My first AG batch - a comedy of errors

[Brad0Walker]

After about 5 extract/steeping batches, I built my mash tun from a 10 gallon HD cooler and ordered a 10 gallon aluminum pot off of Amazon. I think my first mistake was putting vinyl tubing inside the toilet braid. I cut some holes in the hose then slid it in the braid. (more on this later). After much reading I added tsp (appx. 4grams) of CaCl and half a campden tablet to 10 gallons of my water that I planned to use. Even after a couple of hours, the water was still cloudy and I couldnt see the bottom of the pot. I decided to brew anyway pre heated my Tun and hit all my temps exactly. About 30 minutes into the mash, i noticed the temp dropping a few degrees so I added a few cups of boiling water to bring it back up. No problems, mash was still 154 at the end.

When it came time to sparge, i opened the ball valve to start vorlauf. About an ounce came out then it started to trickle then stopped. I added 2 gallons of what was supposed to be my first batch sparge/mash out water. This brought the temp up to about 160 because of the other water that was not drained. I stirred and tried to vorlauf again. Same thing, and ounce, then trickle then nothing. I had to stir the entire time to get anything to drain. After about an hour and a half I was able to get about 90% of the water I needed but it was extremely cloudy because i had to stir the entire time and it still came to a trickle. I boiled as normal and added irish moss to help settle some of the sediment I cooled, whirlpooled and transferred into fermenter but had to leave almost 2 gallons in the kettle because of the tremendous amount of sediment. This left me very short on water in the fermenter. I boiled 2 cups of DME with some water and threw that in which brought my OG to 1.050 which was close enough to my target, so I pitched yeast and threw it in the fermentation chamber.

I looked at my braid and it was almost flat, I shouldn't have skimped and will be buying a false bottom soon. Also, I guess its possible I vorlaufed too fast and compacted the grain bed. Should I get a FB or just fix my braid?

Also, Why wouldn't the CaCl dissolve, I heated water to help it but still nothing?

Will all the sediment in the boil cause off flavors, also the mash taking so long to sparge without a mash out, what kind of flavors will I get from this?

If any of you guys are in North Texas, McKinney to be more exact, I would love to come help you out on a brew day, just to see how someone does it better than me.

I love this forum and can't thank everyone enough for all of the helpful information

BW

 

[reelmower]

I wouldn't sweat it. Mark it down as a learning experience. Take good notes and adjust next time. You will probably be surprised and your beer will taste great.

I've never used a braid .. but highly recommend a false bottom. My last batch .. I floated my grain bed (matched my run off rate .. with gravity feed from 10 gallon water cooler (hot liquor tank storage) .. I used a stainless steel vegetable colander as a sprinkler head drip. Was very easy to do .. and I got great run off. I had a stuck sparge on my first attempt too. Live and learn. Your should target some of your major errors to correct for next time .. then less major errors .. and soon you will be pretty good and efficient.

 

[reelmower]

Oh yeah ... I always pre-crush my campden tables .. before I add to my water.

 

[wtfDean]

sounds like your braid needs a little re-thinking. ditch that vinyl tubing for sure. i use a bazooka screen (this little guy) which is a cheap and easy way to convert a HD cooler without any problems. a single pipe isn't the most efficient way to design a mash tun but i get like 68% when it's all said and done, and i'm happy enough with it.

as for the beer you've already made, just try not to worry yourself to death over it. it will probably taste fine.

i don't know anything about cambden tablets or water additions, and you might do better to forgo them for the time being. i either use a charcoal filter that my friend has, preboil the water, or don't bother with either (and if untreated Los Angeles municipal water can make a decent beer, so can yours). just focus on getting your method figured out

 

[goodyx7]

I use a braid but I took copper wire wrapped it around a pencil to form a spring type shape, then put that inside my braid.

 

[RM-MN]

If you are using city water, it usually has chlorine or chloramine in it to control bacteria to make it safe to drink. Campden tablets will remove both so you do need a campden tablet, one per 10 gallons crushed.

If your water tastes good for drinking, don't add any minerals unless you know exactly what it needs as it may need nothing.

With your wort at mash temp for so long you will probably have a very fermentable wort so expect the FG to be lower than expected. No other off flavor come from mashing longer.

Sediment? You should see my wort. Since I do BIAB, there is no lautering and any particles that are small enough to fit through the mesh of the bag end up in the boil. No problem, I don't care what the wort looks like, I'm not drinking it. My beers clear up nicely. That's what I care about.

 

[progmac]

RM-MN:
is that campden tablet standard practice? i feel like if i needed to use that i would use different water. putting in campden just seems like a terrible idea. i guess i'm lucky my water has almost no chlorine in it

BradOWalker -
Tell us more about your braid. I have a braid and have used a false bottom. I find I get better efficiency with the braid. What do you mean about putting vinyl tubing inside of it? There shouldn't be anything inside of the braid except maybe a support structure but even that i don't think is really needed. I made one though by wrapping some copper (i took the grounding wire out of some spare wire i had) around a pen and it fit in perfectly.

 

[fartinmartin]

It's a great hobby, hang in there. I always use a campden tablet.
The debate re flat bottoms and bazooka screens really is a personal set up one, both are great most of the time, some of the time they are both carp, both however are better than my short slotted copper manifold, which is however fantastic in my set up, well that's the hobby.

 

[Brad0Walker]

I beleive the problem with my braid is that my support (the tube) collapsed when it got hot. Ill either get a false bottom or put some kind of spring inside it.

I added the cacl based on a calculator. My calcium and chlorides were low in my water report and it said I needed 4 grams. It never did dissolve though, the water stayed cloudy. I just rolled with it. It probably didnt hurt anything but was wierd pouring cloudy water into the mash.

 

[Hello]

I'm not saying the braid is a bad idea, many use it with wild success, but I knew going into AG that I wanted a FB.

My first three batches have not been without error. The first being that I compacted my grain bed so much I slowly created a wall. I got a good 5 gallons before I was truly screwed, but I thought it was grain absorption. Then I learned it was the compacting of the grain bed. The beer is thin, it is not even remotely close to a scottish ale but it's beer. It'll be that swill I drink when I've wrecked my pallet with great beers but I'm not ready to call it a night.

The second batch went better because I was supervised, like I should be. I still had some issues such as coming into the pre boil with slightly more than I should have but boiling off so much because I haven't quite figured out the burner (it is not burning off all propane) and ended up with shy of what I should have in terms of fermentation volume. That beer is delicious last I checked.

The third batch went about the same as the second, I thought, but the pre-boil volume was short a gallon, my trub loss was much too high, and my boil off seems to be a bit more than the 1.13 gallons per hour that I originally thought.

These are learning experiences. In the end, I am pretty sure I'll have beer but unlike extract with steeping grains, I am not brewing without flaws. I suspect (read hope) that by the time I get another two batches under my belt that I'll have the process under control. Hang in there for sure.

Overall, based on what you ended up with, you could find that you have a dry beer. My first batch is dry. That's the "thin" I am describing. Again, still beer and I learned a ton.