First all grain brew - help with recipe

[brewnoobie]

Hi - after a few semi-successful extract brew kits, I'm now keen to have a go at an all grain brew. I came across this recipe (largely random but also being a fan/living close to Dark Star):

https://www.themaltmiller.co.uk/myrecipe_dc/recview.php?rid=1449

And have a rather dumb/stupid question about how to read the recipe (happy to also be advised if this is not a good first all grain brew recipe by the way).

The main question I have is the volume of mash liquor is 14L but the volume at the start of the boil is 26L. Can someone explain these two figures to me please? How much strike water do I start with in the mash tun and how much do I sparge with?

Apologies in advance if this is a totally stupid set of questions.

Rich.

 

[Martybhoy]

I think it means 14 litres for the mash. From this you will get around 10 litres of wort (due to grain absorption). Then sparge with 16 litres to get a total of 26 litres for the boil.

Your figures on the day will likely vary due to various things such as equipment, technique, how fine the grain has been crushed.

 

[NIGHTSKY BREWING]

Rich ,,,all been there... for the mash 2/3 litre of liquor to 1 kg of Grain is a good ratio to set with a watery mash is the best way to get fermentable,s as for total wort volume you are going to have to wash those grains ( sparging) so start sparging with water at around 84 so time it hits your grains it will be around 77 degrees...... then stop sparging when your gravity hits 1.010/08 or PH rises some pros stop earlier ... so you may ask way you've only got 21 litre instead of 26. I can talk all night about why and what to do.. but for now add liquor or maltextract from here or both.
Here to help.....

 

[NIGHTSKY BREWING]

You will need to know your average boil off evaporation rates . So for me 26 litres boiled for 1 hour would leave around 22/23 litre.
Also read read .... all you can.

 

[NIGHTSKY BREWING]

I acidify sparge water to below 7 PH. Phosphoric or lactic acid .

 

[Duxuk]

The simplest form of all grain is BIAB (brew in a bag). You can use commonly available household equipment to avoid a big investment. You can avoid a sparge stage, at least to begin with, and mash with the full volume boil volume added to the amount for grain absorption. Have you acquired any equipment yet?

 

[Horners]

Hi - after a few semi-successful extract brew kits, I'm now keen to have a go at an all grain brew. I came across this recipe (largely random but also being a fan/living close to Dark Star):

https://www.themaltmiller.co.uk/myrecipe_dc/recview.php?rid=1449

And have a rather dumb/stupid question about how to read the recipe (happy to also be advised if this is not a good first all grain brew recipe by the way).

The main question I have is the volume of mash liquor is 14L but the volume at the start of the boil is 26L. Can someone explain these two figures to me please? How much strike water do I start with in the mash tun and how much do I sparge with?

Apologies in advance if this is a totally stupid set of questions.

Rich.

@brewnoobie Brewuk do Festival as a pre packed AG kit. Advantage of this is all amounts are exact so don't get left with odds and sods of grain and hops. It was my first AG and tastes broadly fine - my only issues related to the boiler tripping out before the late stage hops had gone in....

 

[brewnoobie]

Thank all for your responses, it's clear this is a very active and supportive forum!

@Duxuk - yeah I was looking at BIAB. The step up seems to be quite big if I go for a mash-tun, HLT, brew kettle etc. Is there any downside to BIAB?

@Horners - thanks for the pointer and good to know it's not a silly option for a first time AG.

 

[Harbey]

I've only just started myself and I had similar confusions (still have), but having a go is probably the best option - you learn a lot on brew 1 and seeing the process / the numbers in action is a great way to learn. Ultimately, I think you'll be fine if you're somewhere near with you measurements and you'll get something which is perhaps a little stronger or weaker than expected, but still great.

I'm BIAB and I don't sparge other than a quick dunk in a second bucket to get my boil volume something like. I mash with pretty close to the boil volume so it's just a case of replacing what the grain has absorbed. If you've not bought your kit yet, I got this and have found it a great starter (even includes a kit):

http://www.thehomebrewcompany.co.uk...iler-chiller-mashing-bag-mash-kit-p-3313.html

Don't forget, you can get a forum discount too!

 

[brewnoobie]

@Harbey - wow that is a great kit. Shall take a closer look at that, also liking the fact it comes with a grain kit! Thanks for the pointer.