Have a go at simple AG

[stevej]

Made my first full all grain today, turned out better than expected and none of the gunk I had in my first experiment. Credit to Clibbit and SteveJ for the recipe but it's this thread that made me do it.

I've posted on my own blog for others to read, even with steps for noobs lol considering I was a noob 4 weeks ago I'm over the moon I done it!

http://belfastbrewdays.blogspot.co.uk/

Over 19000 hits our Mr Clibit is a legend:thumb:

 

[ManseMasher]

Over 19000 hits our Mr Clibit is a legend:thumb:

Must be some kind of record! Wonder if Guinness Book Of Records has a category for this?!

 

[clibit]

Plenty of threads out there with more. :thumb:

The Tesco Kettle Element thread has just passed 46000.

Bloody kettle elements attracting more than twice as much interest as this life changing AG thread!!! Pah! :twisted:

But I feel very humbled and chuffed at the response, nonetheless, I got far more interest than I expected. I just felt this forum was full of kit brewers into adapting kits, and they'd really benefit from a crack at stove top AG. Cos I love it.

 

[GlentoranMark]

I got back into brewing because I visited a pub in Prague called U Fleku. They brewed their own black lager (Dunkel?) which is quite the most amazing beer I've ever tasted. I scourged the net and found a couple of clone recipes but I didn't have a clue about the ingredients or terms. I brewed a bock beer twice, it was the nearest I could get to the beer but tasted nothing like it. After I found this thread I tried the Ale recipe you posted initially. It tasted fine but had loads of crud, it's sitting conditioning and I'll drink it in a few weeks. After yesterday's brew which I found so pleasurable and easy to make I now feel equipped to go for the U Fleku clone.

Seriously I would never have got this far so quick without your steps. It was me that asked for a video and you duly produced it. Without you I'd still be making simple kits.

Humbly I am grateful.

 

[Tony1951]

Seriously I would never have got this far so quick without your steps. It was me that asked for a video and you duly produced it. Without you I'd still be making simple kits.

Humbly I am grateful.

+1

I think we should propose him for a knighthood for services to home brewing - Sir Clibit of Old Trafford? Not a bad handle.... :)

 

[clibit]

I only passed on what I learnt from elsewhere. A site that no longer exists had a simple AG method guide ans I realized I could do it easily.

 

[Budgie]

I couldn't resist a little taste of my AG today! It's been fermenting @18C for 10 days so I took a hydrometer reading this evening. It started off at 1044, and it's only at 1026 now. I was expecting it to be much lower by this stage?

I'm not in a hurry to get it put of the FV by any means but I used S04 yeast, which I was under the impression fermented pretty quickly. I won't have a chance to bottle it for at least another week anyway, so hopefully it'll have shifted by then.

I don't like to waste my hydro samples so they always get poured down my neck. It tasted amazing! (If I do say so myself) :)

 

[clibit]

Yes should be lower by now. Maybe rouse the yeast by swirling the FV a little. Good that it tastes good though!

 

[Budgie]

Cheers, Clibit. That's what I thought, but I wanted to check that it wasn't just me being impatient first. Would it be worth putting a jumper on it to raise the temp by a degree or two also? It's at a constant 18 at the moment.

 

[clibit]

Yes, should have said, raise the temp if you can, at this stage 22-24 is fine.

 

[Budgie]

Will do. I'll move it into a warmer room in that case and give it a stir.

On another topic, any idea how long S04 keeps once opened? Obviously I didn't use a full packet for a small batch. I've wrapped the open pavket in cling film and stuck it in the fridge. Will it be dead by now?

 

[clibit]

Should be ok. The number of live cells diminishes with time but it's ok for a while.

 

[HisDudeness]

Now that I have had a go at the partial mash method and the simple AG method was just wondering if there is any particular reason for incorporating a mashout step on the partial and not on the basic AG instructions? What does the mashout step actually do?:wha:

 

[clibit]

Well spotted! Mashout raises the temperature, which stops enzyme activity, halting the mashing process, and helping the wort to separate from the grain better. However, a mashout can be done in different ways, or not done at all. If your sparge weater is at mashout temperature then the sparge will effectively incorporate the mashout. I have found that raising the temp of the mash to about 75 at the end can help efficiency, combined with a hot sparge, around 76-78C is the optimum sparge temp I think. But you don't need to raise the mash temp, using hot sparge water is enough.

I hope that makes some kind of sense!

 

[Magaly]

Does anyone have good recipes for lager (heineken type), a hoppy bitter and a sweetish dark belgium type beer for this method?

 

[stevej]

Does anyone have good recipes for lager (heineken type), a hoppy bitter and a sweetish dark belgium type beer for this method?

For the first probably not
Have you tried the here for the bitter maybe http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/forumdisplay.php?f=62

Quantities need adjusting for batch size

 

[bquiggerz]

Just fished my second all grain, thanks @Clibit. It took longer this time around because I thought it would be a good idea to experiment with filtering the wort. That was a bad move. Have to admit now I've drank some of my first all grain I'm a convert. Even though I didn't prime it well enough even this rather flat beer is better than the kits I've made.

 

[stevej]

Just fished my second all grain, thanks @Clibit. It took longer this time around because I thought it would be a good idea to experiment with filtering the wort. That was a bad move. Have to admit now I've drank some of my first all grain I'm a convert. Even though I didn't prime it well enough even this rather flat beer is better than the kits I've made.

Was it a priming problem or a timing problem:grin:

 

[bquiggerz]

It was a priming problem, well a headspace problem in my mini kegs. First time using them. It's got more of a pulled ale style carbonation. Which wouldn't be bad if it wasn't for the fact it's a mild. I've just decided to call it a mildly hoppy ale and be done with it. It's still very enjoyable.

 

[stevej]

It was a priming problem, well a headspace problem in my mini kegs. First time using them. It's got more of a pulled ale style carbonation. Which wouldn't be bad if it wasn't for the fact it's a mild. I've just decided to call it a mildly hoppy ale and be done with it. It's still very enjoyable.

It could have been your priming was right but you did not wait long enough for the relevant effect to happen?