First brew day has arrived!

[jbsayers]

Picked up my grains from the LHBS about 2 hours ago and I am about 40 minutes into my first brew day. Yes my very first brew is all grain. I am jumping right in. Very excited! The dough-in went well and it smells delicious! My sparge water is heating up and my airlock, funnel and huge syringe (to pull a sample for OG) is sanitizing as I type.

I am taking some pics as I go so I will post those later. So far so good! Wish me luck!

JB

 

[menerdari]

yay

 

[ScoobyBrew]

How did it go?

 

[jbsayers]

How did it go?

Still going really well. Just started the boil. The wort smells so friggin' delicious! I was 2 degrees off on my target mash temp but I stirred vigourously for a couple mins and got it right where I wanted it. Didn't lose a single degree for the hour of mashing afterwards. The sparge water hit target temp right when I needed it to and seems to have gone well. Holy sh*t this is fun! :rockin:

I'll report more after the boil is complete.

JB

 

[ScoobyBrew]

Lol, I just realized my time its set wrong, it was saying you posted that yesterday. Oops

That's awesome, my brew day last Saturday was a disaster with my mash tun. Good luck, you're halfway there

 

[jbsayers]

So this might sound weird but there is no way I am the only one.

I just decanted the "beer" off of my starter yeast. Out of curiosity, I tasted it. Now, it was just some light DME but I swear it tastes like a flat blue moon. SWMBO doesn't taste it, but I swear it tastes the same. I'm drinking it. If my starter tastes this good, I can't wait to try the beer I am making! lol

JB

 

[jbsayers]

Here are some pics.

Brew day seems to have gone really well...especially since it was my very first brew. The only big surprise was that I was expecting an OG of 1.055 but ended up with 1.065 (yes I corrected for temp). I even checked again just after transferring to the fermenter. Maybe I made a mistake when I was using BeerSmith. I am new to that as well.

The color looks spot on from what I was expecting/hoping and the wort tastes really good. Excited to wake up tomorrow and see if she is fermenting away! Here is the recipe in case anybody wants to chime in.


8 lbs. - Maris Otter
1 lb. - Flaked Oats
1/2 lb. - Crystal Malt (60L)
1/2 lb. - Chocolate Malt
1/4 lb. - Roasted Barley
Hop Schedule (29.1 IBU)
1.50 oz. - UK Goldings - 60 min
Yeast
White Labs Irish Ale Yeast (WLP004) - 1L starter
Mash/Sparge/Boil
Mash at 156° for 60 min (3.875 gals)
Sparge at 156° (3 gals)

Thanks all!
JB

 

[jbsayers]

One question, I had no way to really measure how much wort I ended up with. That last picture is a 6 gal BB. Would you guys say that is roughly 5 gallons?

Thanks,
JB

 

[ScoobyBrew]

Wow, it looks and sounds great. I have never use 1 of those bottles so I'm not sure the amount but it looks to be about 5 gallons.

Out of curiosity what is your efficiency on beerSmith? my experiences with BIAB did not go so well. you seem to have gotten great efficiency pulling that OG.

 

[jbsayers]

I set the efficiency at 72% for the calculations. When I entered in the OG reading I measured, the measured efficiency came out to be over 85% which seems really high to me, especially considering it was my very first brew, lol. Maybe I am a natural and all those years in the micro lab really paid off.

JB

 

[Wort_Cleaver]

I use Better Bottles to ferment and judging by that picture, I'd say you're right around 5 gallons there, maybe a tad under. When you're done with the bottle and have it cleaned out, fill it with water one gallon (or half gallon) at a time and use a sharpie to mark the water level after each addition. This way you'll easily know how much liquid you have without any guesswork.

Also, if you are a little below your estimated volume, it might explain the higher gravity reading than expected. Expected amount of sugars extracted in less water = higher gravity. Just a thought.

 

[jbsayers]

I use Better Bottles to ferment and judging by that picture, I'd say you're right around 5 gallons there, maybe a tad under. When you're done with the bottle and have it cleaned out, fill it with water one gallon (or half gallon) at a time and use a sharpie to mark the water level after each addition. This way you'll easily know how much liquid you have without any guesswork.

Thanks for the info and the advice!

JB

 

[jbsayers]

Hard to see but 8 hours since pitching and she is churning away!

JB

 

[beerman0001]

Looks like you had about 4.75 gal in there. Should turn out great.

 

[jbsayers]

Looks like you had about 4.75 gal in there. Should turn out great.

That would explain the OG reading. It has been about 9 hours since transfer and pitching. Is it too late to add a little water to it to bring it to 5gal or should I just leave it as is at this point?

Thanks again for all the input and guidance.

JB

 

[Glynn]

next time fill your brew kettle with 5.5 gals of water and get a racking cane and stick it in and mark it at the water line. this way you can dip it in near the end of the boil to see where you are

 

[sweed]

Leave it as is I say. Looks like a great Oatmeal Stout? Congrats on your first ever brew and AG. I'm still not ready (need equipment) for AG, but eventually.

 

[jbsayers]

Having a heck of a time keeping this fermentation cool! Swamp cooler with fan and ice and it's still creeping to the mid 70s.

JB

 

[beerman0001]

what temp did you pitch your yeast at?

 

[jbsayers]

what temp did you pitch your yeast at?

73 degrees F.

 

[Pratzie]

Congrats man, it looks great. I just started home brewing with my first batch in June. I have four different beer batches and one cider either bottled or in a fermenter. I still get giddy when I see the yeast working and that airlock bubbling. Great feeling isn't it?

 

[beerman0001]

Next batch get it down to the mid 60s then pitch. Then try and maintain that temp.

 

[jbsayers]

Next batch get it down to the mid 60s then pitch. Then try and maintain that temp.

Will do. I got it down to 67-68 no too long after I posted this morning and it's been hovering there since, thank God.

JB

 

[jbsayers]

So I left my swamp cooler alone all night and checked on it this morning. The temp fell to 54-56 from 66ish. Any problems I should expect from that?

 

[beerman0001]

Thats getting too cold. It is best practice to maintain a consistent temp during fermentation for most styles of beer.

 

[jbsayers]

Thats getting too cold. It is best practice to maintain a consistent temp during fermentation for most styles of beer.

Not sure if you were trying to help or just pointing out what I did not do successfully. I didn't expect the large temp swing overnight.

Regardless, should I expect and significant negative affects from this temp swing? I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary visually. Still fermenting, no yeast falling out of suspension, airlock bubbling away with a delicious odor. Not worried per se, just curious.

Thanks
JB

 

[beerman0001]

I'm sure I was trying to help. If the ferment is still going strong that is great but if it stays at a low temp it might not finish up.

 

[beerman0001]

WLP004 Irish Ale Yeast
This is the yeast from one of the oldest stout producing breweries in the world. It produces a slight hint of diacetyl, balanced by a light fruitiness and slight dry crispness. Great for Irish ales, stouts, porters, browns, reds and a very interesting pale ale.
Attenuation: 69-74%
Flocculation: Medium to High
Optimum Fermentation Temperature: 65-68°F
Alcohol Tolerance: Medium-High

This is why I was worried about that low of a temp.

 

[JordanThomas]

I wouldn't worry TOO much about that temp drop. Are you measuring the temp of your room or the liquid itself? They can be 5-10 degrees apart.

 

[jbsayers]

WLP004 Irish Ale Yeast
This is the yeast from one of the oldest stout producing breweries in the world. It produces a slight hint of diacetyl, balanced by a light fruitiness and slight dry crispness. Great for Irish ales, stouts, porters, browns, reds and a very interesting pale ale.
Attenuation: 69-74%
Flocculation: Medium to High
Optimum Fermentation Temperature: 65-68°F
Alcohol Tolerance: Medium-High

This is why I was worried about that low of a temp.

Really appreciate it. It only was that low for a few hours. We'll see how it goes. Thanks.

I wouldn't worry TOO much about that temp drop. Are you measuring the temp of your room or the liquid itself? They can be 5-10 degrees apart.

Adhesive thermometer stuck to the better bottle.