So I'm a long-time reader, but first time poster here. I've brewed about 15 batches using extract kits in the last year, and decided it's finally time to upgrade to all-grain. I thought I would relay my experiences and ask for a little feedback.
My biggest concern was the additional time involved with all-grain, having two small kids at home. It did take me a little over 4 hours from start to finish, compared with about 2.5 hours with the extract kits. So I'm not so happy with that part, but I know it'll get a little better with experience.
Like many, I made Ed Wort's Haus Pale Ale because I wanted a good pale ale and it's an easy recipe to follow. I added two extra lbs. of 2-row to compensate for my planned lower efficiency. So the grain bill was:
10 lbs. 2-row
2 lbs. Vienna Malt
0.5 lbs. Crystal 10L
To achieve my desired strike temperature in the mash tun (a standard 10 gal converted cooler) of 152 F, I overheated the water to ~170 F. Then I added it to the cold cooler and added the grain. Unfortunately, I ended up at around 146 F and had to heat up some additional water. Ed's recipe calls for 1.25 gallons sparge water at the end of the mash, so I boiled that and added it at around 20 minutes into the mash. The temp came up to 152 F and stayed there the rest of the hour.
Everything else went according to plan. Sparge water was around 183 F before being added. I stirred it up with the grain and then immediately drained it out and then boiled the batch without any further problems.
I ended up with around 5.25 gallons of wort. I calculated with my grain bill that 100% efficiency would give me a 1.083 gravity for 5.5 gallons. My gravity was around 1.056 at 80 F. Correcting for temperature and volume, I estimated my efficiency at around 67%.
So I have a few questions:
1. Did I calculate my efficiency right?
2. When I added the 1.25 gallons additional water during the mash, should I have let everything sit for an hour, instead of just the remaining 40 minutes?
3. Should I have let the sparge water sit for a few minutes after stirring, and then vorlauf?
4. Anything else that I obviously messed up?
All in all, I'm quite pleased. I think the crush I got from Austin Homebrew was probably pretty good and not a contributor to my efficiency. However, I am going to buy a barley crusher, so I can take advantage of the bulk grain prices and shelf life.
Next up is St. Faud's Irish Red.
My biggest concern was the additional time involved with all-grain, having two small kids at home. It did take me a little over 4 hours from start to finish, compared with about 2.5 hours with the extract kits. So I'm not so happy with that part, but I know it'll get a little better with experience.
Like many, I made Ed Wort's Haus Pale Ale because I wanted a good pale ale and it's an easy recipe to follow. I added two extra lbs. of 2-row to compensate for my planned lower efficiency. So the grain bill was:
10 lbs. 2-row
2 lbs. Vienna Malt
0.5 lbs. Crystal 10L
To achieve my desired strike temperature in the mash tun (a standard 10 gal converted cooler) of 152 F, I overheated the water to ~170 F. Then I added it to the cold cooler and added the grain. Unfortunately, I ended up at around 146 F and had to heat up some additional water. Ed's recipe calls for 1.25 gallons sparge water at the end of the mash, so I boiled that and added it at around 20 minutes into the mash. The temp came up to 152 F and stayed there the rest of the hour.
Everything else went according to plan. Sparge water was around 183 F before being added. I stirred it up with the grain and then immediately drained it out and then boiled the batch without any further problems.
I ended up with around 5.25 gallons of wort. I calculated with my grain bill that 100% efficiency would give me a 1.083 gravity for 5.5 gallons. My gravity was around 1.056 at 80 F. Correcting for temperature and volume, I estimated my efficiency at around 67%.
So I have a few questions:
1. Did I calculate my efficiency right?
2. When I added the 1.25 gallons additional water during the mash, should I have let everything sit for an hour, instead of just the remaining 40 minutes?
3. Should I have let the sparge water sit for a few minutes after stirring, and then vorlauf?
4. Anything else that I obviously messed up?
All in all, I'm quite pleased. I think the crush I got from Austin Homebrew was probably pretty good and not a contributor to my efficiency. However, I am going to buy a barley crusher, so I can take advantage of the bulk grain prices and shelf life.
Next up is St. Faud's Irish Red.
