Have a go at simple AG

[Racehunter]

I used Safale S-04. For the chilling stage, I did actually use ice packs in the last couple of sink water changes which did seem to help, but a chiller coil is on the list to make. Thanks for the link.

And as for what's next, well, I reckon as my last but one 'pimped kit' (Coopers Irish Stout as per terrym's guidelines) was so good, I will probably try something along those lines

 

[Andymoz-70]

I'm in the same boat. Complete noob to biab. I got a 23L Ag kit by mistake (As my big pans only 17L or so) So going to split that in the next few weeks when feel confident. In the meantime going to make my all grain debut and do the 5l recipe this week when my grains and hops arrive. Sounds easy to do and also going to make the wort cooler after work tomorrow!!. That's no problem . Its indeed a perfect trial for me as dont drink loads these days, Plus did a test and my gas hob won't do a roller oil at full capacity. Thanks for all the tips guys

 

[Cotters14]

Thanks for the thread Clibit.

It's inspired me to have a go at this small batch AG BIAB as I've just got my hands on some crushed malt and I found an old bag of hops that I bought about 2 years ago, although they have never been opened so I'm hoping they will be alright to use.

So, in total I've got the following:

1.5kg Crushed Pilsner Malt
300g Crushed Wheat Malt
100g Hersbrucker Hops
Weizen Yeast CML Brand

Now to find a recipe to accommodate what I've got and I can hopefully get 1, maybe 2 small batches out of it.

I'll update as and when the brew starts and how it goes!

 

[Racehunter]

So, racked to my bottling bucket yesterday and bottled today. Amazed at the clarity. Obviously did something right

 

[StoutWolf]

Have just checked and I think I have everything I need to have a go at Greg Hughes ESB recipe. Scaled back to fit my 12l pot. I think that's going to be next weekends brew day for me.

 

[mitch]

OK then...tomorrow sees me attempt a scaled down brew of Proper Job. I have several recipies of which im wading through. Ive got all the malt and hops varieties. As im a bit fick...
The Mash time = the time to boil or cook the malt?
The boil time = the time after the mash that I follow the hops schedule?

The hops schedule... do I add the hops varieties largest number of mins first then count down...
eg Chinook @ 60 mins then count down to last 15mins then add Willamette then at zero mins the rest of the hops?
of course depends upon the recipie.
what does "steep" mean and also "hop back"
TIA

 

[Jim Brewster]

The Mash time = the time to boil or cook the malt?
The boil time = the time after the mash that I follow the hops schedule?

The hops schedule... do I add the hops varieties largest number of mins first then count down...

TL;DR - "cook" (not boil) , yes, yes

The mash is sort of "cooking" but what you're doing is holding the grain at a set temperature to allow the enzymes in the malt to produce fermentable sugars. Too high a temp will denature the enzymes, so mashing is done around 65-75C, lower temp gives more fermentable sugars resulting in a drier beer, higher mash temp gives more body. You can also step the mash temperatures, say 65C for 30 minutes then 70C for 30 minutes, for example. I usually aim for about 67C for 60 minutes.

After mashing you can sparge to get extra sugars from the grain, this is done by rinsing the grains with more water at 77C, and brings up the volume to whatever is required, though its not it strictly essential it will increase the efficiency and get slightly more alcohol in the final beer.

The boil will usually be 60 minutes when using pale malt, 90 minutes for pilsner malt although I believe you can also get away with 60 minutes for pilsner but I've never used it so not sure. Keep an eye on the temperature when it approaches 100C as the liquid will froth up at boiling point and can boil over the sides. At this point you add your hops if there is a 60 minute addition. The times are given as boiling time so 60 minutes means hops boiled for 60, 15 means boiled for 15 etc. If there is a 0 minutes addition add them when you turn off the heat and let them infuse for about 20 minutes. I tend to chill to 80C before adding anything after the boil and hold at 80C for 20 minutes. Boiling the hops drives off the aroma and flavour compounds and increases bitterness, which is why recipes will have multiple hop addition times to achieve the different bitterness and flavours from the hops.

 

[ChrisM]

Followed Clibit's original post for my first all grain attempt at 7l of Summer Lightning, influenced by Graham Wheeler's recipe, and a desire to use up the last of two packets of hop pellets:

1400g Golden Promise pale malt
17g Challenger for boil
8g East Kent Goldings for last 10 minutes
Wilko yeast

Bit hoppier than intended but in a good way, and the colour is much closer to the real thing than I managed with LME. Starting gravity 1.045 so not too short of the target 1.049. Now to find out how much of this is fermentable.

 

[moto748]

I'm doing my second 5 litre batch today. It's a great idea, and I think I'm going to continue doing these small batches on a regular basis; it's an ideal way to test out a recipe, and if it works well, I can simply multiply up and do a bigger batch in the Burco at a later date.

 

[Racehunter]

5 weeks from bottling and its a very tasty pint

 

[doccy]

I'm going to give this a try as my first attempt at an AG brew, I had a couple of questions if anyone can help. I'm going to do a ten litre batch so it sounds like I will have 14 litres to boil, has anyone had any issues keeping a good rolling boil on this on a normal oven hob?

Other question was that I am only going to boil for thirty minutes as I'm not a big fan of bitterness, should I reduce the boil amount down (say from 14litres to 13)?

Thanks in advance!

 

[NormanHurst]

I'm going to give this a try as my first attempt at an AG brew, I had a couple of questions if anyone can help. I'm going to do a ten litre batch so it sounds like I will have 14 litres to boil, has anyone had any issues keeping a good rolling boil on this on a normal oven hob?

Other question was that I am only going to boil for thirty minutes as I'm not a big fan of bitterness, should I reduce the boil amount down (say from 14litres to 13)?

Thanks in advance!

I regularly do small stove top batches and it works well. My boil is usually 14 litres down to 11.5 over a hour.

To reduce bitterness you could look at reducing the quantity of hops added at start of boil rather than trying to change water volumes and boil times.

 

[doccy]

Thanks for the reply -its good to know how much boils off as well. You are right of course, but one of the things I love about homebrewing is how much you can tinker around. So I think if I don't want too high an IBU why boil for an hour if I can just do it in a half hour - the old run before you can walk method lol

 

[Jamesman]

Hi just a quick question. I'm ordering a pan for the 5litre AG brew but was thinking of doing a10l brew aswell in the future so would a 15 litre pan be big enough for that? Cheers.

 

[StoutWolf]

Hi just a quick question. I'm ordering a pan for the 5litre AG brew but was thinking of doing a10l brew aswell in the future so would a 15 litre pan be big enough for that? Cheers.

I usually scale my batches to 8l in a 12l kettle. When the wort comes to a boil I don't have much unused volume beneath the rim of the pan. But I haven't had a boil over yet. I suspect you will be similar given both setups are two thirds of pan capacity.
It would be worth checking pan capacity is as stated with water before first brew. Also I'd scale to 8 or 9 litres and see how that goes rather than going straight to 10. Or maybe hold some pre boil wort back in a jug and add slowly once boil is reached and your confident it's not going to foam up or boil over.

 

[Jamesman]

I usually scale my batches to 8l in a 12l kettle. When the wort comes to a boil I don't have much unused volume beneath the rim of the pan. But I haven't had a boil over yet. I suspect you will be similar given both setups are two thirds of pan capacity.
It would be worth checking pan capacity is as stated with water before first brew. Also I'd scale to 8 or 9 litres and see how that goes rather than going straight to 10. Or maybe hold some pre boil wort back in a jug and add slowly once boil is reached and your confident it's not going to foam up or boil over.

Thanks for the info and the quick reply. Cheers.

 

[MmmBeer]

Hi just a quick question. I'm ordering a pan for the 5litre AG brew but was thinking of doing a10l brew aswell in the future so would a 15 litre pan be big enough for that? Cheers.

You are right in planning to scale up from 5 litres, its a lot of time and effort, just to achieve 8 bottles. When I started I bought a 16l pan from Wilkos and that alllowed me to make batches of up to 11.5 litres. As most recipes are designed for 23 litres (5 gallons), it makes the maths very simple to halve all quantities. Also rather than use demijohns, I bought a cheap 15l plastic fermenting bucket.

 

[Jamesman]

You are right in planning to scale up from 5 litres, its a lot of time and effort, just to achieve 8 bottles. When I started I bought a 16l pan from Wilkos and that alllowed me to make batches of up to 11.5 litres. As most recipes are designed for 23 litres (5 gallons), it makes the maths very simple to halve all quantities. Also rather than use demijohns, I bought a cheap 15l plastic fermenting bucket.

Hi, that's what I was thinking. Its my first brew so if all goes well I'll start scaling up and do bigger batches. Cheers.

 

[NormanHurst]

Everyone's plans and pans are different! For what's it worth, I'd consider a slightly larger pan. I started on 5L but I caught the brewing bug and quickly realised the same effort could get me 10-11L with the same time and effort.

I bought what was advertised as a 20L pan. If it is 20L, it is right to the brim and I suspect it might be a bit smaller. I know others on here have had the opposite experience and pans have been larger than advertised.

The 20L works great for me. I can collect and adjust all the water for the brew in one pan. It holds 14L pre boil comfortably with no boil over risk. For a few quid more might be worth it.

 

[obscure]

Hi just a quick question. I'm ordering a pan for the 5litre AG brew but was thinking of doing a10l brew aswell in the future so would a 15 litre pan be big enough for that? Cheers.

Personally I use a 20L pan for my 9-10L batches has the advantage of reducing the risk of boil over, (One thing to be aware of is their is a limit to how much liquid a regular stove can keep at a rolling boil, for mine it’s about 15L).