First All Grain Brew

[NegFerret]

Hi folks,

I've copied and scaled down a recipe (can't remember who was the originator :wha: ) and I wanted to know if it looks ok.

This is going to be my first step into all grain, but I'm just not sure I've got enough ingredients here, it only cost me under £5 for these grains to make 10 litres...I'm thinking maybe I made a terrible error and I'll end up with lightly flavoured water.

http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/recipeview.php?recipe_id=872

Anyone have any ideas or suggestions?

 

[robsan77]

hi, thing is if you dont hit 80% you will get a very weak beer. I'd up the pale malt and aim for 75%. Also up the challenger to get 30ibu at least. Which still isnt very bitter. :thumb:

 

[robsan77]

Also for that beer I would mash at more like 67C . SO4 will ferment right down and leave it thin. A higher mash temp will create more unfermentable sugars.

 

[NegFerret]

Also for that beer I would mash at more like 67C . SO4 will ferment right down and leave it thin. A higher mash temp will create more unfermentable sugars.

That's really helpful, I'll follow this advice Robsan.

 

[robsan77]

no problem :thumb:

 

[NegFerret]

Right, I'm just boiling this brew now...my first all grain batch!

There was a problem though, probably a very big problem.

I was aiming to mash at 70c for 90 mins, but at the end of the 90 mins I took the tempo and it was hitting 60c. So I lost 10c in those 90 mins.

I'm assuming this was because of the low volume (was only aiming for a batch of 10L at the end).

What will this do to my brew?

It hit 1030 (after taking account of temp) at the end of the mash, so I'm hoping it'll be ok.

Never-the-less, it has been fun :)

 

[robsan77]

If you use a good yeast like so4 of nottingham it shouldnt be a problem. Almost all of the conversion is done in the first 20mins of a mash anyway so hopefully the temp was still ok around then. Only fermentation will tell tho. Good luck with the rest of the brew. :thumb:

 

[robsan77]

1030 in how many litres though? 1030 is a bit low unless you are boiling off a lot of liquid.

 

[NegFerret]

It's a mild, so I'm looking to finish at 1035 after boiling off all the liquid.

I'm using safale s-04...probably

ABV should end up 3.3% with an IBU of around 21

edit: out of 11.45L around 1.45L should've boiled off. I started with 1.5L too little water unfortunately, so I had to hastily add some tap water I hope 1.5L with clorine won't ruin it (if it would otherwise have worked)
All a learning curve though!

 

[NegFerret]

Pitched at 22C 1036, pretty much on target...had to add an extra 1.5L of tapwater though, so it may test blurghhh for the chlorinates alone.

Will remember to prepare much more treated water next time!

 

[NegFerret]

Well, it all turned out good in the end! Tasted the brew after 6 days in priming and it is good - although too much black malt!

Has a lovely chocolate nose, and no nasty off flavours that I can detect.

The only issue (apart from needing to tweak the recipe and/or my measurements) is that there's not much head and rubbish retention. Also not a great deal of body, but I was thinking of adding extra crystal and taking away some of the black malt to see if it changes. Also need to sort out my mash temps.

Can't wait to get this weekend's brew going, and American IPA courtesy of Robsan!

 

[Ceejay]

Nice one - you'll probably find it'll come into proper condition after a couple of weeks. I have a batch of best bitter that's been conditioning for 2 weeks and it's still not quite there yet. You should also find that once it's properly carbonated, the mouthfeel and percieved body will improve :thumb: