My first AG was a success!

[BansheeRider]

Brewed my first AG batch today, an American IPA. Simple grain bill and single hop beer. The recipe called for 1064 OG and I got 1067-68, which equals about 75-76% total brew house effenciency. I mashed at 153 degrees and lost only 1 degree over an hour with my new MT. I made a 1.2L starter a couple days ago and pitched it at 72 degree wort. I lowered the wort to 64 degrees and the airlock is already going off 4 hours later.

I seriously don't know why I started with extract brewing a year ago. I am amazed at how simple this process was and I can't wait to start building my own recipes. Thanks everybody for helping me get started in AG brewing!!

 

[IL1kebeer]

Brewed my first AG batch today, an American IPA. Simple grain bill and single hop beer. The recipe called for 1064 OG and I got 1067-68, which equals about 75-76% total brew house effenciency. I mashed at 153 degrees and lost only 1 degree over an hour with my new MT. I made a 1.2L starter a couple days ago and pitched it at 72 degree wort. I lowered the wort to 64 degrees and the airlock is already going off 4 hours later. I seriously don't know why I started with extract brewing a year ago. I am amazed at how simple this process was and I can't wait to start building my own recipes. Thanks everybody for helping me get started in AG brewing!!

Looks like you had a pretty successful brewday. Now just work on trying to keep hitting your 75-76% efficiency and you will be golden.

 

[BansheeRider]

Looks like you had a pretty successful brewday. Now just work on trying to keep hitting your 75-76% efficiency and you will be golden.

For sure!

 

[Cyclman]

Congrats, extract is great to learn cleaning, sanitation, and good fermentation control; BIAB / AG isn't that big a step up in difficulty, just more equipment to buy!

 

[IL1kebeer]

BIAB / AG isn't that big a step up in difficulty, just more equipment to buy!

That's for sure.

 

[jrgtr42]

*snip*

I seriously don't know why I started with extract brewing a year ago. I am amazed at how simple this process was and I can't wait to start building my own recipes. Thanks everybody for helping me get started in AG brewing!!

It is a simple process, but you still need to be careful with volumes and temperatures and so forth.

Can't speak for you, but I know that when I started (extract with specialty grains,) I had all kinds of things that I was dialing in with my procedures, that I slowly worked out before going into all-grain.
I think that going all the way out of the gate would have added that many more variables into the mix that I think I would have been way too frustrated at.
Besides the fact that I started with partial-boils, I think that starting with extract got me comfortable with the rest of the process that when I went to AG, it wasn't as big a step. It was that many more things to worry about, but knowing what I knew about the rest, it wasn't overwhelming.

 

[stevehardt]

You did good! Awesome feeling, isn't it.

You learned a lot extract brewing, and I'll bet part of the reason your first all grain brew went so well is that you learned the basics from extract brewing.

Congrats!

 

[hophop]

I'll never do another extract batch again. I love the recipe research and the science part of mashing. My best beers have been all grain, and they get better with every batch as you learn more. Just don't get upset with problems that occur, take them as a learning experience.

 

[Yooper]

Sounds like a fun day!

 

[MarcusKillion]

Congratulations on a great brew day . How ever them kits are still good for that quick brew and also some fairly tasty stuff here and there. I brew both .

 

[kh54s10]

Congrats to the OP! I would agree with previous post that state your extract experience probably helped make your jump into all grain smoother.

I'll never do another extract batch again. I love the recipe research and the science part of mashing. My best beers have been all grain, and they get better with every batch as you learn more. Just don't get upset with problems that occur, take them as a learning experience.

I haven't done any extracts for almost 2 years but am thinking of buying a bulk batch of dry extract. I brew outside on my porch and soon it will be very cold. Last year in the spring my pipeline got very low due to fewer brews during the winter. I plan on doing some smaller batches inside on the stove this winter. Of the 4 extracts that I did and 4 partial mashes, they stacked up quite well to my all grain batches which are mostly excellent.

 

[BansheeRider]

You did good! Awesome feeling, isn't it.

You learned a lot extract brewing, and I'll bet part of the reason your first all grain brew went so well is that you learned the basics from extract brewing.

Congrats!

I'll never do another extract batch again. I love the recipe research and the science part of mashing. My best beers have been all grain, and they get better with every batch as you learn more. Just don't get upset with problems that occur, take them as a learning experience.

Congrats to the OP! I would agree with previous post that state your extract experience probably helped make your jump into all grain smoother.



I haven't done any extracts for almost 2 years but am thinking of buying a bulk batch of dry extract. I brew outside on my porch and soon it will be very cold. Last year in the spring my pipeline got very low due to fewer brews during the winter. I plan on doing some smaller batches inside on the stove this winter. Of the 4 extracts that I did and 4 partial mashes, they stacked up quite well to my all grain batches which are mostly excellent.

Yeah I take back that comment. I loved brewing extract because it gave me time to hone in on other important aspects of brewing, such as proper pitching rates, temps, and sanitation. I remember I cooled the wort with an ice bath and then I purchased a wort chiller on CL for $15, boy that made life easier by not having to purchase ice on brew days. Then I started making yeast starters and I purchased a stir plate, no more stuck fermentations. Then I learned how to control temps using the swamp cooler method. All these lessons were learned while brewing partial boil extract batches. This definitely made my first AG batch a breeze because I already knew how to make great beer.

Next is learning my water profile and altering the chemistry of the water to make even better beer. I added 1tsp of gypsum by the recommendation of my LHBS, this brought the water PH down to around 5.2-5.5, the efficiency was spot on so I know I did something right Not to mention this website is a great resource as well.

 

[BackAlley]

I'll never do another extract batch again.....

Extract has an important place in my "brewery". I use it to do experiments with hops, yeast, flavorings and fermenting without investing a 5 hour AG day.

 

[hophop]

Extract has an important place in my "brewery". I use it to do experiments with hops, yeast, flavorings and fermenting without investing a 5 hour AG day.

To each his own. But I might brew once every 4-6 weeks and I'd rather spend an extra 2 hours and do an all grain. I get that much more satisfaction out of it.

 

[chicken]

Congrats! It's a heady feeling, isn't it, when you complete your first all grain batch!

I can't believe how many YEARS I only did extract, thinking all grain was beyond me!