Going all grain

[Erik_Mog]

I'm going to make the move from extract to all grain. I will bottle my Hefe either tonight or tomorrow, and that will free up my fermentation chamber, so hopefully brewing next week. I think I have everything in place...mash tun, pH meter, 10 gal kettle, immersion chiller. The only thing I don't have, that I can think of is a water report (my sample went out in the mail today), so I am thinking of using RO water and trying my hand at Bru'n Water, or just using my well water and seeing how it goes.

I'm torn between two beers that I want to do. I would like to try the extract IPA I did, but as all grain. I converted it beersmith and changed it a bit to drop the alcohol a little. I am also thinking about a SMaSH APA with bitter orange. I will post bot recipes in the recipe section to get some feedback.

 

[kh54s10]

Welcome to all grain brewing. It is not too difficult, just more things to pay attention to during brew day. I am sure you will like the control you get in creating your own recipes and knowing all the ingredients that go into them.

I wouldn't get too extravagant with your first all grain recipe. The usual, is that things don't go perfectly the first time, maybe a few, until you get to know your system and make adjustments. You will most likely have to tweak settings in your Beersmith equipment profile to get the proper gravity numbers. It took me a couple to get close and quite a few more to fine tune.

Most of all - have fun! :rockin:

 

[oujens]

Congrats and good luck. Sounds like you have done your research. I would recommend you use RO until you can get a grasp on your water profile. Most importantly, keep it simple so you can focus on the process and take notes. It will help you dial it in for future brews and the experimentation can begin.

 

[jerbrew]

Good luck. This is what my lhbs owner calls the knuckle dragging phase. Not quite in two feet but you're getting there. Just try to remember to keep it simple and don't get caught up in efficiency and elaborate recipe formulation. Mash Temperature is going to be hard to nail down your first couple times but soon you'll understand your system and try not to change too many things between brew days. Quick tip: calibrate your mash tun thermometer and figure out s method for measuring your volumes.

Do the smash since you finally have the ability to.

 

[eric19312]

Have fun! If your well water made decent extract beer it will probably not ruin your all grain beer. Take your time and don't start drinking till you get to the boil cause once you re there you have done it all before.

 

[oujens]

Have fun! If your well water made decent extract beer it will probably not ruin your all grain beer. Take your time and don't start drinking till you get to the boil cause once you re there you have done it all before.

Just remember that with all grain your water can alter mash pH which can impact the final product. You won't know until you get the lab report back how it will impact your beer.

 

[AWilliams]

Congratulations! I made my entry into all grain two weekends ago. That batch hits the keg in the morning with an IPA to be brewed later in the day. I really enjoy the process.

 

[Aristotelian]

If your water has been fine for extract then it will be fine for AG.

 

[kh54s10]

Just remember that with all grain your water can alter mash pH which can impact the final product. You won't know until you get the lab report back how it will impact your beer.

Too many people warn of mash pH to noobs. It might be an issue but then again it might not. Good pH meters are expensive and you need to know what to do with the pH.

I have recently gotten a water report but have made additions in only one batch in over 80 all grain batches. I still don't own a pH meter 4+ years later.

I would compare a large percentage of my beers with any commercial beers of the same type.

Can they be better? Most likely.. Should a new brewer worry about it? I don't think so, at least until they have problems or have dialed in their system and want to take that step.

 

[schaez]

I agree that in most cases the pH takes care of itself in a standard mash. You can always tweak it to make things better, but that's a marginal improvement. I would pay attentioned to pH and water more if you were doing BIAB. The higher amount of water can throw the pH off if you have higher pH starting water with high residual alkalinity. I wouldn't worry about RO water until you have a few brews under your built unless the well water is really bad. Salt additions aren't hard, but we tend to make them complicated.