My First All Grain Brew Day! I'd say successful!

[jakecpunut]

Well, this past Saturday I finally was able to do my first all grain batch outside using the new equipment. It was probably the hottest day of the year here in the NC foothills with temps close to 100!

It was a great learning experience and I had a blast!

I would love some feedback on the videos and if you see me doing something that you think I can improve on, or anything I did wrong, please don't hesitate to comment.

One thing for sure... My gravity reading was a little low as you'll see in the video. Since this was my first AG batch, I had NO CLUE what the boil off rate was going to be with a 5 gallon batch and 15 gallon keggle.

I took a gravity reading of 1.044 at 84 degrees and according to the temp adjustment, it was 1.047. The recipe called for 1.052. I'm still not sure about what efficiency I got since I'm still trying to wrap my brain around all that..

I'm sure the thing that caused it to be low was the extra sparge water I used. After my first runnings (3.5 gallons to start with) gave me just a tad over my 2 gallon mark. The recipe called for no more than 6.25 gallons of preboil wort. I used 5 gallons of sparge water. I guess I was thinking I would have a little more grain absorption with the sparge water but didn't. Dunno why I thought that?

I ended up with 7 gallons total for my boil. 2 from the first runnings and 5 from the 2nd. I also didn't know how much I would boil off so I wasn't too worried since this was the first time. I ended up with 6 gallons after a 1 hour boil so I was .75 gallons over what the recipe called for which was 5.25 gallons.

AND, dunno why I typed all this out when it's in the video.. hahah anyways.. enjoy and thanks ahead of time for any feedback!

 

[HokieBrewer]

Your OG probably would have been spot on had you boiled down to 5.25. Nice work on your first AG!

 

[shecky]

Yeah, overshooting volume looks like the culprit on the OG. Great job on the first AG. Now you know to have a certain amount of sparge water ready and use only what is needed by subtracting first runnings from your planned boil volume.

Great videos, BTW.

 

[jakecpunut]

Your OG probably would have been spot on had you boiled down to 5.25. Nice work on your first AG!

Yeah I agree... I'm trying to figure out what efficiency I actually got...

Thanks!

 

[jakecpunut]

Yeah, overshooting volume looks like the culprit on the OG. Great job on the first AG. Now you know to have a certain amount of sparge water ready and use only what is needed by subtracting first runnings from your planned boil volume.

Great videos, BTW.

Thanks! I can't wait for my next brew! I'll get it all nailed down! I need to also take better notes! haha

 

[surreal_trip]

Nice work... shoulda let that sucker reduce a bit but hell it'll be tasty!

 

[jakecpunut]

Nice work... shoulda let that sucker reduce a bit but hell it'll be tasty!

Thanks! I actually thought about doing that but didn't know how it would affect my hops?

 

[shecky]

Yeah I agree... I'm trying to figure out what efficiency I actually got...

Thanks!

If you took a pre-boil gravity reading, you can plug all the numbers into Beersmith and it will tell you your efficiency.
Just guessing but I'd say you're in the ballpark of 65% as is, might have been in the 75-80 range with correct volumes. Either way, an excellent first run.

 

[jakecpunut]

If you took a pre-boil gravity reading, you can plug all the numbers into Beersmith and it will tell you your efficiency.
Just guessing but I'd say you're in the ballpark of 65% as is, might have been in the 75-80 range with correct volumes. Either way, an excellent first run.

Someone told me that hydrometer readings would be off/not accurate with temps that high (pre-boil temps). I'm wondering if i need to invest in a refractometer?

 

[MW66]

You could buy a refractometer, but I still have not purchased one and I've been doing AG's for quite a while. I use a hydrometer. Take copious notes and once you get your process optimized, you'll know your efficiency and then you can use that to predict your future grain and water quantities required when designing new recipes. The one thing I haven't done yet, but I will with my next batch is a double batch sparge to increase my efficiency.

 

[shecky]

Someone told me that hydrometer readings would be off/not accurate with temps that high (pre-boil temps). I'm wondering if i need to invest in a refractometer?

True. Before I invested in a refractometer, I simply took a sample and cooled it.

 

[DrinkNoH2O]

Yep, I just take a sample in a small glass and throw it in the fridge until it hits around 70 or so, then measure SG and adjust to temp, then throw the sample back in the boil.

Nice work on your first AG! One thing that really helped me raise my efficiency after my first batch was splitting my batch sparge in two. Next time you might try running half the calculated volume completely thru, and then do it again with the other half. Be sure to stir after adding it in and just before draining it out and let two sparges rest for about 5-10 minutes each.

 

[brewagentjay]

:rockin:

Yep, I just take a sample in a small glass and throw it in the fridge until it hits around 70 or so, then measure SG and adjust to temp, then throw the sample back in the boil.

Nice work on your first AG! One thing that really helped me raise my efficiency after my first batch was splitting my batch sparge in two. Next time you might try running half the calculated volume completely thru, and then do it again with the other half. Be sure to stir after adding it in and just before draining it out and let two sparges rest for about 5-10 minutes each.

Good Idea On that I haven't given that consideration. :rockin: