First time all grain brew

[Hbrew01]

Hi,

I've done a few beer/cider recipes using kits and l'm planning on doing my first all-grain brew this week but I'm feeling pretty lost. I apologize if this is in the wrong section, please let me know if I should post this elsewhere.

I am planning on doing this recipe: Cherry Hefeweizen - All Grain Weizen/Weissbier Homebrew Beer Recipe - Brewer's Friend

I have all of the ingredients along with a 5 gallon brew pot, a big mesh bag, a 6 gallon bucket and a 5 gallon carboy.

From what I understand, I will bring 4.25 gallons of water to 155 F, then pour all of my grains into the mesh bag in the pot, cover/wrap it and let it sit for 60 minutes. I will then take the grain bag out, place it aside, then transfer the wort to the bucket. I will then bring 4.75 gallons of water to 155 F and pour that over the grain bag to rinse off the excess sugars. I will then combine the wort from the mash and the sugary grainy water from the sparge in the brew pot, then bring it to 170 F. Then I add the Tettnanger hops and let it boil for 60 minutes. After the 60 minutes, I add 1 LB honey and the Hallertauer hops, then cool the wort down to room temp. Once it's room temp, I'll transfer it to my carboy, shake it all up to get oxygen in there, and add my yeast. I'll let it sit until it reaches primary, rack into another carboy, add the cherry concentrate and 1lb honey. After secondary is done, I'll bottle it.

Does this sound right? Am I way off? Will it be carbonated properly if I follow these steps? I appreciate the help in advance.

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

I will bring 4.25 gallons of water to 155 F, then pour all of my grains into the mesh bag

Did the recipe state a mash temperature? With the mash temperature, you will want to estimate a "strike water" temperature. When the water reaches "strike water" temperature, add the grains. The grains will heat up (and the water will cool down) to mash temperature.

Am I way off?

In my opinion, no. Beer will be made.

 

[Hbrew01]

No, I don't think it mentions a mash temperature. But most videos of all-grain hefeweizens that I've watched seem to aim for roughly 155F for single infusion or 110 for step.

Any suggestions/things I should look out for to increase my chances of making something good?

 

[Konstantianus]

If your brew pot is only 5G you're not going to be able to boil ~7.5G of wort. Also if your carboy is 5G and the recipe is stated for 5.5G you're going to have a little excess wort and a blowoff tube is probably going to be needed with a tiny amount of headspace.

 

[Maxkling]

If your shooting for a mash temperature of 155 then you will need to use a strike temperature calculator. If you have 155 degree water and add your grains to that, it will drop the temperature much lower than the target.

 

[Hbrew01]

Ahh good call. Will be sure to check that before I start. Thanks!

 

[RCope]

So, with 11.5 lbs of grain, I think 9 gallons (total) of strike/sparge is about a gallon and a half more than I would need. Of course your boil off rate may be greater than mine. I do a full volume BIAB so it may be a bit different. But that's a lot of water...

And to reach a mash temp around 153, 155 of strike temp is a little low...but, again, everybody's system is different so you need to see what works for you. With a full volume BIAB and 11.5 lbs of grain, my strike water would be about 157.5 to hit 153.

 

[Hbrew01]

157 sounds about right, I'll aim somewhere around there so that I can hit just above 150. As for the amount of water, how much would you suggest?

 

[RCope]

Well, you are sparging a BIAB so my experience may not be yours. But it's easier to top off than boil off . So, maybe a 4 gallon initial mash. But as I reread your initial post, you only have a 5 gallon pot! Mine is 11 gallons...So maybe see what you have after mashing and a good squeeze..if there is room then maybe sparge with a gallon or two. You need some room for boiling...What is your goal volume for the fermenter?

You need some head space so a 4 or 4.5 gallon post boil volume would be appropriate.

 

[Hbrew01]

Yeah I was hoping for somewhere between 4 and 5 gallons post boil volume. Is it possible to sparge with less than the 4.75 gallons and still achieve the same result? As it stands, I plan on boiling the wort in the 5 gallon pot along with a 2 gallon pot and an addition 1 gallon pot if needed.

 

[Konstantianus]

*This is what I would do if I were in your shoes*

I'd mash with 3.5 Gallons of water which will give you ~1.25 Qt. per Lb. of grain. After mashing you'll end up with about 2 - 2.5 gallons of wort due to grain absorption. At that point sparge with 2.5 gallons of 170°F water to fill your brew pot to about 4.5 gallons. You'd have to watch your brew pot like a hawk so it won't boil over. I'll assume the boiloff will be about a gallon per hour. After the boil is finished cool the wort to pitching temp and transfer to the carboy. Near the end of the main boil get about a gallon and a half or so of water and boil it to sanitize it and then cool it to pitching temp as well and add it to your carboy to bring the total volume to 4.5 gallons. I would still recommend a blowoff tube because 1/2 gallons of headspace is not a lot for a 5G batch. Your IBU's will be off but I think its a better option than splitting your boil into 3 vessels and trying to estimate hop amounts between the three as well as the final volume due to boiloff rates.

 

[RCope]

Sparging for BIAB is definitely optional...and another step that most of us don't do. A one gallon boil off rate is acceptable for a full volume BIAB. That plus whatever your hop absorption will give you your final volume. I encourage a gentle boil, especially since your pot is small.

So, if I was to try and brew 4.5 gallons of wort in your 5 gallon pot...I'd mash in 4 gallons with your 11.5 lbs of grain. That will probably max out your pot. Then drain and squeeze as much wort out as possible. See where you are. Probably 3.7 gallons. Then, in a separate pot, batch sparge with 2.5 gallons more. Drain and squeeze... whatever you get add to the large pot until you get to 4.5 gallons.

Watch your boil carefully and deal with any boil over by spraying some water on it and lowering the heat as necessary. Add your hops per schedule, remove from the heat at 10 minutes and add your honey, stirring to minimize scorching. Put back on the heat and resume boiling. Add your flameout hop addition, then chill.

If you have more wort than what fits into your pot, you can just maintain it at 170+ for a few minutes in your smaller pot (or boil if you want), then add it to the fermentor at the end.

 

[RCope]

You need a bigger pot

 

[Transamguy77]

When I did BIAB I did a dunk sparge in a 2 gallon pot, I had a 7.5 gallon pot and started with 5 gallons, if you start with 4.75 gallons you’ll overflow the pot when you add your grains.

I would start with 4 gallons and Dunk sparge in your 2 gallon pot and just slowly over the course of the boil add that 2 gallons in so that you end up with the end volume your looking for

 

[Hbrew01]

Sparging for BIAB is definitely optional...and another step that most of us don't do. A one gallon boil off rate is acceptable for a full volume BIAB. That plus whatever your hop absorption will give you your final volume. I encourage a gentle boil, especially since your pot is small.

So, if I was to try and brew 4.5 gallons of wort in your 5 gallon pot...I'd mash in 4 gallons with your 11.5 lbs of grain. That will probably max out your pot. Then drain and squeeze as much wort out as possible. See where you are. Probably 3.7 gallons. Then, in a separate pot, batch sparge with 2.5 gallons more. Drain and squeeze... whatever you get add to the large pot until you get to 4.5 gallons.

Watch your boil carefully and deal with any boil over by spraying some water on it and lowering the heat as necessary. Add your hops per schedule, remove from the heat at 10 minutes and add your honey, stirring to minimize scorching. Put back on the heat and resume boiling. Add your flameout hop addition, then chill.

If you have more wort than what fits into your pot, you can just maintain it at 170+ for a few minutes in your smaller pot (or boil if you want), then add it to the fermentor at the end.

This is exactly what I was looking for, thank you for the help! You mention that with BIAB, sparging is often skipped. What does your process look like if you skip sparging?

 

[Hbrew01]

*This is what I would do if I were in your shoes*

I'd mash with 3.5 Gallons of water which will give you ~1.25 Qt. per Lb. of grain. After mashing you'll end up with about 2 - 2.5 gallons of wort due to grain absorption. At that point sparge with 2.5 gallons of 170°F water to fill your brew pot to about 4.5 gallons. You'd have to watch your brew pot like a hawk so it won't boil over. I'll assume the boiloff will be about a gallon per hour. After the boil is finished cool the wort to pitching temp and transfer to the carboy. Near the end of the main boil get about a gallon and a half or so of water and boil it to sanitize it and then cool it to pitching temp as well and add it to your carboy to bring the total volume to 4.5 gallons. I would still recommend a blowoff tube because 1/2 gallons of headspace is not a lot for a 5G batch. Your IBU's will be off but I think its a better option than splitting your boil into 3 vessels and trying to estimate hop amounts between the three as well as the final volume due to boiloff rates.

This is great advice, thank you! Some advice I received on another forum was to only hop the main pot while boiling all 3 at the same time and pouring into the main pot as space becomes available. Thoughts on that approach?

 

[Konstantianus]

This is great advice, thank you! Some advice I received on another forum was to only hop the main pot while boiling all 3 at the same time and pouring into the main pot as space becomes available. Thoughts on that approach?

That is definitely an option and a pretty good one at that. The main problem from boiling in multiple pots is boiloff rate. Without knowing how much water will be boiled off you can't determine when to add the 60 minute hop addition. Adding the hop charge early wouldn't matter because 60 or more minutes of boiling will give almost complete isomerization of the alpha acids and most of the aromatics will be boiled off too. To me it seems like an unnecessary complication while also dirtying more dishes (which I'm never a fan of). Try not to overthink this whole thing. In the end you'll get beer unless you have some horrible Night of the Living Dead sort of infection. RDWHAHB

 

[RCope]

One of the benefits of BIAB is doing a full volume mash, draining/squeezing then boiling all in just one pot... I think that this simplicity it what makes it attractive. And it works...

 

[Transamguy77]

This is great advice, thank you! Some advice I received on another forum was to only hop the main pot while boiling all 3 at the same time and pouring into the main pot as space becomes available. Thoughts on that approach?

Way too much work, you could also just mash and boil with no sparge and just top up with water to the volume you want. It doesn’t have to be complicated.

 

[homebeerbrewer]

Without reading all the responses, I’m gonna say that your volume is way bigger than your capacity. You’ll need a much bigger vessel than what you say you have. Maybe cut your volume by half, or spend the money for a vessel twice the size that you have.

I don’t do BIB, so I can’t speak about your process.

 

[Konstantianus]

No sparge brewing is an option as well. It makes the brew day super simple. I do BIAB and I also sparge and hit ~95% mash efficiency repeatedly which is why I sparge. I would recommend a sparge due to the fact that you can't get a full volume no sparge. ~7.5G of water would be needed for a full volume no sparge which isn't feasible with your equipment.

 

[Hbrew01]

No sparge brewing is an option as well. It makes the brew day super simple. I do BIAB and I also sparge and hit ~95% mash efficiency repeatedly which is why I sparge. I would recommend a sparge due to the fact that you can't get a full volume no sparge. ~7.5G of water would be needed for a full volume no sparge which isn't feasible with your equipment.

The method you suggested earlier sounds pretty straightforward; I'm willing to spend a bit of extra time to sparge if it will increase efficiency and get me a better beer.

 

[Konstantianus]

I can't promise you'll get 95% mash efficiency but you'll increase your efficiency by sparging for sure. One thing I can't stress enough is to have a blowoff tube handy or be ready for Mt. Vesuvius.

This is what my grind looks like to get 95% Eff.

 

[bracconiere]

and l'm planning on doing my first all-grain brew this week but I'm feeling pretty lost.

sorry to skip over a lot.....but comments like that, make me think our school system is flawed....this should be taught in kindergarten, or at least first, second grade!

I can't promise you'll get 95% mash efficiency but you'll increase your efficiency by sparging for sure. One thing I can't stress enough is to have a blowoff tube handy or be ready for Mt. Vesuvius.

This is what my grind looks like to get 95% Eff.
View attachment 693132

:impressed emoji: i crush finer then that, only pull 90%.....


LOL, now i'm think instead of gravity i might get a cut out for my round cooler, and some sort hydraulic press to squeeze it! if i do, i'll post pics to prove i'm that cheap!

 

[Dancy]

I use an 8 gallon kettle for 5-5.5G batches on an induction burner in my kitchen and I get by with that but I’m considering a 10G kettle to give me more options. With a 5G kettle, you’re looking at 3-3.5G batches at most, which is fine of course.