Hey! I'm an All-grain Brewer!

[MrSaLTy]

Well I did my first AG batch today. It went really well considering everything. I was low on my target for mash temp so I had to add some boiling water and ended up with a lot thinner mash then I wanted but it didn't seem to hurt anything. I stopped the runnings at 6.5 gals after sparging for over an hour and they were right at 1.010 and I hit my target SG of 1.054 right on the nose. :rockin:

It sure does make for a long day though. About 7 hours all together with the cleanup and all. After all that this better turn out good. I do need to get some sorta brewstand or something rigged up as I had to lug it all into the house to get something that approximated a 3 tier setup to sparge. I did the top of the fridge, the stove, and the floor. It worked ok but there just isn't enough room and that was sorta a pain.

First time I used whole hops too.... man they suck up the wort. Hopefully the next few times I get it all ironed out but for the most part it went very smooth. I am very proud of myself.

I brewed Dude's Fat Tire clone. Cheers to Dude.

 

[SwAMi75]

Ha! Sounds like you're off to the races. Congrats!

 

[Glibbidy]

bitchin dude.

 

[kaine]

Wow, that sounds like quite an achievement, really, an almighty task. I can understand how pleased you must feel, hope it turns out great for you. Just being 5 brews (extract) into my experience, makes me realise that my knowhow is way off to even know where to begin on such a major excercise!

 

[boo boo]

Hey man, way to go. You'll look back and say " I wonder why I waited so long?"
Congrats.

 

[Brewiz]

Cool, make sure you let us know how it turns out...

 

[Bernie Brewer]

Good Job! Seven hours sounds about right. It usually takes me about six because I have to lug all my stuff outside too- and then the wort inside to chill if it's winter.
Congratulations- you've just made beer exactly the way they did it for centuries!

 

[BlightyBrewer]

Fantastic job! Welcome to the dark side man!

The end result will blow you away...trust me!

Well done.

 

[MrSaLTy]

Hey thanks fellas.... Between the Papazian book, the Palmer book and this site, I have learned a ton in the last few months. Actually the brewing network shows have been very interesting too.

Being someone who sits on his ass all day in front of a computer, the long day on my feet yesterday has resulted in my feet actually being sore! Its ok though, my brew is happily chuggin along in the fermentor as I type this.

On a side note... does anyone ever figure loss to hop absorbsion into their calculations? 4 oz of whole hops sucks up a ton of wort. Can you try to squeeze some of that out or will that leave some sort of harsh flavor?

 

[BlightyBrewer]

Mmm, good question. Along with your saturated hops in the bottom of the boiler, you will also have hot break gunk...so squeezing may release some of this being released into the wort, which could result in off flavours.

 

[Dude]

Congrats, let us know how the brew turns out. That Fat Tire cloner is a good one.

:rockin:

 

[Bernie Brewer]

Hey thanks fellas.... Between the Papazian book, the Palmer book and this site, I have learned a ton in the last few months. Actually the brewing network shows have been very interesting too.

Being someone who sits on his ass all day in front of a computer, the long day on my feet yesterday has resulted in my feet actually being sore! Its ok though, my brew is happily chuggin along in the fermentor as I type this.

On a side note... does anyone ever figure loss to hop absorbsion into their calculations? 4 oz of whole hops sucks up a ton of wort. Can you try to squeeze some of that out or will that leave some sort of harsh flavor?

Brewing network?? There's a brewing network? tell me more!!!!

 

[Desert_Sky]

Brewing network?? There's a brewing network? tell me more!!!!

http://www.thebrewingnetwork.com/

 

[MrSaLTy]

Everyone loves pictures right? I snapped a few as I was brewing yesterday so I figured I'd post a few.....

My half-assed 3 tier system.

Sparging... wheeee!

wort collection

 

[MrSaLTy]

more pics....

Meh homemade wort chiller

boiling the brew.

And a pic of the burner in action.

 

[MrSaLTy]

Meh slotted copper manifold.

And a pic of it in the mash tun.

 

[Bernie Brewer]

Everyone loves pictures right? I snapped a few as I was brewing yesterday so I figured I'd post a few.....

My half-assed 3 tier system.

Half-assed? LOL it works doesn't it? My system (outside) goes from my camper to my picnic table to the ground. Who cares? It's functional that's all that matters. Cheers!

 

[Dude]

Looks like you have a pretty nice set up.....MLT looks great!

 

[RichBrewer]

Your system looks pretty good to me!
Look at my high tech system

 

[Desert_Sky]

Ok, I've never done all AG, so Im guessing this is what each cooler is for?

 

[RichBrewer]

Ok, I've never done all AG, so Im guessing this is what each cooler is for?

You are correct! The middle cooler is actually a mash/Lauter tun.

 

[Desert_Sky]

You are correct! The middle cooler is actually a mash/Lauter tun.

Ok, I think Im getting a grasp on it all now. Its not as intimidating now as I thought it would be at first. Maybe I'll give it a shot in a couple months.

thanks

 

[RichBrewer]

Ok, I think Im getting a grasp on it all now. Its not as intimidating now as I thought it would be at first. Maybe I'll give it a shot in a couple months.

thanks

I felt intimidated by AG just as most home brewers are but after I did it a couple times I found out there is nothing complicated about it. It is just more work and it takes longer. I enjoy the process now very much.

 

[MrSaLTy]

Woah! I just got home from the M & P's for dinner and took a look at the fermentor to see how it was going and man its ticking. And I don't have a blow off tube! Hope thats as high as it gets. My basement has the fruity yeast fermenting smell though.

 

[MrSaLTy]

Well crap its blowing into the airlock. I figured when I saw the kreusen that high I was in trouble. I rigged a blowoff tube by sacrificing a stopper by drilling it out some and cramming the racking tube into it. Its not great but its all I have at the moment. Put the other end into a bucket with sanitizer in it so now my beer sounds like its blowing farts in the bathtub.

Note to self: go to home depot tomorrow and get some 1" tubing.

 

[Dude]

Well crap its blowing into the airlock. I figured when I saw the kreusen that high I was in trouble. I rigged a blowoff tube by sacrificing a stopper by drilling it out some and cramming the racking tube into it. Its not great but its all I have at the moment. Put the other end into a bucket with sanitizer in it so now my beer sounds like its blowing farts in the bathtub.

Note to self: go to home depot tomorrow and get some 1" tubing.

If you have regular tubing you can still make a blowoff. Take the cap and the middle piece out of the airlock and put a hose over the airlock tube that is sticking out, then run the tube into a glass or jug of water.

 

[MrSaLTy]

Holy crap dude your a genius. That makes total sense now that you say it and I wish I woulda thought of that before I ruined this 75 cent stopper. No biggie.... thanks for the tip.

Now why do I have the song "I just droped in, to see what condition my condition is in" going through my head? <-- obligitory Dude reference.

 

[Dude]

Holy crap dude your a genius.

I have my moments.

Now why do I have the song "I just droped in, to see what condition my condition is in" going through my head? <-- obligitory Dude reference.

As long as it isn't "Lookin' out my back door", we're good.

 

[Darth Konvel]

Congrats, welcome to the dark side!

 

[MrSaLTy]

Well the beer has finally slowed down enough to take out the blowoff tube and put back the airlock. LOTS of blowoff over the last 3 days... it was really chuggin. Shows ya what a starter and some O2 airation will do. Krausen still fills the headspace and its still clicking at about once every 2 seconds. Can't wait till this beauty is done! Heh.... still a long way to go. Its gotten colder the last 2 day and the temp in the basement is down to about 62F, hope that isn't getting too chilly.