Yet another 1st AG...

[b767fo]

So here we go! After reading this forum for months, reading/rereading Palmer and playing with the numbers on ProMash I am doing my 1st AG in the morning;

6.5# German Wheat Malt
3.0# Weyerman Smoked Malt
1.0oz Hallertauer 60 min
White Labs WLP 300 Hefeweizen w/ 1qt starter 24hr

I am doing a multi-rest mash with a water/grain ratio of 1:1

Protein @ 125degF for 30 min
Sacch @ 150degF for 60 min
Mash-Out @ 170degF for 15 min
Sparge @ 170degF

This should give me (by ProMash) a boil vol of about 7 gal.

I've got the MLT built and ready (thanks FlyGuy!), a 40 qt brew pot and an extra bottle of LP for the burner. If anyone sees any obvious pitfalls or mistakes please point them out. I know this is more complicated than a first attempt should be, but like I always say when I am building furniture "Take any job and make it a little more difficult just for fun".

 

[BrianP]

It's not as hard as it seems. You did your homework so you'll probably do fine.

My advice:
Heat more sparge water than you think you'll need. It sucks to run out.
Pre-measure out your hops additions.
Write down your major steps - it's easy to forget stuff (like putting your chiller in with 15 minutes left, etc.).
Don't get too liquored up -- until after you pitch yeast.
Enjoy the process - it's supposed to be fun, not work.

Good luck!

 

[ZacMac]

Good luck with everything... sounds like you are as prepared as you ever will be.
Just got my first one under my belt on Sunday and all I can say is that knowledge of what to do ahead is the best tool. I read and reread my forum threads and Palmer's book as well and they were really helpful. If you have time in the morning, you may want to check out these videos, they were my big push. There are 8 total videos under the All-Grain Brewing heading. Good Luck!

http://www.youtube.com/user/chrisknight000

 

[r2eng]

Now that I have brewed 4 AG, it really isn't bad, especially since I batch sparged.

BrianP gave some VERY GOOD advice: heat 2x the sparge water you think you need. I needed to batch sparge 2x to get the volume I needed, and hit my OG right on, 75% efficiency.

Take your time, have some fun, have thermometers, hydrometers and timers at the ready.

The increase in quality is incredible.

Eric

 

[b767fo]

Thanks for the tips. As for not getting too juiced that won't be a problem since I am behind in my brewing and don't have much left (store bought? I think not). Also, is it just me or does it seem a little weird to scroll to the bottom of this thread and see an ad for Mr Beer?

 

[b767fo]

Just finished the sparge. Once again I outthought myself...decided to go with a water/grain ratio of 1.5/1. Ended up with 8 gal of wort!! Good thing I bought the extra bottle of gas. Hope the longer boil doesn't effect my hop utilization too much. Well, off to boil and drink...

 

[Sigafoos]

Yeah, I did that with my sparge too... the difference is that I only have a 30 qt pot, so I had to cut my second sparge short and lose some efficiency.

But +1 for sure on heating more water, both sparge and strike. I didn't, and it killed me (wound up with an extra 30 min on the front and back of my mash).

 

[b767fo]

I ran the numbers through the calculators 5 times and holycow I got an efficiency of 82%!! Hope it's not just beginners luck. I do crush my own grain with a barley crusher. Man this is awesome!!

 

[Bobby_M]

It will go up even more if you cut your ratio down to 1.25 qts/lb.