airlock activity at 5:00! Pacman yeast is great!
Thanks for all of the help from all of you who post and answer all of the questions. If you have any suggestions on what I did wrong or how to improve, please let me know.
I raised my strike water to 170 hoping the grain would bring it down to 154 but it only brought it to 160 so I added a couple of cold bottles of water and got it to 157-8. I used a ratio of 1.25 quarts per lb and then added another 1.5 quarts because of the false bottom. The temp finely dropped to 154 but it took 20-30 minutes of the hour. When I raised the temp (direct heat), I recirculated using a quart measuring cup.
I did not know how much I should recirculate (vorlauf). So I probably did about 1.5 gallons. I had the valve open pretty good so it did not take long.
After an hour mash, I fly sparged with enough 170 degree water to get 6.75 gal (I was hoping to get 6.5 but turned the valved the wrong way). I tried to keep about an inch of water above the grain. I also tried to stay at a rate between 1pt and 1 qt per minute. I forgot to mark the time I started sparging so I do not know the exact rate. (I was using the stopwatch on my phone to time it using a measuring cup and spilled water on it an it quit. lol)
I checked the gravity at 3.5 gallons, 5 gallons and 6.75 gallons. At 6.75 gallons is was 1.011.
Using an online calculator, the efficiency was about 73%.
The boil took about 25 minutes longer but I did wait the last 15 minutes to put in the flavor hops, Irish moss, and yeast nutrient.
My SG was 1.060! I was excited that it was so close to the AHS target.
The yeast was harvested and washed from a cake on February 17. I made a 24 oz yeast starter the day before and it had about 24 hours to start. I pitched at 2:15 and I had airlock activity at 5:00! Pacman yeast is great!
Thanks for all of the help from all of you who post and answer all of the questions. If you have any suggestions on what I did wrong or how to improve, please let me know.
