Attempt at First AG Brew

[tricey27]

Hi,

After several batches of doing extract kits, I am looking at doing my first all grain batch. Want to try a Worthingtons clone brew, for starting up we have got a tea urn style boiler with fully adjustable temperature, a coolbox with strain system in the bottom and then the usual brew buckets, stirrers etc. Can anyone recommend a good recipe that's simplish to follow for a beginner please? And is there any good tips that any could give me for my first AG brew.
Many thanks in advance.

 

[ManseMasher]

Have you got Greg Hughes' book? Really good advice in there, and some good recipes too. In the meantime I'll dig out an easy recipe for you.

 

[ManseMasher]

Fursty Ferret clone.....

 

[keat64]

There's a cracking step by step guide in the how to section.
With a simple ag recipe.


http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=314

 

[GlentoranMark]

What beer styles do you like?

I do a "House Stout", tweaking every time, this time I added a vanilla pod. Great thing about it is there's no measuring as all the grains come in 500g, 1kg and 3kg sizes. Stouts work well with a wide range of hops so it's pretty easy.

A simple SMASH also works well. A SMASH is a Single Malt And Single Hop, it's a great way to experiment on how hops affect a beer (I'm still unsure!!) Grains come in 1kg sizes so it's easy to adapt a recipe to your requirements.

 

[Mjgclutch]

You'll make better beer than Worthington's whatever happens! You could buy a full grain recipe kit. The Landlord one works v well if you prefer a more traditional beer.

 

[clibit]

I have a recipe for Worthington White Shield, very simple, if you want it?

 

[tricey27]

I have a recipe for Worthington White Shield, very simple, if you want it?

Yeah please mate. That would be brilliant if you could provide me with the Worthingtons recipe please?

Thanks for the help lads... Appreciate it. What style of beer is Rauchbier please?
Thanks again :)

 

[clibit]

This should be pretty close. The yeasts listed are the brewery yeast, from two different labs, and will be worth buying, they will help a lot to get close. The black malt is to adjust the colour to about 26 EBC. White Shield is 5.6% apparently, priming sugar will get you close to that. So the strength is right, the malts are the right malts, the hops are the right hops, at the right times, the IBUs of WWS are 40, you can get the right yeast, so you can get pretty close, hopefully. If you aren't fussed about getting the liquid yeast, then I guess it's S04, Munton's standard yeast, Gervin/Nottingham. Not sure which is closest.


Worthington White Shield

Batch Size (L): 20.0
Original Gravity (OG): 1.054
Final Gravity (FG): 1.014
Alcohol by Volume (ABV): 5.31 %
Colour (SRM): 12.7 (EBC): 25.0
Bitterness (IBU): 41.4 (Average)
Brewhouse Efficiency (%): 75
Boil Time (Minutes): 60

4.400 kg Maris Otter Malt (95.65%)
0.150 kg Crystal 75 (3.26%)
0.050 kg Black Malt (1.09%)

24.0 g Challenger Leaf (8.9% Alpha) @ 60 Minutes
20.0 g Fuggles Leaf (5.7% Alpha) @ 60 Minutes
20.0 g Northdown Leaf (8.1% Alpha) @ 0 Minutes (30 minute steep after flame out)

Mash at 67°C for 60 Minutes.
Ferment with Wyeast 1028 or Whitelabs WLP013

 

[tricey27]

This should be pretty close. The yeasts listed are the brewery yeast, from two different labs, and will be worth buying, they will help a lot to get close. The black malt is to adjust the colour to about 26 EBC. White Shield is 5.6% apparently, priming sugar will get you close to that. So the strength is right, the malts are the right malts, the hops are the right hops, at the right times, the IBUs of WWS are 40, you can get the right yeast, so you can get pretty close, hopefully. If you aren't fussed about getting the liquid yeast, then I guess it's S04, Munton's standard yeast, Gervin/Nottingham. Not sure which is closest.


Worthington White Shield

Batch Size (L): 20.0
Original Gravity (OG): 1.054
Final Gravity (FG): 1.014
Alcohol by Volume (ABV): 5.31 %
Colour (SRM): 12.7 (EBC): 25.0
Bitterness (IBU): 41.4 (Average)
Brewhouse Efficiency (%): 75
Boil Time (Minutes): 60

4.400 kg Maris Otter Malt (95.65%)
0.150 kg Crystal 75 (3.26%)
0.050 kg Black Malt (1.09%)

24.0 g Challenger Leaf (8.9% Alpha) @ 60 Minutes
20.0 g Fuggles Leaf (5.7% Alpha) @ 60 Minutes
20.0 g Northdown Leaf (8.1% Alpha) @ 0 Minutes (30 minute steep after flame out)

Mash at 67°C for 60 Minutes.
Ferment with Wyeast 1028 or Whitelabs WLP013

Thanks for that mate. Will get the gear for this shortly. Does anyone reccommend any decent online suppliers for the grains etc? As have no stores in my area at all.
How much and when do i add priming sugar please?
How much water will i need to put in the mashtun with that grain? I.e is there a calculation thats to be used?
Do i add all them grains to mashtun at once then leave them all to mash?
Do i put the challenger leaf and the fuggles leaf in the boiler at the same time? What does it mean by "30 minutes steep after flame out"? Have i got to chill this fast once boiled up? Do you add entire pack of yeast to the wort? What temperature would you let this ferment at and for how long please? Many thanks for help and sorry about all the questions.

Cheers

 

[JapanBrew]

Can't get Marris here… they just call something I guess close, Base Malt…… I want to bang my head on the wall many, many times when looking at a recipe and trying to match what we can get here Japan!!!!! You guys are lucky!!!!

 

[clibit]

Does anyone reccommend any decent online suppliers for the grains etc? As have no stores in my area at all. The Home Brew Company is good. And the Malt Miller.

How much and when do i add priming sugar please? About 5g per litrre, at bottling time.

How much water will i need to put in the mashtun with that grain? I.e is there a calculation thats to be used? 2.5 to 3 litres per kg in the mash. Then you sparge with enough water to get to your pre-boil quantity. Do you want to end up with 20 litres, 23 litres, or Something else?

Do i add all them grains to mashtun at once then leave them all to mash? Yes, stir them into the mash water gradually, you need to aim for a specific temperature and then leave it for an hour.Heat the water to 75C, and by the time your grain is all stirred in it should have settled at about 67C. Hopefully. Adjust with boiling or cold water if not.

Do i put the challenger leaf and the fuggles leaf in the boiler at the same time? Yes. Start of the boil.

What does it mean by "30 minutes steep after flame out"? Steep the Northdown hops in the beer after you switch the boil off, for 30 minutes. Then cool the beer and transfer to your FV.

Have i got to chill this fast once boiled up? Ideally yes, but not all of us possess chillers. Some transfer to the FV hot, seal it and leave it to cool overnight.

Do you add entire pack of yeast to the wort? Yes, you need 11/12g of dry yeast, or a pack of liquid yeast. Liquid yeast should realy be boosted with a yeast starter prepared a couple of days before brewing - add the yeast to a mixture of 1 litre water and 100g DME, to activate the yeast and boost the yeast cell count. Dried yeast is much easier and has enough yeast cells, provided it's not an old pack that has been poorly stored in the shop.

What temperature would you let this ferment at and for how long please? 18-20C. 2 to 3 weeks, but also until hydrometer readings have stopped changing.


You should read up on all grain brewing and watch some Youtube videos.

 

[tricey27]

Does anyone reccommend any decent online suppliers for the grains etc? As have no stores in my area at all. The Home Brew Company is good. And the Malt Miller.

How much and when do i add priming sugar please? About 5g per litrre, at bottling time.

How much water will i need to put in the mashtun with that grain? I.e is there a calculation thats to be used? 2.5 to 3 litres per kg in the mash. Then you sparge with enough water to get to your pre-boil quantity. Do you want to end up with 20 litres, 23 litres, or Something else?

Do i add all them grains to mashtun at once then leave them all to mash? Yes, stir them into the mash water gradually, you need to aim for a specific temperature and then leave it for an hour.Heat the water to 75C, and by the time your grain is all stirred in it should have settled at about 67C. Hopefully. Adjust with boiling or cold water if not.

Do i put the challenger leaf and the fuggles leaf in the boiler at the same time? Yes. Start of the boil.

What does it mean by "30 minutes steep after flame out"? Steep the Northdown hops in the beer after you switch the boil off, for 30 minutes. Then cool the beer and transfer to your FV.

Have i got to chill this fast once boiled up? Ideally yes, but not all of us possess chillers. Some transfer to the FV hot, seal it and leave it to cool overnight.

Do you add entire pack of yeast to the wort? Yes, you need 11/12g of dry yeast, or a pack of liquid yeast. Liquid yeast should realy be boosted with a yeast starter prepared a couple of days before brewing - add the yeast to a mixture of 1 litre water and 100g DME, to activate the yeast and boost the yeast cell count. Dried yeast is much easier and has enough yeast cells, provided it's not an old pack that has been poorly stored in the shop.

What temperature would you let this ferment at and for how long please? 18-20C. 2 to 3 weeks, but also until hydrometer readings have stopped changing.


You should read up on all grain brewing and watch some Youtube videos.

Thanks again for all your help. Literally this morning i have just got John palmers how to brew book. So gonna start having a read through this in a moment. Is there a page you can reccommend on reading about the "yeast starter"? Literally all i have done with yeast is sprinkle a packet on the top of my extract kits that ive done. From reading about boosting it do i just strain the DME off the yeast starter and pour it all in the wort?

Many thanks for your answers :)

 

[clibit]

To make a yeast starter you just boil water and DME, 10g per 100ml, for about 15-20 mins. Cool, pour into a sterile jar and shake well with the lid on tight! Then pour your liquid yeast in. Put the lid on loosely. Occasionally shake the jar, with lid tightened. At pitching time, pour off most of the liquid and pour the yeast into your beer, and mix it in well. Not everyone bothers with starters, but it's a risky game, people suffer from stuck fermentations, it is a good habit to get into and will make consistently better beer.

As it is your first AG beer, you could perhaps take the easy route and pitch a packet of dried yeast. Make the recipe again later with the liquid yeast, to compare. I'm currently trying to persuade people to try Munton's standard yeast, which comes in 6g packs, so you would need two, but it's only about 99p a packet, and I've just finished a lovely batch of beer I made with it. Much better yeast than I expected.

 

[tricey27]

To make a yeast starter you just boil water and DME, 10g per 100ml, for about 15-20 mins. Cool, pour into a sterile jar and shake well with the lid on tight! Then pour your liquid yeast in. Put the lid on loosely. Occasionally shake the jar, with lid tightened. At pitching time, pour off most of the liquid and pour the yeast into your beer, and mix it in well. Not everyone bothers with starters, but it's a risky game, people suffer from stuck fermentations, it is a good habit to get into and will make consistently better beer.

As it is your first AG beer, you could perhaps take the easy route and pitch a packet of dried yeast. Make the recipe again later with the liquid yeast, to compare. I'm currently trying to persuade people to try Munton's standard yeast, which comes in 6g packs, so you would need two, but it's only about 99p a packet, and I've just finished a lovely batch of beer I made with it. Much better yeast than I expected.

That makes sense then mate... Going to get these bits ordered for the Worthingtons today then hope to have a go at the weekend fingers crossed :) Might order the Muntons yeast then and see how i get on with that :) Would you use Campden tablets on this and if so at what point do you use them please? Thanks matey

 

[clibit]

That makes sense then mate... Going to get these bits ordered for the Worthingtons today then hope to have a go at the weekend fingers crossed :) Might order the Muntons yeast then and see how i get on with that :) Would you use Campden tablets on this and if so at what point do you use them please? Thanks matey

You should use them. Add a bit of a crushed campden tablet to your water at the start, to remove chloramines. I have to confess, I have become very lazy in this regard, and it doesn't seem to have affected things. But everyone's water is different, it's a simple thing to do and I would recommend you do it. Add a bit to the mash water before heating it, and a bit to the sparge water before heating it. Half a tablet is enough for all the water you will use.

 

[tricey27]

Would just regular brewing sugar do the job or do i need to order something particular for this? Also the shop im looking at only has Crystal 82 malt rather than the Crystal 75 malt thats on the recipe. Am i correct in thinking this is just the colour grade, would that difference make any huge change? Cheers

 

[clibit]

Brewing sugar is good for priming.

Malt colours are confusing cos there are two colour numbering systems in use, EBC and Lovibond (L) and recipes gives the colour in either of these and often don't say which. What you want is a standard mid-colour crystal, ideally in the 150-180 range, or as near as possible. I suspect that 82 is EBC, and it's a pale malt, which will taste noticeably different. Most malt retailers will sell a medium crystal because it's easily the most used crystal in the UK, where are you buying from?

 

[tricey27]

Brewing sugar is good for priming.

Malt colours are confusing cos there are two colour numbering systems in use, EBC and Lovibond (L) and recipes gives the colour in either of these and often don't say which. What you want is a standard mid-colour crystal, ideally in the 150-180 range, or as near as possible. I suspect that 82 is EBC, and it's a pale malt, which will taste noticeably different. Most malt retailers will sell a medium crystal because it's easily the most used crystal in the UK, where are you buying from?

Great, i already have loads of sugar in so that saves a purchase :)
Im buying from the home brew company. Ill have a look and see what range they do now :) thanks

 

[clibit]

Great, i already have loads of sugar in so that saves a purchase :)
Im buying from the home brew company. Ill have a look and see what range they do now :) thanks

The Home Brew Company has a wide range of crystal malts. This is the one you want:

http://www.thehomebrewcompany.co.uk/crystal-crushed-grain-500g-145-ebc-p-141.html

There is little clarity on where pale crystal ends and medium crystal begins, or medium crystal ends and dark crystal begins. Home Brew Company does a 113 EBC crystal that I would say is on the borderline between pale and medium. And medium becomes dark somewhere around 200 EBC I think.

Yet another colour confusion is the existence of a third colouring system, SRM. 145 EBC is about 75 SRM, which is what you need for this recipe, not 75L. Dunno why there are 3 systems. Does my head in...