First batch of All-Grain complete!

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Tanagra

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 22, 2010
Messages
52
Reaction score
4
Location
Shelby Township
I brewed my first batch of beer yesterday!

I have some experience in wine-making, and decided that brewing beer during the off-season would put my equipment to good use. I found a very simple five gallon stout recipe online that had great reviews, and decided to dive right into All-Grain Brewing. My friend who has recently taken up extract brewing came by to help me out, and this was a first AG batch for either of us. I have to say that it went off VERY well and I am elated with the results thus far. I used the recipe below and deviated only slightly in that I did NOT use any gypsum, and I used .5tsp of moss.


Dry Stout Recipe

5lbs 2-Row Pale Malt
2lbs Flaked Barely
1lb Black Barley
2.25oz Goldings, East kent
.25tsp Moss
10grams Gypsum
Wyeast Irish Ale #1084



Some of the Highlights:

The smell from the moment the grain is stirred-in until the moment the hops are added is absolutely heavenly!
My mash temperature settled to 155.8° - I felt that was pretty good considering I was aiming for 154°. I did not attempt to adjust it.
I was shooting for a starting SG of 1.039 and actually measured 1.042 @ 65°.
The 'boil-over' after adding the hops was all contained in the pot - BARELY. No Mess, No Loss!


The Not-So-Proud Moments:

I was planning to mash-out at 168° for 10 minutes and then sparge, but I only mashed-out at 159° (a gross miscalculation on my part - and I wasn't even drinking yet!).
I ran out of sparging water EVEN THOUGH I planned to have WAY more than I would have EVER needed.


Other Thoughts:

Before embarking on this adventure, I had no idea that controlled, sustainable water temperatures were so critical. Apparently, having your mash temperature off by as little as 4° can yield unpleasant results. I recommend having a GOOD, QUALITY, and dead-balls ACCURATE thermometer - it is probably (in my mind at least) the single most important tool a homebrewer needs for proper conversion. Luckily, my friend brought his expensive thermapen and it was a godsend! Without it, hitting my strike temperatures would have been a shot in the dark.

When I bought all of my equipment at the local homebrew store last week, I thought that in terms of measuring temperature, a weld-less Brewmometer and a floating thermometer were all I needed. Boy was I wrong! What a joke that $6 floating 'thermometer' is (hard to call something that doesn't measure temperature a thermometer). Although reliable at room temperatures, at boiling, it was off by over 11°! Where my friends thermapen and my installed Brewmometer read 212°+/-0.7, this floating liquid 'thermometer' read over 223°! I let the pot slowly cool to 170° and took another reading - Brewmometer and Thermapen were nearly identical, while the floating 'thermometer' was off by 8°.

One thing I cannot stress enough at least in my extremely limited experience as a new homebrewer, second to a good thermometer, is to 'Be Prepared'! I even went as far as doing a 'dry-run' the night prior to brewing. I determined how long it takes to bring five gallons of water from 120° to 210°, connected and tested my wort-chilling equipment, and even practiced running hot water through the sparge for a while to get a feel for what an equalized ten-minute running gallon 'looks' like. Having some of this experience behind you, it is MUCH less stressful when the 'I need more sparge water - What Now?!?', or the 'I can't get six gallons of liquid to boil on this stove - What Now?!?' situations come up.

My primary is currently bubbling away, and I am anxious to see what my final SG will turn out to be. I plan to rack into the six gallon glass carboy at fourteen days, and into my five gallon Cornelius Keg fourteen days after that. I will keep you all updated as to my progress, and of course, I welcome all questions/comments/suggestions.

- Tanagra

Total Time: 5hrs, 10min (including setup and cleanup)
 
Congratulations! I've been thinking of making the other move - supplementing my brewing with some wine making :mug:

My first thought in moving from wine to beer was "I already have a fermentor bucket, some carboys, and a hydrometer... how much more equipment do I *really* need?"

In retrospect, I laugh in thinking I could've gotten away from this for under $300. Although certainly I 'could' have done it on-the-cheap, I wouldn't dream of leaving so many variables to chance. Besides, the equipment was pretty much a one-time purchase and can be amortized over the next 50 years. I can talk myself into buying just about ANYTHING once the word 'amortization' pops into my head.

I suspect that I will get more satisfaction from beer making than wine making. For one thing, I can enjoy the fruit of my labor much quicker.

- Tanagra
 
That recipe looks very similar to the Guinness "clone" I did last week. I'll probably rack to the secondary later tonight. I only used a half pound of roasted barley for mine and increased the 2-row. I don't know if Irish moss is really necessary as it's a stout and really won't matter to clear up. I also used Nottingham.

All-grain is great and really does not take much more time than extract. I've been averaging around 4-5 hours from start to cleanup.

Congrats on your first AG batch. You should try the Beamish stout recipe in Beer Captured, it's delicious. I thought I screwed that one up bad during the mash...turned out fantastic. That was actually my first AG batch as well.

Welcome to the obsession!
 
Actually, what I am really looking for are Caffrey's, Kilkenny, and Boddington's clone recipes to take up next. Since I already have my system setup for Irish Stouts (mixed blend / special faucet), I would like to take advantage of it.

I *did* find a clone recipe here and there, but I think I would take the suggestions of people on this site over any other. Does anyone have these All-Grain recipes and do they yield good results? If so, please share - I need to feed my obsession!

- Tanagra
 
There is a Boddington's clone recipe in Beer Captured, I've never tried it though. I thought there was also a Kilkenny's clone in there too, not positive.

I'll let you know how my stout turns out, since it is so similar to yours. I racked to the secondary yesterday, should be ready this weekend.

Speaking of creamer faucets and nitrogen blends, I had an Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout pushed through one of those setups last weekend and it was amazing.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top