Hello all,
First of all, this forum has been very helpful in the past, and now that I have done my first all grain (last night), it will be even more so.
Last Night:
I decided to make my first all grain a Saison (my current favorite style). I recently acquired a keg. In order to cut the top off we tried plasma cutter (no work), cutting torch (to messy), and eventually a saw-z-all. It was a massive pain in the rear, and I'm pretty sure that it is made of aluminum rather than stainless steel. I am still waiting on a valve and bulkhead fitting. I realize now how useful that would have been. I purchased the Bayou Classic Jet cooker and a pair of ear plugs at Menards. Lastly for Christmas, I got a 10 Gallon cooler with false bottom.
I ended up moving the brew to a fellow home brewer's garage. The 20 degree weather and wind was making the boil a hassle. After I got my water heated up in the keg I realized that there was no way for me to get it in the cooler with out burning myself and spilling all over the place. I ended up pitchering it in and then trying to pour the remainder, with modest success. Something learned: a keg just taken off a Bayou Classic Jet Cooker will melt through a carpet square and make the place smell like burnt hair. After waiting the hour, it came time to sparge. I realized that I did not plan on getting water to the cooler for sparging. Also, I had drank a few Sierra Nevadas, so my mind was not working too quick. I had to heat in the 4.5 gallon kettle and pathetically pitcher it in.
eventually I had what I thought was something around 8 gallons of hot runnings. The initial hop additions went well, but I was thrown a loop when it came time to add the Saaz hop plug. Naturally the hop bag fell in the boil and got hops everywhere. The second plug just got thrown in with a few dejected profanities. It was too cold to use the outdoor water hydrant so I just let the whole keg sit out in the cold for an hour and then it was just barely warm to the touch. Poured it into my bucket fermenter and about crapped when i realized I only had about 4 gallons of wort. Said screw it, pitched my Saison yeast (first time using a starter), and had a glass of Boulevard Smoke Stack Saison.
Things learned
Get the bulkhead fitting and valve for your keggle!!!
Hot keggles are hot.
Get another keggle.
Use more sparge water!
Hop plugs are a pain.
Get wort chiller finished.
Metric thermometers suck.
All in all it was a ton of fun, and much easier than I thought. Any pointers are appreciated too.
First of all, this forum has been very helpful in the past, and now that I have done my first all grain (last night), it will be even more so.
Last Night:
I decided to make my first all grain a Saison (my current favorite style). I recently acquired a keg. In order to cut the top off we tried plasma cutter (no work), cutting torch (to messy), and eventually a saw-z-all. It was a massive pain in the rear, and I'm pretty sure that it is made of aluminum rather than stainless steel. I am still waiting on a valve and bulkhead fitting. I realize now how useful that would have been. I purchased the Bayou Classic Jet cooker and a pair of ear plugs at Menards. Lastly for Christmas, I got a 10 Gallon cooler with false bottom.
I ended up moving the brew to a fellow home brewer's garage. The 20 degree weather and wind was making the boil a hassle. After I got my water heated up in the keg I realized that there was no way for me to get it in the cooler with out burning myself and spilling all over the place. I ended up pitchering it in and then trying to pour the remainder, with modest success. Something learned: a keg just taken off a Bayou Classic Jet Cooker will melt through a carpet square and make the place smell like burnt hair. After waiting the hour, it came time to sparge. I realized that I did not plan on getting water to the cooler for sparging. Also, I had drank a few Sierra Nevadas, so my mind was not working too quick. I had to heat in the 4.5 gallon kettle and pathetically pitcher it in.
eventually I had what I thought was something around 8 gallons of hot runnings. The initial hop additions went well, but I was thrown a loop when it came time to add the Saaz hop plug. Naturally the hop bag fell in the boil and got hops everywhere. The second plug just got thrown in with a few dejected profanities. It was too cold to use the outdoor water hydrant so I just let the whole keg sit out in the cold for an hour and then it was just barely warm to the touch. Poured it into my bucket fermenter and about crapped when i realized I only had about 4 gallons of wort. Said screw it, pitched my Saison yeast (first time using a starter), and had a glass of Boulevard Smoke Stack Saison. Things learned
Get the bulkhead fitting and valve for your keggle!!!
Hot keggles are hot.
Get another keggle.
Use more sparge water!
Hop plugs are a pain.
Get wort chiller finished.
Metric thermometers suck.
All in all it was a ton of fun, and much easier than I thought. Any pointers are appreciated too.
