Have a go at simple AG

[Twostage]

i keep seeing the mention of demijohns for this,,, wont the fermintation spit itself out the top?

p.s im so keen to do this.
im a little dissapointed there is no local hbs for us in cov,,,postage bums the deal alittle

I did one in a DJ and it was fine. Actually two now I think about it. Both vigorous (you could see it churning) but stayed in the FV.

 

[yeastinfection]

so if a dj is 4.5 ltr do you guys split it between 2 djs?

 

[yeastinfection]

oh and the maris otter,,,,,crushed or uncrushed,, what difference does it make?

 

[Covrich]

oh and the maris otter,,,,,crushed or uncrushed,, what difference does it make?

You will need to crush it to mash with, you can buy it uncrushed and crush it yourself or get it sent crushed. Uncrushed grain can be stored much longer and better whereas crushed you should use within a few months more ideally a few weeks..

If you plan on buying just what you need for your brew then go crushed (assuming there is no price difference a lot of places do it for free)

 

[yeastinfection]

You will need to crush it to mash with, you can buy it uncrushed and crush it yourself or get it sent crushed. Uncrushed grain can be stored much longer and better whereas crushed you should use within a few months more ideally a few weeks..

If you plan on buying just what you need for your brew then go crushed (assuming there is no price difference a lot of places do it for free)

just spoke to brewerbill at cov market. Have you used him for supplies ?

 

[Covrich]

just spoke to brewerbill at cov market. Have you used him for supplies ?

No, he only seems to sell kits and those kits seem to be caked in dust. I know its a market but I would worry about how long they would have been sat there. General bits and pieces supplies look okay.

Did he say he sold grains and such?

I tend to get all my stock online.

 

[Daz1200]

Added all this liquid...about 7 litres to the boil pot. Took a gravity reading and it was only 1026, now at this point I am beginning to think I have done something wrong. I was expecting the gravity to be up around 1050, I started the boil and added the hops and I decided to try and raise the sugar content by adding 150g of honey.

I have just started a second batch of this brew and I have discovered why I had such a low gravity reading with the first batch. It seems I was reading the Farenheit scale on the thermometer when I should have been using oC.

So on my first batch I mashed at 22oC

With the batch I have put on today I increased the pale malt up to 1.2k and 250g of crystal malt. It was only when I began the mash I found out what I had done wrong.

Anyway batch 2 is going original gravity of 1072...better than the 1026 of batch 1. See what I end up with :pray:

 

[yeastinfection]

ordered hops,malt and yeast today,got me a bucket and some water,,,, see how it goes :drunk:

 

[yeastinfection]

so how come there is no sugar to carbinate?

 

[Sandimas]

Well, patience got the better of me - despite problems with a stuck brew, I eventually bottled my first attempt at this, and just cracked one open after 8 days. Wow - despite the stuck brew (turned out around 3.5%), and it being my own recipe, it's very, very good :drink:Many thanks for the inspiration of this thread, I'd convinced myself I didn't want to go AG but now I'm hooked, already planning no.3

Here's a reminder of my recipe, if anyone wants to try it - kinda standard British IPA-ish ale with Fuggles and Goldings.

Recipe Specs
----------------
Batch Size (L): 10.0
Total Grain (kg): 2.200
Total Hops (g): 35.00
Original Gravity (OG): 1.045 (°P): 11.2
Final Gravity (FG): 1.011 (°P): 2.8
Alcohol by Volume (ABV): 4.42 %
Colour (SRM): 6.4 (EBC): 12.6
Bitterness (IBU): 41.6 (Average)
Brewhouse Efficiency (%): 65
Boil Time (Minutes): 60

Grain Bill
----------------
2.000 kg Maris Otter Malt (90.91%)
0.200 kg Crystal 10 (9.09%)

Hop Bill
----------------
14.0 g East Kent Golding Leaf (4.7% Alpha) @ 60 Minutes (Boil) (1.4 g/L)
14.0 g Fuggles Leaf (5.7% Alpha) @ 60 Minutes (Boil) (1.4 g/L)
7.0 g East Kent Golding Leaf (4.7% Alpha) @ 15 Minutes (Boil) (0.7 g/L)

Misc Bill
----------------
Single step Infusion at 60°C for 60 Minutes.
Fermented at 20°C with Danstar Nottingham

Recipe Generated with BrewMate

 

[clibit]

Brilliant, really chuffed for you! Looks excellent!

 

[Sonnal]

Just bottled my first 5 litre experiment tonight. Got 9 bottles of 4.8% which is bang on perfect for me. It smells great so can't wait for it to carb up and condition a bit so I can have a bottle, or three.:drink:

 

[cheshirehomebrew]

the finished product looks very similar to my brews as I lean toward IPA's myself using marris otter and crystal malts

 

[Daz1200]

I have just bottled up my first attempt at this AG brew. filled 13 budweiser bottles with half a teaspoon of sugar in each.
OG was 1046, FG was 1012, gives me 4.5%ABV, this was the brew I messed up the mash temperatures so fairly pleased with this.

Tastes lovely apart from the lack of carbonation :-D completely different to the kits I have done a lot fresher tasting.

I have a second batch bubbling away so cant wait to try that one.:

Daz

 

[yeastinfection]

still waiting for delivery

 

[jessthecat]

hi sorry for the stupid question is there any sugar ????

 

[Sonnal]

hi sorry for the stupid question is there any sugar ????

Only for priming.

 

[Twostage]

Couldn't wait two weeks so sampled a bottle last night. Slightly under carbonated (I thought at the time I was putting it into the cold too early) but tasted fantastic :-D. I shared the bottle with the missus and she complained I only brought one bottle in. At over 6% I suppose you need to take it slow though.

If it tastes this nice after 7 days conditioning I'm wondering if you could do a 1:1:1 brew i.e. 1 week ferment, 1 week carb, 1 week condition.

Anyway, going to make a bigger batch.

 

[clibit]

Great stuff. What hops and yeast did you use in this one?

Yes three weeks is possible for some AG brews. I always do longer than a week in FV though. Usually two weeks. But a week warm and then chilled for a day or two seems to work. I'm usually doing 2-1-1 though, four weeks.

 

[Twostage]

Great stuff. What hops and yeast did you use in this one?

Yes three weeks is possible for some AG brews. I always do longer than a week in FV though. Usually two weeks. But a week warm and then chilled for a day or two seems to work. I'm usually doing 2-1-1 though, four weeks.

Goldings (4.6AA) and Mangrove Jacks M07 British ale (three grams for the 4.5 ltr).

Going to try 2:1:1. ;-)