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Just did my first all grain. Have some questions

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02stangguy

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So I just did my first all grain batch and it sure was a learning experience. I did a gingerbread ale.
5 gallon batch
8.5 American 2 row
.5 chocolate
.5 special b
I used the brew365 calculator for this brew because I found it really easy to use. It told me to heat my strike water to 165 to his my 152 mash target. I did exactly that but it dropped to 148. I boiled a bottle of water and added it and it came up to 150 so I boiled another bottle but somehow it dropped back to 148 so I said heck with it. It maintained 148 for a while till I opened it to stir then dropped to 146. Mixed it around again a little later and it dropped to 144. What can go wrong by mashing at a lower temp? I batch sparged and ended up with 63% efficiency. That's not great but I'm actually happy with it considering its my first time haha.

Things I learned.
My strike water needs to be roughly 20 degrees higher than my target mashing temp
I need to start heating my sparge water about 45 minutes before its time to sparge haha
I need a false bottom for my keggle or a hop bag!
I have a pick up tube that goes to the center of my keg and it picked up so much stuff. I strained it through a sanitized paint strainer and the strainer got so gunked up that I couldn't use it so I just let everything run into my carboy. I imagine that there is a lot of sediment in the beer right now but when I go to rack into my bottling bucket it should clean up a bit right? Can I strain it again while racking into the bottling bucket?
 
Can I strain it again while racking into the bottling bucket?

NO! Do not do that. That will oxidize your beer. After fermentation has started, you must protect your beer from oxygen as much as possible. Whenever you have to transfer it, do it as gently as possible, with as little agitation as you can manage.

Congrats on your first brew, sounds like everything went pretty smoothly actually, for a first brew. :) Don't worry about the mash temperature, the lower temperature will just mean you'll end up with a slightly drier beer, no big deal. I'm not convinced it was actually that cool anyway, as you have to do quite a bit of stirring to get the temperature to equalize throughout the entire mash. It's likely you just happened to measure a couple of cool spots.

Don't worry about the trub going into the fermenter. Some of it is actually healthy for the yeast. And as you suspected, much of it will settle out after fermentation, and get left behind when you rack to your bottling bucket.
 
So I just did my first all grain batch and it sure was a learning experience. I did a gingerbread ale.
5 gallon batch
8.5 American 2 row
.5 chocolate
.5 special b
I used the brew365 calculator for this brew because I found it really easy to use. It told me to heat my strike water to 165 to his my 152 mash target. I did exactly that but it dropped to 148. I boiled a bottle of water and added it and it came up to 150 so I boiled another bottle but somehow it dropped back to 148 so I said heck with it. It maintained 148 for a while till I opened it to stir then dropped to 146. Mixed it around again a little later and it dropped to 144. What can go wrong by mashing at a lower temp? I batch sparged and ended up with 63% efficiency. That's not great but I'm actually happy with it considering its my first time haha.

Things I learned.
My strike water needs to be roughly 20 degrees higher than my target mashing temp
I need to start heating my sparge water about 45 minutes before its time to sparge haha
I need a false bottom for my keggle or a hop bag!
I have a pick up tube that goes to the center of my keg and it picked up so much stuff. I strained it through a sanitized paint strainer and the strainer got so gunked up that I couldn't use it so I just let everything run into my carboy. I imagine that there is a lot of sediment in the beer right now but when I go to rack into my bottling bucket it should clean up a bit right? Can I strain it again while racking into the bottling bucket?

What are you mashing in? A cooler? Did you preheat the cooler with hot/boiling water before putting grainand mash water in? That will keep your temps higher.

Mashing at lower temps will generally leave you with a thinner bodied beer that ferments out more. Again it is usually drier for this reason as well.

I don't open my MT until it is time to sparge.

Get Beersmith it will make you day go a lot easier.

I also strain through a paint strainer, and every now and again with say super hoppy beers like IPAs it gets filled quick. I just have two bags ready. But did you whirlpool your beer, by a least stirring it rapidly and letting it sit? That should pool a bit of the trub into the center. BTW you say tour dip tube goes to the center, you want your dip tube to go to the outside edge to pick up beer and not trub.

All that stuff is fine for your beer and will settle out in the primary so use an auto siphon and just make sure it is above the trub in the fermentor.

Congrats on the first all-grain. It will all work out in the end. Good luck

P.S. Kombat beat me
 
I second the Beersmith recommendation. When you work up your mash schedule within your recipe there is a place to "adjust for equipment temp". I sit my mash tun and grains in the same room the night before I brew with a thermometer in the tun. Check the thermometer before I get my strike water going and punch that number into Beersmith. Beersmith then adjusts your strike water temp. based on grain/mash tun temperature to get you to whatever temp. your mashing at. I've found this to be extremely accurate.

I don't worry with trub when transferring from boil kettle to fermenter. In my keggle I have a dip tube in the center as well. Once it is done pulling wort, whatever is left stays in the keggle, which isn't very much, stays there. A lot of that trub ends up in the fermenter. When I do 5 gallon batches I empty EVERYTHING from my boil kettle into my fermenter. It will all settle out in primary, so no worries. Others like to leave as much trub as possible behind. I personally do not think it effects the finished beer, other than clarity if your not careful when racking. But, like was already mentioned, just keep your siphon above the level of the trub when transferring to your bottling bucket or keg.
 
Re the temperature, definitely preheat the tun. I bet the temp is dropping because the walls of the tun are sucking heat out of the mash. It doesn't need to be 20 degrees hotter than strike temp - just a few. Pour it in the tun and wait for the temp to drop to strike temp. That's all that's needed for preheating and it will do wonders for temp stability.

Is there headspace in the mash tun? If so, cut out some pieces of styrofoam the same size as the inside diameter of the tun. (Try using one of those cheap heated wire gadgets to cut the foam.) Put the foam in a crockpot liner bag, and rest it right on top of the mash. No headspace = rock solid temp stability (as long as you don't open it!)

ETA: 20 degrees beyond mash temp is about right for preheating, but if you've got a plastic cooler, keep it under 180°F.
 
I suck up just about all of the trub(cold break) in the brew kettle and let it settle out in the fermenter.It packs down pretty good in the fermenter and is easy to rack off of.Youll only loose a beer or so doing it this way.I cant let all that future beer go to waste in BK.Never had any any off flavors

Get a hop bag or two from wilserbrewer on this site.Will cut down so much "crud" in BK.Good cheap investment
 
Oh and if this is your first brew youll be ditching that carboy for a bucket after you clean it for a half hour with a silly lookin brush...just sayin:D
 
Thanks for the replies guys! So I will definitely pre best my mash tun next time. I use a rectangular cooler. I have about 4 inches of head space to I will try to make a foam block for it or I was also reading that covering the grain bed with tin foil helps as well. I will look into the brew smith programs also. I plan in making some type of sparge arm so I can fly sparge next time around and maybe get some better efficiency. I bought a stainless steel scrub pad that I want to put over the pick up tube to see if that helps filter. If not then obviously no big deal according to you guys. Thanks again for the advice fellas!
 
Haha this is the first time I used the carboy for a primary. I figured it would be cool to be able to see it the whole time. But just about 24 hours after I pitched the yeast is over flower from the car boy so I think I had it to full maybe.

Is it ok to do 4 weeks in the car boy or should I transfer to a bucket for 2 weeks? Also this recepi did not recamend a certain fermenting schedule. I am just assuming that its 4 weeks fermenting then 2 weeks in the bottles.
 
Definitely do not transfer to a bucket - way too much headspace. Just leave it where it is.
 
Haha this is the first time I used the carboy for a primary. I figured it would be cool to be able to see it the whole time. But just about 24 hours after I pitched the yeast is over flower from the car boy so I think I had it to full maybe.

Is it ok to do 4 weeks in the car boy or should I transfer to a bucket for 2 weeks? Also this recepi did not recamend a certain fermenting schedule. I am just assuming that its 4 weeks fermenting then 2 weeks in the bottles.
If you were using a carboy for a secondary you most likely have a 5 gallon carboy which will not work for a primary.Look up "blow off tube"...I enjoyed watching the action the first few times I brewed,thought it was cool.Eventually it becomes "the same ol' thing".Thats when the ease of a bucket starts lookin real inviting.

Whose got six weeks to wait for a beer..not me.I go 10 to 14 days or so give or take.Straight to keg
 
No need to transfer to a secondary unless you are putting it on something like oak cubes, etc.

I usually let mine sit 3 weeks in the primary, unless it is a big beer. If you want to make sure it is done check the FG a few times. I usually feel 2 weeks is good for the fermentation and another week or two to let the yeast clean up.

I mostly use plastic carboys and have no issues cleaning them. Some PBW does all the work for me. To each their own.

Always, always use a blow off tube and make sure what you blow off into is big enough. I think at least a gallon container, I use a gallon pitcher from walmart for like $2
 
I also prefer glass carboys for my primary fermenters. I don't find them difficult to clean at all. I have one of those brushes with the long wire handles for scrubbing the inside of carboys, but I've never had to use it. After racking the beer out of the carboy, I immediately rinse it a couple of times with a gallon or so of warm water to get out the bulk of the leftover yeast, hops, and trub. Then I fill it right to the brim with a hot OxyClean solution, cap it with foil (to limit evaporation), and leave it to soak for a day. The next day, I dump out the murky, soapy water, rinse it twice with fresh water, swirl some StarSan in it, and cap it with a fresh, sanitized piece of foil. It sits on my shelf until it's needed again. Spotless carboys, every time.
 
Ok cool. Ill just keep it in the car boy. I found out what a blow off tube was after the thing damn near exploded haha. I think I will just use a bucket from here on out. Once it has stopped bubbling that is a sure sign that its done fermenting right?
 
Nope. Check gravity with a hydrometer and then again in 2-3 days. If the readings are the same, it's done fermenting. That's the most reliable way to check.
 
yeah, DO NOT judge fermentation completeness by the airlock. Sure way to get overcarbed beer or bottle bombs. Even after it entirely stops bubbling, the yeats are still cleaning up the beer and conditioning it
 
A few words of advice:

1) Preheat your mash tun. If you do not, you will lose heat. When I used to use coolers, I would use 200 degree water and swirl it around the cooler.

2) Only Stir once, or maybe twice. Every time you open your cooler and stir, you lose temperature.

3) Pick up a 5 gallon paint strainer from the hardware store and use that to hold your hops during the boil. It works for both Pellet and Whole hops.

As to your specific session, 148ish is fine. It will most likely attenuate a little lower than you expected depending on your yeast and may be a little thinner than you would have preferred, but it will be fine. Leave it in the primary to 2 to 3 weeks, and then transfer it to a secondary. No need for a filter. Most of the sediment will fall to the bottom and form a nice cake.
 
Leave it in the primary to 2 to 3 weeks, and then transfer it to a secondary.

I believe most brewers would recommend against racking to secondary. Conventional wisdom is that it exposes the beer to the risks of oxidation and infection without any commensurate benefit. Just leave it in primary until it's time to bottle.
 
Ok ill start checking the gravity after 2 weeks. Thanks again guys.
Iwould start at 7 days.If its not done its far enough along to minimize infection.If your off your FG buy a bit let it go a few more days before checking,if your close check the next day.It all sort of goes by if you have beer on hand.If you do let it sit as long as you want.If not,keep checking to get that beer flowin as soon as its ready
 
Agree on the preheating the cooler. Even with my cooler, I just use hot tap water for a spell, and that's enough to keep my mash from dropping much.

And the gravity thing, a week seems too soon, but it's up to you. I start checking 10 or 14 days in, depending.

Get yourself a wine thief (sanitize it) to pull your gravity samples. Especially on a carboy, it's tough to get something in and out of that little neck! OR at least it works for me.
 
I would advise against the scrub pad. Tried that once with a 20 gallon batch and after only a few seconds of draining the kettle had to stick my arm in to pull it out because it was so plugged up.
 
I have a nice German Oktoberfest sittin around right now. Pretty excited to try my first all grain brew though. This one is for my wife. She is 9 months pregnant with our second daughter and she has been dying to have a beer. She tried some ginger bread ale last winter so I figured I would try to make her one. Might try a pumpkin ale next
 
I have a stainless steel water supply line that I used on my mash tun and it worked great. Could I put one of them in my keggle if the scrub pad dosnt work to good?
 
Congrats on your brew.

I agree with the preheating of the cooler mash tun. In the winter I also use blankets to further insulate. Don't open it, or at least not often. I have not found that frequent stirring helps anything.

For my fermentations I always go 2 weeks. I suspect they are ready in 7-10 days but know that they should be done in 14 days. Then I often get lazy and have left beers in primary for more than a month. I have not noticed any problem other than not having that beer ready to drink!

And I will say that I HATE fermenting in buckets. I use better bottles with a blow off tube. After packaging the beer I soak over night with Oxyclean, rinse, add a half gallon of water and a washcloth, swirl it around, drain and turn upside down to remove the cloth, rinse some more and you are done. The longest part of this is filling the bottle with water, the rest takes 5 minutes max.... It is much easier than reaching to the bottom of a bucket to scrub out the crud. I always have trouble getting the corner between the bottom and the sides clean.
 
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