What measurements/notes during first all grain

[peabody304]

I'm going to do my first all grain on Monday. I'm making Ed Wort's Haus Pale Ale.

What notes and measurements I should take during the process? I would like to document the session so I can correct and/or improve future all grains recipes.

What do you suggest?

-peabody304

 

[Hex23]

Here's what I would suggest:

1 - What actual mash temps you hit (I assume you're going to use the infusion/insulated cooler method). You may want to have a good beer calculation tool handy in case you happen to miss your mash temps and need to do water additions

2 - You may want to use the iodine test to confirm that the conversion has completed. You can pick up tincture iodine from the drug store.

3 - Pre-boil SG. Don't forget to take the temp too since the higher temp of the wort will make the SG much lower than predicted.

4 - Size of the grind

5 - If you're really nervous, you could measure the pH of the mash, but I've only done that once to make sure my local water is mash-appropriate. Usually mash pH is not a problem.

You probably also want to get a stop-watch and something with a quart marker to keep your flow rate appropriate. Try to stay 1 qt per minute or lower.

 

[ksbrain]

I take sparse notes but last brew session my brew buddy took the notes and he wrote down everything! I would recommend you measure and take note of everything that you can measure or take note of.

My must-haves are start time, mash start time, mash start temperature, mash start pH, boil start time, into-the-fermenter volume, starting gravity, yeast pitch time, and finish time. Then I like to keep track of how I control the ferment temperature throughout fermentation, but that record keeping gets spotty due to alcohol consumption interference.

 

[tippetsnapper]

I take gravity readings for every sparge running and more importantly pre/post boil, this will tell you what your efficiency is for your system to plan for future brews. I use the calculator on brewheads.com it works for me. I also note how big of a starter, when I started it, and then fermentation notes on bubbling and what not.

 

[peabody304]

Thanks for all the replies. I'm pretty anal-retentive about measurements anyway (the result my personality and the bulk of my Army career was spent in the calibration of test equipment including physical measurements like temperature), and I am used to the need for precise weight measurements in my bread baking, but brewing seems to combine all of my qualities (or are they flaws?).

I'll take temperature readings of all the mash equipment, water and grain before and after the mash. Should I take temperature readings during the 60 minutes? I'm reluctant to open the cooler lid because of heat loss.

And I'll also take gravity readings of each sparge run (including temp.) and one of the total pre-boil wort.

I'm running some tests today of the mash procedures. So far, I've preheated the cooler (1.5 gallon of boiling water) and I'm in the middle of a 60 minute test of the cooler with water at 160 when I started the timer. I went ahead and took a temperature reading at 30 minutes, and it was 158. I'm not sure, but I suspect that the temperature will be more stable when I've got the grain in there, than with water alone.

I also plan to do a test boil of 7 gallons. While I've used this 11 gallon pot twice, I still do not have a good idea of how much I'm losing during a 60 minute boil. It's a pretty wide pot (it's the 11 gal pot from ebay discussed in this thread).

I feel pretty confident about what I need to do tomorrow, including documenting all the steps. Of course, that's not taking Murphy into account.

 

[Hex23]

Thanks for all the replies. I'm pretty anal-retentive about measurements anyway (the result my personality and the bulk of my Army career was spent in the calibration of test equipment including physical measurements like temperature), and I am used to the need for precise weight measurements in my bread baking, but brewing seems to combine all of my qualities (or are they flaws?).

I'll take temperature readings of all the mash equipment, water and grain before and after the mash. Should I take temperature readings during the 60 minutes? I'm reluctant to open the cooler lid because of heat loss.

And I'll also take gravity readings of each sparge run (including temp.) and one of the total pre-boil wort.

I'm running some tests today of the mash procedures. So far, I've preheated the cooler (1.5 gallon of boiling water) and I'm in the middle of a 60 minute test of the cooler with water at 160 when I started the timer. I went ahead and took a temperature reading at 30 minutes, and it was 158. I'm not sure, but I suspect that the temperature will be more stable when I've got the grain in there, than with water alone.

I also plan to do a test boil of 7 gallons. While I've used this 11 gallon pot twice, I still do not have a good idea of how much I'm losing during a 60 minute boil. It's a pretty wide pot (it's the 11 gal pot from ebay discussed in this thread).

I feel pretty confident about what I need to do tomorrow, including documenting all the steps. Of course, that's not taking Murphy into account.

Nothing wrong with taking lots of measurement, especially being your first mash. Once you've got a feel for things you may be more comfortable taking less measurements. For instance I never take OG readings on an all-extract batch. When doing AG, I stopped taking a post boil SG reading because my fermenters are well marked for volume I can do the volumetric math.

You will lose a little heat if you open the lid for temp measurement, but not a ton if you just lift it for only a moment. If you have the right kind of thermometer, you can lift the lid, insert the thermo, then close the lid, wait for settling, then open and read. My first mash I took a temp at 15 min just to make sure that after heat distribution I hit the right infusion temp. Recently I've just been stirring really well, then taking a temp within the first couple of minutes, then if the temp is good, let it sit the rest of the way. I think you're 2 degree loss in 30 min is probably about typical for an insulated drinking cooler. Sometimes I try to make my initial infusion temp a couple of degrees higher than target so that the average temp for an hour rest is right on. Some folks take more extreme measures like coating the inside of their lid with "Good stuff" spray on foam and covering the top with a wet towel. Not sure that is worth the effort.

It's a good idea to measure your boil-off because it can change with environmental conditions too. I learned that the hard way when I lost 17% per hour when boiling outside at 40F. Normally it is only about 10-12%.

And Murphy definitely struck on my first mash. I was doing a mash-out step and for whatever reason I undershot the target temp by 10 degrees. I'm still not sure why, but I've stopped doing mash-out infusions altogether. Just stay calm and be prepared with the knowledge of how to make corrections. Sounds like you're already prepared for success - lots of folks just wing-it and learn by trial and error.

 

[millsware]

I like to use a pre-made sheet to keep track of things. Here are some that I've found:

http://www.brew-dudes.com/brewing-log-sheet/109

http://www.brewersfriend.com/brewday-extract/

 

[larrybrewer]

On a related note, make sure to calibrate your equipment.

http://www.brewersfriend.com/2010/12/19/instrument-calibration-for-maximum-brewing-awesomeness/

 

[cactusgarrett]

The sheets millsware suggested are a good start. Just starting out (relatively) in AG, i would suggest:

1) grav readings & running volumes for sparges
2) pre & post boil grav readings & volumes
3) mash temps

Those should allow you to dial in your system intricacies (grain absorption, dead space, boil off rates, etc.)