First all grain.

[Morri896]

Just did my first all grain last night, decided to keep it simple and do an all grain version of the last extract batch I did. It's a blonde ale. 10lb 2 row, 1lb caramel 20. 1oz williamette 4.2%aa at 60minutes, 1 packet us05 rehydrated.
Target mash temp was 155F, heated strike water to 166 but after adding the grains the temp was about 149 so I boiled another gallon to get it to 155. Total strike water was 5 gallons. Mashed 90 minutes. Then did a 4 gallon batch sparge with 170F water. 7 gallon boil volume. 60 minute boil. Target og was 1.055, actual was 1.053.

 

[CascadesBrewer]

Being able to compare the same recipe done extract vs all-grain should be a great educational experience. Nice to see that you hit your target gravity so close.

As far as mash temps...did you pre-heat your cooler? Once you figure out your equipment, you should be able to hit that number more consistently.

 

[cactusgarrett]

Congrats, and welcome to the world of AG! Well done, in rolling with the punches when your temp was too low; sounds like you were calm and equipped to handle the hurdle. Doesn't get much easier than that! Missing your target OG by 0.002 is negligible, so now continue to work on consistency. Consistency in your numbers is much more important than efficiency.

As Cascades suggested, I would assume the temp difference was due to a lack of pre-heating the mashtun. NEXT time, for example, if you need to hit 155°F by adding 166°F (or whatever your calculator suggests) strike water, add ~170-175°F water to your mashtun and allow it to pre-heat before adding your grain.

 

[Morri896]

Being able to compare the same recipe done extract vs all-grain should be a great educational experience. Nice to see that you hit your target gravity so close.

As far as mash temps...did you pre-heat your cooler? Once you figure out your equipment, you should be able to hit that number more consistently.

I put the stike water in and let it sit while I went to grabed the grains. I think next time I'm gonna let it sit a bit longer and check the temp before I put the grains in.

 

[Morri896]

Congrats, and welcome to the world of AG! Well done, in rolling with the punches when your temp was too low; sounds like you were calm and equipped to handle the hurdle. Doesn't get much easier than that! Missing your target OG by 0.002 is negligible, so now continue to work on consistency. Consistency in your numbers is much more important than efficiency.

As Cascades suggested, I would assume the temp difference was due to a lack of pre-heating the mashtun. NEXT time, for example, if you need to hit 155°F by adding 166°F (or whatever your calculator suggests) strike water, add ~170-175°F water to your mashtun and allow it to pre-heat before adding your grain.

Do you mean adding the 170 water to preheat it and then dump it out? Or do you mean in addition to the strike water?

 

[cactusgarrett]

Do you mean adding the 170 water to preheat it and then dump it out? Or do you mean in addition to the strike water?

Nope, leave it in. It'll go from 170°F in your pot, to about 166°F once your MLT pre-heats, then to 155°F once you add your grain.

 

[Jag75]

Nice man ! Congrats on your first all grain......many more to come

 

[Morri896]

Also the reason in the one photo I'm draining into a measuring cup is I started to get nervous about how much it was getting aerated falling from that high. Is that a concern at that point? I'm going to try and set something up so that my mash tun isn't so far above the kettle, but that's what I had.

 

[McKnuckle]

You're using a propane burner inside?

 

[Morri896]

You're using a propane burner inside?

Open garage.

 

[cactusgarrett]

Also the reason in the one photo I'm draining into a measuring cup is I started to get nervous about how much it was getting aerated falling from that high. Is that a concern at that point? I'm going to try and set something up so that my mash tun isn't so far above the kettle, but that's what I had.

Splashing isn't great, and I would avoid it if possible. Without opening the LODO (low dissolved oxygen) can of worms, generally what would result is called "hot side aeration", and this is not typically seen on the homebrew scale.

 

[CascadesBrewer]

Also the reason in the one photo I'm draining into a measuring cup is I started to get nervous about how much it was getting aerated falling from that high. Is that a concern at that point? I'm going to try and set something up so that my mash tun isn't so far above the kettle, but that's what I had.

I grew up reading to avoid hot side aeration...but I hear it is not really a problem and I see those recirculating systems that spray the wort over the top of the grain bed the entire time during the mash. I BIAB now, but when I used a lauter tun I had a hose from the output that reached into my kettle. At a minimum, you probably want to avoid having sticky wort splashing around.

 

[rburrelli]

T

I grew up reading to avoid hot side aeration...but I hear it is not really a problem and I see those recirculating systems that spray the wort over the top of the grain bed the entire time during the mash. I BIAB now, but when I used a lauter tun I had a hose from the output that reached into my kettle. At a minimum, you probably want to avoid having sticky wort splashing around.

Spraying wort on the mash is not on the hot side. Hot side is boil and after.

 

[cactusgarrett]

T


Spraying wort on the mash is not on the hot side. Hot side is boil and after.

After the boil is cold side. Mash and boil are hot side.

 

[Soulshine2]

Also the reason in the one photo I'm draining into a measuring cup is I started to get nervous about how much it was getting aerated falling from that high. Is that a concern at that point? I'm going to try and set something up so that my mash tun isn't so far above the kettle, but that's what I had.

not at all. The worst time it could get any aeration is post fermentation. If you did that preboil ,its fine.
Build yourself a gravity rig so that all you have to do to transfer is open a valve on each consecutive vessel.

 

[Morri896]

not at all. The worst time it could get any aeration is post fermentation. If you did that preboil ,its fine.
Build yourself a gravity rig so that all you have to do to transfer is open a valve on each consecutive vessel.

I will be before my next batch. Using my 5 gallon kettle for a hlt, pretty difficult to get the water into the mash tun when it's more than shoulder height lol.

 

[Soulshine2]

I will be before my next batch. Using my 5 gallon kettle for a hlt, pretty difficult to get the water into the mash tun when it's more than shoulder height lol.

i do mine one gallon at a time. its not a big deal, takes a while to get to strike heat anyway , meanwhile I'm milling my grain and setting up my immersion chiller . setting my hops out and writing down my addition times .

 

[Morri896]

So lastweekend I bottled this batch, and when I addedmy priming sugar I got a very thick, creamy layer of foam on top. I've never seen that before. Is that an all grain thing, or something else.

 

[Morri896]

Here are some pictures.

 

[OnePlate]

How did you add the priming sugar? The usual way is to dissolve it in a small amount of simmering water to sterilize it and when it's cooled, put it in the bottling bucket and rack the beer onto it.

If you just tossed the sugar into the beer, i could see it acting as nucleation points for the co2 that's still in solution. You should be fine, just that your beer might be slightly under-carbed in the end.

 

[Morri896]

How did you add the priming sugar? The usual way is to dissolve it in a small amount of simmering water to sterilize it and when it's cooled, put it in the bottling bucket and rack the beer onto it.

If you just tossed the sugar into the beer, i could see it acting as nucleation points for the co2 that's still in solution. You should be fine, just that your beer might be slightly under-carbed in the end.

I did just measure out the sugar and dump it in. I kinda figured that was what caused it. But I've just never seen it do that on any of my extract batches. I tried to stir it in, but with no effect. It eventually settled on it's own.

 

[Soulshine2]

Here are some pictures.View attachment 632122View attachment 632123

nice head ,lol

 

[Morri896]

Beer turned out pretty nice. Not sure why but it has a less "belgiany" flavor to itthan the extract version. Everything else was the same.

 

[Soulshine2]

Thats a bit dark to be a Blonde ale but it sure looks good. More like an Amber. My Maerzen looks like that, actually. Do I see a few floaters/sediment or is that just the carbonation in the bottom?

 

[Morri896]

Thats a bit dark to be a Blonde ale but it sure looks good. More like an Amber. My Maerzen looks like that, actually. Do I see a few floaters/sediment or is that just the carbonation in the bottom?

That's just the carb. It's also not as dark in person. The extract version is closer in color to what the picture looks like. It did turn out darker than I had hoped though.