Be gentle with me

[bolty]

That sounds good to me. I would always put a bit of extra float time in for fubars.

I always try and aim at getting an extra 2-3 litres in the FV to account for loss to trub/yeast cake. Doesn't always happen but just my 2pence.

 

[jamesb]

Moving on to sparging, I'll be checking gravity of runnings every now and then. This will get lower and lower as the sparge progresses and the sugars are extracted, but I stop at .990 irrespective of whether or not I've got my 28 litres as the grains are fully spent and I don't want excess tannins. If I start with more grain I may get to 28 litres before it reaches .990, but I stop at that even though the grains still could yield more sugars, and that gives me a higher O.G.

You'll want to stop around 1.006 to stop tannins, etc. In practice, you'll usually get the full boil volume before you hit that.

 

[Moley]

You'll want to stop around 1.006 to stop tannins, etc. In practice, you'll usually get the full boil volume before you hit that.

I need to check what temperature my hydrometer is calibrated to, don't think I've seen it printed on it, but BrewStew's guide says that .990 equates to 1.008, temperature corrected ???


Anyway, come on then guys, make me a recipe. :

Prodigal2 posted this in “Nice Easy All Grain Recipe for a Newbie”:

100% Satisfaction
23 litre, OG 1040, FG 1009, IBU 24, ABV 4 %

Pale Malt 4.5kg

Mash Liquor 11 litres
Mash Temp 65°C
Mash Time 90 mins

Goldings 75g 90 mins
Goldings 15g 15 mins
Irish moss 5g 15 mins

I also found a Goblin clone recipe which includes Crystal plus smaller quantities of Caramel and Chocolate (which I haven’t got) and less hops (mixed), so how does this sound?

Mole’s Maiden Mash:
23 litre
Pale Malt 4.5kg
Crystal Malt 250g
Black Malt 250g
Mash Liquor 12.5 litres
Mash Temp 68°C
Mash Time 90 mins

Goldings (5%) 15g 90 mins
Fuggles (4.5%) 15g 90 mins
Goldings (5%) 15g 30 mins
Fuggles (4.5%) 15g 30 mins
Irish Moss 5g 15 mins

 

[jamesb]

You'll want to stop around 1.006 to stop tannins, etc. In practice, you'll usually get the full boil volume before you hit that.

I need to check what temperature my hydrometer is calibrated to, don't think I've seen it printed on it, but BrewStew's guide says that .990 equates to 1.008, temperature corrected ???

Ah, got you. :thumb:

Careful about the temperature of the mash. At 70degC, for 1.008 it will read 0.987, at 65degC it will read 0.990.

There's plenty of free hydrometer correction dodahs around the net.

 

[tubby_shaw]

You'll want to stop around 1.006 to stop tannins, etc. In practice, you'll usually get the full boil volume before you hit that.

I need to check what temperature my hydrometer is calibrated to, don't think I've seen it printed on it, but BrewStew's guide says that .990 equates to 1.008, temperature corrected ???

Ah, got you. :thumb:

Careful about the temperature of the mash. At 70degC, for 1.008 it will read 0.987, at 65degC it will read 0.990.

There's plenty of free hydrometer correction dodahs around the net.

There's a really good one in our calculators on this site :thumb:
Recipe looks good moley, but for my personal preference I would reduce the amount of black malt by half as it can totally dominate the taste of the final beer

 

[jamesb]

There's plenty of free hydrometer correction dodahs around the net.

There's a really good one in our calculators on this site :thumb:

Yes.

Perhaps EB could do one that converts the other way, i.e, you input the temperature and the reading you want and it'll tell you what it should read on the hydrometer.

 

[EskiBrew]

Perhaps EB could do one that converts the other way, i.e, you input the temperature and the reading you want and it'll tell you what it should read on the hydrometer.

Sounds like a smart idea :thumb:

 

[Moley]

Thanks folks. Anyway, now I think I've worked out which hydrometer to use and how far to let it drop, let's return to the plan.

If I reduce the Black Malt to 125g, as TS reckons a little goes a long way, should I increase anything else, or is that enough of a grain bill for starters?

Any idea what sort of IBU that level of hopping will give me?

Also, I won't be using a wort cooler, at least for the time being, so do I strain to a FV at the end of the boil or allow the boiler to cool to a less scalding level before I start to collect, in which case should I skim out as much hop as I could?

 

[Moley]

Oh Bum!

I'd be grateful for some comments on my previous question, but it has been brought to my attention that there is another Bank Holiday coming up and we are going boating for the week. In short, I would need to bottle / keg by next Friday, or leave in Primary until our return.

Dilemma: do I postpone for a fortnight, and wait for Wheeler's book which I've just ordered, or do I brew tomorrow / Friday?

One more thing, I said I didn't think my hops had any AA numbers but guessed (from other suppliers' numbers) at Goldings 5%, Fuggles 4.5%.

The Fuggles ARE labelled, 2.6%, which seems rather low.

I'd suggested 15g Goldings, 15g Fuggles for 90 mins and same again at 30.
Should I try 20/20, or perhaps 15/25 ?

 

[tubby_shaw]

Brew it and leave it in the fermenter, it'll be fine :thumb:
As for hops if your Fuggles are 2.5% and your Goldings 5%, then 40g of Goldings and 30g of Fuggles should give around 30 IBU :thumb:
Adding aroma hops won't add much to the biterness

 

[Wez]

Black malt reduction - fine no other changes needed

Bitterness - by eye - 30 IBU which is, medium bitterness

Going away - I leave my beers for 10 days normally but have also got away with it after 21 days

Hop schedule - i go for 75% / 25% IBU on early/late but best to play around - see what you like :thumb:

 

[Moley]

Ah well, too late to turn back now, grain bill weighed, mixed and doughed in, sparge liquor up to temperature, hops weighed and bagged, it's had 88 minutes in the coolbox mash tun and it's all systems go at Moley's Brewery.

That's it, cooker timer is beeping, here I go ....

Lid's off, looks good, smells great, temperature still 67.0°C

 

[Wez]

Excellent stuff - keep us posted :thumb:

 

[Moley]

28 litres of clear, sticky brown liquid, at an average (temperature corrected) gravity of 1.044 just gone back into boiler :thumb:

 

[Moley]

06:33 - Grain Bill weighed out (before mixing), hops weighed and bagged:

07:14 - 12 litres water at 79°C into coolbox mash tun and grain 'doughed in':

08:56 - After 90 minutes mash time, commence fly sparging:

09:41 - 28 litres collected 'runnings' returned to boiler:

10:25 - Back to a gently rolling boil and first hops have been in for a few minutes:

 

[tubby_shaw]

Great stuff moley :thumb:
Enjoy and keep us informed :)

 

[llannige]

Looking good M

Keep up the good work. :thumb:

 

[Moley]

28 litres of clear, sticky brown liquid, at an average (temperature corrected) gravity of 1.044 just gone back into boiler :thumb:

Note to self: Next time, try to remember to add a campden tablet to the liquor at the start, allow for loss to hops and use lid on boiler.

Explanation to others:
I didn't allow for loss to hops but they fluff up far more than I anticipated.
My big pan has a double lid, that's to say there's a full diameter lid with something like an 8 inch diameter middle lid. It's a fairly large diameter pan, large surface area, loss to boil-off greater than anticipated.

28 litres at 1.044 ended up as 20 litres at 1.054

Wife got home, moaned about the stink then moaned about condensation everywhere.
Daughter came back from a friend's house, wrinkled her nose a little and said it smelt like Horlicks. No-one has noticed any particular malty smell from any of my kit brews. Come to think of it, neither have I, this looks and smells pukka.

 

[tubby_shaw]

For the future moley, it is worth remembering that you can top up with treated water during the boil if you have a high evaporation rate :thumb:
It' also ok to add treated water at the end to bring the volume up and the gravity down

But, at the end of the day you've got some good beer on the go and once you've tasted it you'll only go back to kits in an emergency :

 

[Moley]

Just to top this thread off, this brew just hadn't quite finished when we went away for a week, but I was delighted to find on our return that it had already cleared in the primary. I bottled on Saturday evening but my 'test PETs' are firm to the squeeze and it's just gone down the cellar. Probably just as well because Mrs. Mole was starting to get the irrits as I seem to be taking over more and more of the kitchen.

Really lousy photo, but it's well clear and there's only a very light bottle sediment.

And I KNOW it wants putting away and forgetting about for a month or more but I just had to sample one of the PETs - it tastes like beer. I mean proper beer, not homebrew, if you know what I mean.

Many thanks to everyone who put up with my stupid questions and helped me with my first steps, I feel like I belong now, I'm a proper brewer :