Have a go at simple AG

[Tim Wilkes]

I've just done my second AG (using @MyQul's maxi BIAB method for 23L) and it was much less stressful than my first using this method. Learned so much from the first one that made the second much more relaxed (so much so that I got the washing and ironing done at the same time!).

 

[Andybiker]

Hi guys,

I've been doing kit brews for a few months now and thought I'd have a go at this.

I've got all the ingredients in the list, but I cant see the addition of any brewing sugar.

Sorry if this is a newb question but do AG kits not need brewing sugar?

Thanks.

 

[Benfleet Brewery]

Hi guys,

I've been doing kit brews for a few months now and thought I'd have a go at this.

I've got all the ingredients in the list, but I cant see the addition of any brewing sugar.

Sorry if this is a newb question but do AG kits not need brewing sugar?

Thanks.

All the sugar you need will come from the grains. Good luck. I followed the instructions in the OP in July 2019 after doing kits for 6 months previous to that and haven’t done another kit since.
(apart from the cider in the FV for the missus)

 

[Andybiker]

Thanks mate.

Had a bash today..

When filtering through muslin it clogged up so used a fine sieve but after 10 mins in the fermentation fridge there seems a lot of hop sediment. Is this going to be a problem?

 

[MyQul]

Thanks mate.

Had a bash today..

When filtering through muslin it clogged up so used a fine sieve but after 10 mins in the fermentation fridge there seems a lot of hop sediment. Is this going to be a problem?

View attachment 28538

No, trub is fine. It just robs you of beer is all

 

[Andybiker]

Great. Thanks fella. Just seems a lot more than usual.

 

[NPi]

Great. Thanks fella. Just seems a lot more than usual.

Moving from kits to AG, I was really surprised by the increase in trub, however through doing more brews you learn how to reduce this. My beers are so clear now sometimes it takes weeks for them to carbonate. But nothing better than pouring out a bottle and only the smallest film of trub remaining. Try "whirlpooling", filtering and cold crashing. Plenty of information on the site that will serve you well.

Cheers, Nick

 

[Andybiker]

Thanks mate.

I already cold crash, however I'll look into 'whirlpooling'

I don't mind the trub, there just seems loads, especially as this was about 10 mins after pitching and fermentation hadn't even started yet.

Cheers again.

 

[Andybiker]

Hi guys, forgot to check the gravity before pitching. Can anyone advise roughly what this would have been and what the final should be?

Thanks.

 

[Andygsf]

Well .... I followed the op instructions and used cascade hop Pellets , I can't believe I've made beer tasting this good . Just got to wait and see what it's like in a few weeks.. no looking back now I've got 4 kits sitting in the cupboard . Hum what to do with them ? Thanks very much for the info and what a great op instructions .

 

[adefm]

Hi, I am going to use my new BIAB kit ( 15 L stainless steel pot, net, wort chiller and 15 L youngs plastic fermenter etc..) to make 10L of my first AG brew. I have used as a basis clibit's first post as the base for my recipe, doubled the quantities for 10L and modified the instructions slightly for BIAB and I will bottle it..

I am trying to learn the AG process rather than make large quantities of beer. My first AG beer will I hope be very simple to make and drinkable. I don't know all the terminology and formast on what to post/write down before a brew

I have bought 5KG of Maris Otter Pale grain, 100g of fuggles and East olding pellets and 11g of ferentis safale S-04 yeast

My plan is:
2KG Maris Otter Pale grain crushed
20g of fuggles pellets
10g East Kent Goldings pellets
6g of ferentis safale S-04 yeast

BIAB steps
1) Mash Volume 14.9L
2) Strike temperature 168F/75C
3) Add Grain
Mash temp with grain 155F/68C
3) Leave for 60 minutes, pot enclosed with blanket
4) Lift bag out and drain into pot without squeezing
5) Pour 5L of 168F/75C water over bag (sparge) and into pot.
6) Target boil volume 15L
7) Heat pot to boiling point 100C
add 10g fuggles+5g East Golding
boil for 55 minutes
8) Take off boil add remaining fuggles(10g)/golding(5g) for 5 mins

I need some advice on points 7) and 8) about when and how much hops to add, open to advice.

9) Cool immediately with my new wort chiller too 18-20C
10) Syphon to 15L youngs fermenter (not sure if I need a sieve)
11) Top up with boiled/coiled water to 10L keeping temperature at 18-20C
12) pitch 6g yeast, stir vigorously (not sure if this is too much for 10L) (yeast hydrated previously for 30 minutes in previously boiled water, but yeast added at 20c, not sure if I need this step )
13) Then follow the normal Home brew kit procedure
measure OG
Leave youngs fermenter with lid on but slightly ajar for 5-7 days) somewhere warmish
14) Then check fermentation stopped. measure final FG
15) Bottle
16) Add a tea spoon of normal sugar in each bottle for secondary fermentation for bubbles.

It would be great if anyone could comment on this recipe.

Cheers,
Adrian

 

[NormanHurst]

Hi Adrian. Looks like a plan. I've done 5 of these now and follow a similar routine. One think I would note is that 15L pre boil is likely to leave 12ish in the fermenting bucket. I usually use a total of 16L water (usually 7.5 mash, 8.5 sparge) and look for 11.5L in the bucket. With trub waste, that will give me around 20 x 500ml bottles.

On adding hops, just chuck them in the boil. The ones at or near the start will add bitterness but not much aroma or hoppy flavour. The late additions will be the reverse. Some folk add the late ones when the beer is chilling - below 80C - to preserve the hop aroma with no added bitterness. Online brewers software like Brewers Friends will help with recipe building and will calculate your IBUs. You can play around with timings (60 min, 15 min, 10 min) etc until you get the sort of ballpark figure you are after.

Try and keep the temperature of the fermenting bucket as stable as possible. The stability is probably more important than the actual temperature but somewhere around 18-19C will be perfect.

Don't panic if it looks like it's doing nothing after 12 or even 24 hours. Just believe. And then leave well alone for 2 weeks. Bottle, let it carbonate for another 2. Then try and leave it for another 2 if you can, but cracking a bottle or 2 just to check in on development is perfectly acceptable

Brew day will take longer than you expect. Take your time, sanitise everything in sight after the boil phase and enjoy the ride.

 

[TheOsprey]

Finally got around to trying this. I've thrown hot wort over the kitchen and myself 3 times now, I'm nursing a quite sore leg, I've hit my head on the extractor hood and ****** off my wife!

Looking forward to the next batch already!

 

[TheOsprey]

I ended up with 3.5l (?!) and when I'd added back up to 5l, had an OG of 1.040.

Very harsh flavour on tasting, used 15g of mandarina hops, which may have been a mistake.

 

[starseeker]

Finally got around to trying this. I've thrown hot wort over the kitchen and myself 3 times now, I'm nursing a quite sore leg, I've hit my head on the extractor hood and ****** off my wife!

Looking forward to the next batch already!

Welcome to the club :)

 

[TheOsprey]

Out of interest, how much of a krausen should I have going on? Pitched 3g of yeast, and I have a krausen ring around the outside, and the airlock bubbles every so often, but other than that, only a few patches on top of the wort.

It's been 4 days, so not sure whether it's finished fermenting, or whether it's stuck, or whether it's just a bit slow....

 

[NormanHurst]

Out of interest, how much of a krausen should I have going on? Pitched 3g of yeast, and I have a krausen ring around the outside, and the airlock bubbles every so often, but other than that, only a few patches on top of the wort.

It's been 4 days, so not sure whether it's finished fermenting, or whether it's stuck, or whether it's just a bit slow....

If be happy with that situation. Suggests the bulk of the fermentation is done but plenty of time for Yeast to finish the job and clear up after themselves. Give it a full week then take a gravity reading. Worse thing you can do at this stage is worry about it

 

[Slid]

I ended up with 3.5l (?!) and when I'd added back up to 5l, had an OG of 1.040.

Very harsh flavour on tasting, used 15g of mandarina hops, which may have been a mistake.

The Mandarina Bavaria hops I used yesterday said they were 9.3% alpha, so 15g in 5L is going to make for a very bitter drink with a 60 min boil! They did make a very nice single hop beer, but you would want to add something like 5g at each of 60mins from the end, 5g at 15mins and then another 5g right at the end of the boil. This would still be noticably bitter, but you would get a better overall flavour.

 

[TheOsprey]

you would want to add something like 5g at each of 60mins from the end, 5g at 15mins and then another 5g right at the end of the boil. This would still be noticably bitter, but you would get a better overall flavour.

Funnily enough, that's exactly what I did! I read that they were mild for bittering, so that's interesting. I did 5g each at 60, 15 and 5 mins.

 

[Slid]

Funnily enough, that's exactly what I did! I read that they were mild for bittering, so that's interesting. I did 5g each at 60, 15 and 5 mins.

That is interesting. Maybe it would smooth out a bit over a couple of months, but your first 5L brew ain't going to last that long