What was your first AG Brew?

[McCall St. Brewer]

What did you brew for your first all grain batch? How did it go for you? How did your beer turn out?

I am still patiently (ok, not patiently) waiting for the Frozen Tundra to thaw out up here so that I can get outside with my turkey fryer. I was able to do a full boil extract with it early in January, but now it's out of the question.

Whoa! Wait! It's 12 today. I think I'll break out my shorts and go down to the beach.

Looks like my first AG project will have to wait until at least March now.

 

[Ó Flannagáin]

Mine will be a Hefeweizen. I was expecting the ingredients and turkey fryer to be here Friday, looking like tommorow though. Can't wait to do it. Finished my mash tun last week.

 

[Blender]

My first batch was an ESB. The beer turned out fine except that my efficiency was not quite as good as it is now. I found that the beers were much clearer after making the switch. I am going to try to get one in today if it doesn't rain.

 

[RichBrewer]

It was so long ago that I don't remember and I've long lost the recipe. I think it was fairly simple and not a big beer at all.
That first time was total chaos. The kitchen was a disaster and I must have looked like a mad scientist running around. I under shot my mash temp and I tried to add boiling water to bring it up. I think I was finally able to get maybe 150 degrees. I do know I hit my gravity spot on.
I do remember that it was great fun and the beer turned out really good.
I have to chuckle looking back. When I brew now it is so much easier and relaxed. I don't know why I thought it was so complicated.

 

[GrantLee63]

My first AG was this one here:

Fat Tire Amber Ale Clone
American Amber Ale

Type: All Grain
Date: 9/16/2006
Batch Size: 5.50 gal
Brewer: GrantLee63
Boil Size: 7.72 gal Asst Brewer: GL63's Asst.
Boil Time: 90 min Equipment: My Equipment
Taste Rating(out of 50): 40.0 Brewhouse Efficiency: 78.0
Taste Notes: Similar - but not the same as the real Fat Tire. However, by all accounts, this is a fine Amber Ale.

Ingredients

Amount Item Type % or IBU
7.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 52.8 %
4.00 lb Amber Malt (22.0 SRM) Grain 30.2 %
1.00 lb Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 7.5 %
0.50 lb Biscuit Malt (23.0 SRM) Grain 3.8 %
0.25 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 10L (10.0 SRM) Grain 1.9 %
0.25 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM) Grain 1.9 %
0.25 lb Special Roast (50.0 SRM) Grain 1.9 %
0.75 oz Northern Brewer [8.50%] (60 min) Hops 20.4 IBU
0.50 oz Williamette [5.50%] (30 min) Hops 6.8 IBU
0.50 oz Williamette [5.50%] (15 min) Hops 4.4 IBU
0.50 oz Williamette [5.50%] (5 min) Hops 1.8 IBU
1.00 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 15.0 min) Misc
1 Pkgs American Ale II (Wyeast Labs #1272) Yeast-Ale

Beer Profile

Est Original Gravity: 1.067 SG
Measured Original Gravity: 1.062 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.017 SG Measured Final Gravity: 1.020 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 6.6 % Actual Alcohol by Vol: 5.5 %
Bitterness: 33.2 IBU Calories: 282 cal/pint
Est Color: 14.3 SRM Color: Color

Mash Profile

Mash Name: Single Infusion, Full Body, No Mash Out Total Grain Weight: 13.26 lb
Sparge Water: 4.58 gal Grain Temperature: 72.0 F
Sparge Temperature: 170.0 F TunTemperature: 72.0 F
Adjust Temp for Equipment: TRUE Mash PH: 5.4 PH

Name Description Step Temp Step Time
Mash In Add 19.89 qt of water at 171.7 F 158.0 F 60 min

Mash Notes: Simple single infusion mash for use with most modern well modified grains (about 95% of the time).
Carbonation and Storage

Carbonation Type: Corn Sugar Volumes of CO2: 2.4
Pressure/Weight: 4.6 oz Carbonation Used: 4.70
Keg/Bottling Temperature: 70.0 F Age for: 28.0 days
Storage Temperature: 70.0 F

Notes

Saturday - 09/16/2006 - Everything went exceptionally smooth considering this was our first AG attempt. We were very excited over the fact we achieved 78% efficiency! The wort is currently undergoing a very violent fermentation but fortunately, no blow-overs! Stay tuned for updates.

Wednesday - 09/20/2006 - 7:00 PM - Racked from the primary to a 5 gallon secondary.

Saturday - 09/30/2006 - Bottled 39 Grolsch bottles of Fat Tire Amber Ale that was primed with 4.70 ounces of priming sugar.

Thursday - 10/19/2006 - Tasted a Bottle ! Malt with more hops than I anticipated. Also, the carbonation was not anywhere I thought it would be .... hopefully it will continue to bottle ferment over the course of the next 9 days or so. Stay tuned !

Monday, 10/23/2006 - Flat ... I don't know why this batch did not carbonate. I will need to investigate !

Friday, 10/27/2006 - SUCCESS ! CARBONATION ! EXCELLENT !

I just brewed my 11th AG batch yesterday, 02/10/2007 - a variation of a Guinness Stout that I'm calling a Guinness Cream Stout.

AG is definitely the way to go ..... - GL63

 

[rdwj]

I'll let you know in a couple of weeks. I finally have all my stuff, I just need to find the time to brew and get some help from mother nature.

 

[vtfan99]

Mine was an Oktoberfest. Why I started out with a lager I don't know, but 'twas the season. Anyway....everything that could go wrong did. My mash temps were off and I didn't collect enough wort (volumes were wrong). At the time I attempted to take the poor mans route and use an old keg as the kettle. I figured I could just siphon out of the top and not need a spigot.

Well...I was wrong. I couldn't get the keg high enough to get gravity on my side and could never get a siphon going. So I ended up pouring the wort out of the keg and into a funnel. Pouring out of a keg is not something that really works...the beer goes everywhere and drips everywhere. So, at this point I figure I've contaminated the hell out of it but figure on following through with the fermentation part.

So, I don't make a starter (not at all smart with a lager) and of course, fermentation doesn't start. 3 days later I head to the brew shop and get some random dry lager yeast...pitch that and everything takes off in a few hours. 2 weeks later its time to rack to secondary and I'm guessing I will be tasting one of the worst beers known to man. Ironically, it turned out to be the BEST beer I had ever made.

Anyway, the next year I attempt to make the same batch, figuring that with my improved equipment (I added a spigot to the kettle) and my increase in experience that it can only get better. Sadly, irony once again reared its ugly head. The only infection I've had in five years of brewing....had to pour the entire batch down the drain (diapers, dirt, and vinegar are not a pleasant taste combination). Heres to next year trying to reproduce the very first AG.

 

[paul_beer]

My first AG was a bitter as well. I played around with a few partial mashes so it was a fairly smooth transition. I am still working on dialing in the temperatures and volumes but I am getting there. It is well below freezing here and it looks like it is snowing but I intend to brew a lager today. The weather sucks but it does make by basement cold enough for lagers so I can't complain too much. I have never done a boil with it this cold outside so it should be another learning experience.

 

[the_bird]

I did a pretty basic pale ale, "Good Life" from Papa Charlie's bible. I'd stick with something pretty straightforward like that for the first AG, so you don't have to worry much about the recipe and can instead focus on the process. Make something you like, but not something overly complicated.

 

[todd_k]

Mine will be a Rogue Mocha Porter clone from Austin Homebrew Supply.

 

[Bsquared]

My first was a Krolch recipe that I adapted from and extract/ partial mash I had done many times before, so I knew what I thought it would taste like. It was a total disaster and a total drunken mess. I mashed 13# of grain in a grain bag and only got an OG of 1.025! the secondary fermenter's air lock dried out and I got a mold contamination in it...I was so distraught that a let it sit under mt counter for 3months before I finally tossed it out and tried again. The second time was not much better...but the third time was a charm! the trick was not to stuff the grain into a grain bag for the mash.

 

[Onescalerguy]

First AG was a homebuilt recipe with 10#2-row and 1#flaked wheat.We ground all the grain with a rolling pin and ended up with a really low SG but that beer turned out fantastic.We've now done 20 batches.I went kinda crazy with different kinds of grain and original recipes i dreamed up and i'm not that crazy about some of those batches but i'm learning what i don't like,thats for sure.
Cheers

 

[Lil' Sparky]

I had a great experience. A buddy of mine who had been an AG brewer for years helped me out. In fact it was my first brewing experience ever, but it didn't seem too hard or complicated. I did a simple amber ale and it turned out great. All my buddies loved it and I've been hooked ever since. (see my brew sculpture thread I just started!)

 

[Orfy]

Hobgoblin of course.

 

[Tony]

My first all grain was Hop Rod Rye. So darn tasty!

 

[bradsul]

Mine was a Belgian dubbel of my own design. It was a heck of a lot of grain for a first time AG but I like to jump in with both feet. I remember it was bloody cold (-19C) and really windy but it was a lot of fun. I made a sheet metal tube to go around my burner and pot and I was able to hold my boil with the heat on about medium-low once it was going. Don't let the cold stop you!

 

[david_42]

Tough to remember, as it was seven years ago. Most likely an IPA, a Scotch Ale or their bastard offspring: Stiffy.

 

[runhard]

Weisse bier, actually a Belgian but it wasn't my recipe. I picked up the recipe from Austin Homebrew Supply. It was a lot easier than I thought and all of my worries about the mash tun and temperature maintenance were realized but I simply did a pseudo-decoction to nail the temp and everything turned out fine. Tasty recipe from the guys at AHS.

 

[Yooper]

Mine is in the secondary right now, a Dogfish Head 60 Minute clone. I'm fixing to dry hop here any day.....

 

[user 574]

Pale Ale. Someone said I should go with something simple. In hindsight, wtf is the difference? It's a bucket full-o-grains whatever your AG'ing. Perhaps they were thinking multi-decoction's or something.

 

[greg75]

What did you brew for your first all grain batch? How did it go for you? How did your beer turn out?

I am still patiently (ok, not patiently) waiting for the Frozen Tundra to thaw out up here so that I can get outside with my turkey fryer. I was able to do a full boil extract with it early in January, but now it's out of the question.

Whoa! Wait! It's 12 today. I think I'll break out my shorts and go down to the beach.

Looks like my first AG project will have to wait until at least March now.

I live in Fond du Lac, and I feel your pain. I've spent all winter getting my AG gear ready to go. Propane burner, immersion chiller, MLT I built myself, and a keggle I built myself. I was hoping to take the AG plunge in February, but the weather's just not been accomodating. March should get us some days with solid 35-40 degree temps, at which point I'm going to give this whole thing a shot.

I was thinking of an ESB, or maybe a pale ale, that should be ready around springtime. I'm leaning towards the ESB, but the pale ale is attractive too, because of the improved hop utilization a full boil provides. Maybe I'll do one the first week, and another the next weekend...