gsidford
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- Apr 14, 2010
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Well the day has come to do my very first AG Brew, my partner in crime cannot get over due to snow so the Tim Taylor Landlord clone gets put aside and the Dave O's Christmas Cracker kit from the Worcester Hop Shop gets pulled out.
So to ensure that everything is in place a little check list:
Ok, ready to get started then ...
First time use for the tun, it has been test driven so not totally in the dark.
Spinny sparge arm from Hampstead Brew Centre
So assembled the ingredients and organised them so I know what should go when
And finally water in the tun and mashed in, now just waiting on the 90 minutes with it nicely tucked in under a blanket.
One thing I did without thinking was to run the mash water from the hlt in via the sparge arm. That lost 10 degrees so I needed to add more water to get it back up to strike temperature of 72 degrees. Once I added the grain the temp dropped to 64 degrees, so more water was needed to bring that back up to 66. Next time I will remember to get the water from the hlt in a less cooling way and also when I adjust to the strike temperature I can drain off some so I maintain my planned volume of water in the tun. As it is I have about 3l more than planned, but that is all good learning stuff.
For the moment I am just enjoying the fantastic smell coming off it all !
Ok, so 90 minutes on we are off .... well not quite, I had forgotten to turn on the hlt at the right time so we are running about 10 minutes late. Checked temperature which is now 67 degrees, so my initial measurement was a bit off which I am guessing that I was concerned about stirring too much that I didn't mix well enough. Based upon my earlier 90 minute trial, I am think my real initial temperature was about 68 degrees.
First runnings taken; sweet as told to expect, but slight bitterness which I am hoping is just the chocolate malt.
Sparging intiated after the first 4 litres put back on top of foil placed on the grain bed, foil removed and then sparge arm left to get it's work done.
25 liters of wort collected before the gravity rapidly fell from 1010 to 1002.
Once stirred, gravity of wort collected is 1036.
Questions for you expert denizens of the dark arts
So to ensure that everything is in place a little check list:
- SWMBO Authorisation gained (check)[/*:m:3bvf1c8n]
- hlt, tun, boiler in working order (check)[/*:m:3bvf1c8n]
- ingredients in place (check)[/*:m:3bvf1c8n]
- Taps closed where they should be closed (check)[/*:m:3bvf1c8n]
- Kids out of the way sledging (check)[/*:m:3bvf1c8n]
- Pre-requisite skill (fail)[/*:m:3bvf1c8n]
Ok, ready to get started then ...
First time use for the tun, it has been test driven so not totally in the dark.
Spinny sparge arm from Hampstead Brew Centre
So assembled the ingredients and organised them so I know what should go when
And finally water in the tun and mashed in, now just waiting on the 90 minutes with it nicely tucked in under a blanket.
One thing I did without thinking was to run the mash water from the hlt in via the sparge arm. That lost 10 degrees so I needed to add more water to get it back up to strike temperature of 72 degrees. Once I added the grain the temp dropped to 64 degrees, so more water was needed to bring that back up to 66. Next time I will remember to get the water from the hlt in a less cooling way and also when I adjust to the strike temperature I can drain off some so I maintain my planned volume of water in the tun. As it is I have about 3l more than planned, but that is all good learning stuff.
For the moment I am just enjoying the fantastic smell coming off it all !
Ok, so 90 minutes on we are off .... well not quite, I had forgotten to turn on the hlt at the right time so we are running about 10 minutes late. Checked temperature which is now 67 degrees, so my initial measurement was a bit off which I am guessing that I was concerned about stirring too much that I didn't mix well enough. Based upon my earlier 90 minute trial, I am think my real initial temperature was about 68 degrees.
First runnings taken; sweet as told to expect, but slight bitterness which I am hoping is just the chocolate malt.
Sparging intiated after the first 4 litres put back on top of foil placed on the grain bed, foil removed and then sparge arm left to get it's work done.
25 liters of wort collected before the gravity rapidly fell from 1010 to 1002.
Once stirred, gravity of wort collected is 1036.
Questions for you expert denizens of the dark arts
- I am presuming when the boil is on, as the volume of wort decreases the gravity will increase, but will it get near the 1047 which the recipe predicts ?[/*:m:3bvf1c8n]
- All criticism of my technique gratefully received, I have noted a few areas where I have fallen foul, but any thoughts/comments will only help me to get better in future[/*:m:3bvf1c8n]