first AG Brew

[FridgeSpaceBrewing]

AG #1

Batch 10l

1st I put 6l of water to heat to 75c. During this time i weighed out my grains. 2kg of pale malt and 300g of wheat malt. I then poured them into my brew bag and dunked in 75c water. Stirred until lumps were ko'd. Mash Temp reading was 68c. Covered my pot in a towel and well insulated coat for 60 mins

Cleaned and sterilised all my equipment while i waited on the mash.

After 60 mins mash temp was 66c, so only lost 2c. I poured my wort into a 25l FV and ended up with 5l

I brought 8l upto 80c and dunked the bag for 15 mins. During this time i weighed my hop additions. After 15 i poured the wort into my FV and gave the bag a good old squeeze. I ended with 13l in the fv, bang on what i wanted

Poured the wort back into my pot and brought upto the boil. At 60 mins i added 10g of cascade for bittering. At 10 mins i added 25g cascade and at 5 mins inadded 30g of cascade.

I then put the pot in a sink of cold water and ice bottles. Now, it took around 3 hours to bring down to pitching temp. No idea why it took so long. My sink is quite shallow and i have a tall pot, the only excuse i have. At temp, around 23c, I transferred the wort into 2 5l demijohns. The first DJ filled up nicely. The 2nd was a different story. Even though i have an anti sediment trap on my syphon, i could see loads of hop gunk flowing through the tube. I ended up with a 2 to 3 inch layer of crap at the bottom of the fv.

Anyway, i took a gravity reading and it was 10.50. I then pitched around 5g of dry ale yeast into each dj. Bunged and air locked and lashed into a cupboard.

The brew day took an awful long time. I started at 16.35 and it was in the dj at 23.30. This is mainly due to me being on cooking duty for my 2 kids and better half. Also the time taken to cool the wort. Next time ill send them to Alton towers or something.

Even though it took all evening, i still thoroughly enjoyed my 1st AG brew.

Apologies if some of this isnt coherent. I blame it on the half a bottle of spiced rum

 

[Gerryjo]

Good too see it went well and that you enjoyed it. You'll soon get the hang of it and cut the times down..

 

[FridgeSpaceBrewing]

Good too see it went well and that you enjoyed it. You'll soon get the hang of it and cut the times down..

Ive already worked out where to save time. First on the list is to not drink (as much anyway) im going to use the rest of my ingredients and make a 5l batch, so ill put it into practice.

Checked the djs this morning and they are both bubbling away every few seconds.

 

[Gerryjo]

I find that drinking when brewing does not mix as all becomes very Liberal and laxydaisy.
You learn a lot from small brews regarding cleaning, efficency preparation and what areas are critical at what times and its all about time management. Takes a bit to get it nailed and at the start you're always critical but that will fade and your routine will become a pleasure.

 

[DocAnna]

Well done on hitting your mash temperature so spot on and holding it there, I reckon adequate temperature control in the mash goes a long way to getting the sugars extracted efficiently. Just a thought for the future, (I’m no expert though) it might be worth an initial primary fermentation in your bigger FV for a few days till the foaming has died down a bit then rack off to the DJs at that stage. That way you save some of the time on your brew day and there’s less of a risk of your DJs overflowing.

Anna

 

[FridgeSpaceBrewing]

I find that drinking when brewing does not mix as all becomes very Liberal and laxydaisy.
You learn a lot from small brews regarding cleaning, efficency preparation and what areas are critical at what times and its all about time management. Takes a bit to get it nailed and at the start you're always critical but that will fade and your routine will become a pleasure.

The alcohol definitely did slow things down. Lesson learnt there. The one thing i was on top of was the cleaning and sanitizing. I took time with all that stuff at the beginning of the brew.

 

[FridgeSpaceBrewing]

Well done on hitting your mash temperature so spot on and holding it there, I reckon adequate temperature control in the mash goes a long way to getting the sugars extracted efficiently. Just a thought for the future, (I’m no expert though) it might be worth an initial primary fermentation in your bigger FV for a few days till the foaming has died down a bit then rack off to the DJs at that stage. That way you save some of the time on your brew day and there’s less of a risk of your DJs overflowing.

Anna

One of my main concerns was holding the mash temp. So i was chuffed when i only lost 2c. Regarding the DJs, i filled them to an inch or so below the neck. So plenty of head space.

 

[FridgeSpaceBrewing]

So after a days reflection and looking over my notes, I thought i would list a few issues that popped up and what to change for my next brew.

1. I added all 2.3kg of grains to the water in one go. It took me longer than expected to stir out all the lumps. Will add gradually next time.

2. After the mash was complete and i added 1st lot of wort to a bucket, it took a long time to heat up my 8l of sparge water. Next time i will heat the sparge water in a seperate pan during mashing. This will knock a big chunk of time off my day.

3. I will definitely put my hop additions in hop bags (i actually had them out waiting but forgot to use) next time. The hop gunk was outrageous at the bottom of the pot. A lot went into my fvs, hopefully will drop out over time.

4. I will definitely be more prepared for cooling down the wort next time. It took a ridiculous amount of time to get to pitching temp. I might even buy a wort chiller.

5. As it was very late and i was slightly over the limit, i didnt really take my time transferring into my DJs. I couldnt use my tube clip on the pot. I kept disturbing the sediment at the bottom of the pot. The hop bags and straining the wort should help with this.

The only issues i seemed to have were all mainly time related. Easily fixed i reckon.

May aswell list some positives

The smell of the mash Mmmmmm.
Holding my temp during the mash.
Hitting all my expected volumes of wort.


Sorry for the ramble.

 

[starseeker]

we like a good ramble :)

 

[Keruso]

AG #1

Batch 10l

1st I put 6l of water to heat to 75c. During this time i weighed out my grains. 2kg of pale malt and 300g of wheat malt. I then poured them into my brew bag and dunked in 75c water. Stirred until lumps were ko'd. Mash Temp reading was 68c. Covered my pot in a towel and well insulated coat for 60 mins

Cleaned and sterilised all my equipment while i waited on the mash.

After 60 mins mash temp was 66c, so only lost 2c. I poured my wort into a 25l FV and ended up with 5l

I brought 8l upto 80c and dunked the bag for 15 mins. During this time i weighed my hop additions. After 15 i poured the wort into my FV and gave the bag a good old squeeze. I ended with 13l in the fv, bang on what i wantedView attachment 32200

Poured the wort back into my pot and brought upto the boil. At 60 mins i added 10g of cascade for bittering. At 10 mins i added 25g cascade and at 5 mins inadded 30g of cascade.

I then put the pot in a sink of cold water and ice bottles. Now, it took around 3 hours to bring down to pitching temp. No idea why it took so long. My sink is quite shallow and i have a tall pot, the only excuse i have. At temp, around 23c, I transferred the wort into 2 5l demijohns. The first DJ filled up nicely. The 2nd was a different story. Even though i have an anti sediment trap on my syphon, i could see loads of hop gunk flowing through the tube. I ended up with a 2 to 3 inch layer of crap at the bottom of the fv.

Anyway, i took a gravity reading and it was 10.50. I then pitched around 5g of dry ale yeast into each dj. Bunged and air locked and lashed into a cupboard.

The brew day took an awful long time. I started at 16.35 and it was in the dj at 23.30. This is mainly due to me being on cooking duty for my 2 kids and better half. Also the time taken to cool the wort. Next time ill send them to Alton towers or something.

Even though it took all evening, i still thoroughly enjoyed my 1st AG brew.

Apologies if some of this isnt coherent. I blame it on the half a bottle of spiced rum

That’s one of the things with all grain, it can take 5 hours before you even start to clean, I get up at 6am, then I’m done by 11am, weekends only.

 

[Rodcx500z]

I remember my first brew started at 9am finished at 5pm, now i start at ten and i am done for 2pm it does get easier

 

[eyuptm]

we like a good ramble :)

Ramble on....!!!

 

[Crappyfish]

Looks like you did a decent job to me. Mine start at 7 finish in time for dinner around 12 it dont matter if its 10l or 20l it takes around the same time bit longer to boil 20 than 10 that I reckon is about it. As stated it does get quicker with experience I now find myself hanging around between stages of brew cos I try to be one step ahead of myself everything laid out in a OCD type way.

 

[FridgeSpaceBrewing]

Looks like you did a decent job to me. Mine start at 7 finish in time for dinner around 12 it dont matter if its 10l or 20l it takes around the same time bit longer to boil 20 than 10 that I reckon is about it. As stated it does get quicker with experience I now find myself hanging around between stages of brew cos I try to be one step ahead of myself everything laid out in a OCD type way.

Yeah im happy with how it all went. I know I'll get the time down, so im calm about it.

 

[FridgeSpaceBrewing]

Day 6 in the FVs. Airlock activity every 20-30 seconds. Temperature has been between 18-20c the whole time. All seems to be going well, for now.

 

[FridgeSpaceBrewing]

Day 10.

Still a lot of airlock activity. Approximately every 40-60 secs.

I was planning on cold crashing for 2 days then bottle on Sunday. Sunday will be 14 days in fv. If airlock activity is still going on Friday, shall i just leave where it is? Or shall i start taking gravity readings?

 

[AXW123]

I would check your gravity readings for the next few days when you are sure it is stable you can then cold crash. Observations - the brew is a lovely colour! Also If you plan to do 10 litre batches regularly you might consider a 3gallon fastferment conical fermenter. Dump everything in the fermenter - don’t bother to try and separate any of the Hops/trub. Allow to settle and you can just open the tap to remove it later in the day when it has dropped to the bottom. This way you minimise your losses and get as much of the wort as possible. But mainly carry on doing it so you work it out your own way. As an aside - I don’t tend to think of a brew day as such . I just stick a brew on and work it around the rest of my day - meals chores etc - but it is just me in my own kitchen and I get that some SWMBO’s might be less keen.

 

[terrym]

@FridgeSpaceBrewing
I do BIAB in my kitchen in an 11 litre pot and looking through your posts there are one or two things which I do which you might find useful.
I usually start my 'brewday' first thing in the morning. However I get all my stuff ready, FV, pot, weighed grain in the bag etc the night before and that includes my treated water which goes in an old PB.
I use the oven at a low setting to maintain the mash temperature and this is very successful, although you may not be able to do that if your pot is too big.
Like you I have found it useful to preheat the sparge water and hops go in weighted bags.
I dont get clear wort but dont bother about that it all goes in liquid plus solids and any break which has escaped the bag.
I use at least four sinkfuls of water, but cooling down 9 litres of wort to near pitching temperature takes about an hour. You could try no chill cooling where you leave the wort to cool down in the FV over several hours without assistance from cold water etc. I sort of do that at the end since I cool down to about 25*C and then put the FV into a water bath with ice water to get it down to pitching temperature. I then use the water bath for fermentation temperature control (no brew fridge)
Finally I clear up as I go along during the mash and boil and wort cooling putting stuff away after I have finished with it, rather than be faced with a massive clear up at the end. But in the end you will settle on a regime that suits you best, given what you do and what you have to hand.
Finally if you are brewing 13 litre batches I would consider a smaller FV. Brew2 bottle will sell you a 15 litre FV for about £4. I have two and use one of those in which to carry out my batch sparge.

 

[thesteve]

Time can be a killer when doing all grain. You make some good points terrym, looks like I brew in a similar way to you. Also, if you want to speed things up a little bit @FridgeSpaceBrewing, boil your kitchen kettle maybe three times and that will add around 6 litres of boiling water to your pot for starters. I then find if I add the hottest water I can get from the tap to the pot for the rest of it, it does not take too long to get the whole 16 litres or so up to the desired temperature. Doing it this way, I am starting to find I can do a whole brew in something like 3 and a half hours. As terrym says, it also helps if you clean up as you go as you have large chunks of time to fill in anyway whilst it is all going on.

 

[FridgeSpaceBrewing]

I would check your gravity readings for the next few days when you are sure it is stable you can then cold crash. Observations - the brew is a lovely colour! Also If you plan to do 10 litre batches regularly you might consider a 3gallon fastferment conical fermenter. Dump everything in the fermenter - don’t bother to try and separate any of the Hops/trub. Allow to settle and you can just open the tap to remove it later in the day when it has dropped to the bottom. This way you minimise your losses and get as much of the wort as possible. But mainly carry on doing it so you work it out your own way. As an aside - I don’t tend to think of a brew day as such . I just stick a brew on and work it around the rest of my day - meals chores etc - but it is just me in my own kitchen and I get that some SWMBO’s might be less keen.

Im going to check gravity fri-sun then see where we are. Ill deffo look into the conical fermentor, sounds like it will make life much easier. Cheers for the feedback