Have a go at simple AG

[Gunnera]

Well for my 3rd brew I was going to stick with kits, then found this thread and couldn't resist a go at All Grain.
Yesterday was the day, target 10 ltr batch so doubled everything from original post.
2Kg Extra pale Munston Maris Otter crushed Malt, 2x 10g EKG hops, 1 sachet Muntons Premium Gold yeast.
Used grain bag & 2 muslin bags for hops, 1 at 60mins other at 5 mins. Also added half Protofloc tablet at 45mins.
All went well & ended up with 10 ltrs with SG between 1040-45.

Took 6 hours + another hour to clean the kitchen!
I started cooling it in sink of cold water & ice but found this was only cooling the bottom half, surprised how hot the top half stayed, didn't want to stir it as when I looked inside, looked like a pot of storm clouds thought they would get caught when i strained into fermenting bin, but in fact pretty much everything went through the muslin into the fermenting bin.
Should more of these 'clouds' been filtered out, do I need to use something else to filter into fermenting bin?
Should I remove the bags of hops at the end of the boil, or leave in while I cool it?

I ended up using 2 big builders buckets with cold water moving pot between the 2 to cool the whole pot.

Great fun day, loved the whole process, so now going to wait 10-12 days then bottle it.
It's fermenting away, although airlock not bubbling, think my grommet is leaking where I put new hole in lid for fish tank heater.

I'm hooked

 

[NormanHurst]

First of all, @Gunnera , Well Done! Your first of many AG brews is done.

You have started exactly as I did three years ago. I'm now 50 AG brews in.

To address some of your questions:

Cooling. The most efficient way (in time) is to buy or make a copper immersion cooler. This will chill your wort quickly, cut down your brew day time and reduce the risk of infection. You can buy ons on Ebay for about £35 from memory. Or if you at all handy, then I'm told they are easy to make. I am sure YouTube will show the way.

Cloudy wort. This isn't really a big problem. It will settle out in the fermentation bucket just fine. That said, clear wort is rather satisfying. A whirlpool or even just a stand to let things settle before transferring will help. I used to use a very fine mesh nylon bag lining a colander - although it used to clog with hop debris at times, it worked. You could also syphon into your fermentation bucket, leaving the trub behind.

You mention a heater at the end. Controlling fermentation temperature is, to me, the biggest quality leap a homebrewer can make. There are several ways to do it but it is one area definitely worth some investment.

I hope the beer comes out brilliantly. It sounds like a perfect late spring ale.

 

[clib]

Well for my 3rd brew I was going to stick with kits, then found this thread and couldn't resist a go at All Grain.
Yesterday was the day, target 10 ltr batch so doubled everything from original post.
2Kg Extra pale Munston Maris Otter crushed Malt, 2x 10g EKG hops, 1 sachet Muntons Premium Gold yeast.
Used grain bag & 2 muslin bags for hops, 1 at 60mins other at 5 mins. Also added half Protofloc tablet at 45mins.
All went well & ended up with 10 ltrs with SG between 1040-45.

Took 6 hours + another hour to clean the kitchen!
I started cooling it in sink of cold water & ice but found this was only cooling the bottom half, surprised how hot the top half stayed, didn't want to stir it as when I looked inside, looked like a pot of storm clouds thought they would get caught when i strained into fermenting bin, but in fact pretty much everything went through the muslin into the fermenting bin.
Should more of these 'clouds' been filtered out, do I need to use something else to filter into fermenting bin?
Should I remove the bags of hops at the end of the boil, or leave in while I cool it?

I ended up using 2 big builders buckets with cold water moving pot between the 2 to cool the whole pot.

Great fun day, loved the whole process, so now going to wait 10-12 days then bottle it.
It's fermenting away, although airlock not bubbling, think my grommet is leaking where I put new hole in lid for fish tank heater.

I'm hooked

Congratulations and welcome to the labyrinth.

Don't worry about the clouds. They will blow away.

I tend to put the last hops in loose at the end of the boil now and leave them in til I transfer to the bucket. Sometimes cool to 80 before adding them. Many people leave them in for 15 to 30 minutes.

6 hours is way too long, you'll speed up. I've also reduced my mash and boil times to 30 mins each. Leave it on the stove for 30 mins before cooling. Stays close to 100C and saves gas. I'm not actively doing anything much of the time so I can do other stuff. I use the hot water created by cooling to clean up.

Then I put it in sink of cold water. Change the water when it's hot. Leave it or move it somewhere cold like outside in winter, and just wait til it's 25C or less before I pour into FV and pitch yeast.

 

[Jim Brewster]

The clouds will be probably be because of the protofloc if they also look a bit like cauliflowers. Half a tab is a lot for 10l, but it doesn't matter too much. If you used BIAB it doesn't give as clear wort as a 3 vessel method with a grain bed, so there is more stuff in suspension but that will clear eventually.

 

[Gunnera]

7 days of fermentation, checked SG, its below 1010, maybe 1008 is that going to be OK?
It's clear gold and tastes
Going to turn off heater and wrap in frozen freezer packs tomorrow morning, leave 24hr then bottle, does that sound OK?

Really appreciate all the help 9n this forum.

 

[NormanHurst]

1008 is absolutely fine. No rush to bottle. The oft repeated maxim is 2 weeks to ferment + 2 to carb up in bottle + 2 to condition before drinking. I never stick to this (too impatient!) but will leave most brews at least 10-12 days before bottling. Even if the main fermentation has finished, the yeast has some clearing up to do. I'd give it a bit more time. Another week or so will do it no harm.

 

[garthlandbrew]

Luckily I'm measuring the gravity - it seems the brew has stalled out at around 1.023, although it's only been 2 days.

I think it was due to the high mash temp reducing the amount of fermentables. The 0.02 drop in a day seems a bit steep, too. Wonder what happened here! Will keep this going for the next week or so to see where it goes.

The brew finished at 1.023, double-checked with a hydrometer. It's *ok*, quite watery, and hoppier than expected. I can work through the batch on the summery days, but I'm curious why it plateaued so heavily. Next time, I'm going to try to aerate it more and maybe add yeast nutrients. My yeast is also the young's dry-yeast stuff that is super cheap and comes in a tube, so perhaps a yeast for ales will be a better option for next time.

Oh well, here's to round #2! :)

 

[clib]

The brew finished at 1.023, double-checked with a hydrometer. It's *ok*, quite watery, and hoppier than expected. I can work through the batch on the summery days, but I'm curious why it plateaued so heavily. Next time, I'm going to try to aerate it more and maybe add yeast nutrients. My yeast is also the young's dry-yeast stuff that is super cheap and comes in a tube, so perhaps a yeast for ales will be a better option for next time.

Oh well, here's to round #2! :)

Yes use different yeast.

 

[Gunnera]

2nd All grain brew has finished fermentation, didn't take manual readings only used iSpindle, started at 1065, finished at 1020 so I'm sure it's fine but stronger than a really wanted so question is when is the best time to dilute to get the OG i'd like.
Should I measure & dilute before the boil or after the boil, I assume it's not ideal to dilute after fermentation?

 

[Twopan]

You can take the pre-boil gravity in the kettle. Using the BIAB method with a dunk sparge, I end up with just short of the target boil volume and top up with dechlorinated water to say, 23L. I then immerse the hydrometer in the kettle and take a reading, adjusting for temperature of course. For my Belgian beers, this tells me if I'm in the right ballpark. It's also helpful in working what efficiency I have got from the mash, and I can adjust how much candi syrup I add near the end of the boil to avoid over-shooting the OG. If you plumb all your ingredients and numbers into the Brewer's Friend site (or similar), it will calculate your target pre-boil gravity for you. I use this as I am brewing, adjusting effciency and late-addition syrup as I go.

 

[clib]

2nd All grain brew has finished fermentation, didn't take manual readings only used iSpindle, started at 1065, finished at 1020 so I'm sure it's fine but stronger than a really wanted so question is when is the best time to dilute to get the OG i'd like.
Should I measure & dilute before the boil or after the boil, I assume it's not ideal to dilute after fermentation?

Not ideal after fermentation but I've done it - boiled cooled water siphoned into the bottling bucket. If I dilute I usually do it when transferring from kettle to fermenter.

 

[klaus]

I keep forgetting to make notes, take readings or photos .... but here from memory is my latest Saison creation, bottled today, based around a recipe from the "Kitchen Brewing" book: Coriander Saison:
BIAB method:
400g amber base malt
400g wheat malt
500g DME medium
60g of Citra
11g packet of Lille Saison yeast
hand-full fresh coriander
- steep grains for 45 minutes starting at 72C
- boil for an hour adding the DME at start
- at 40 minutes add hops
- at 60 minutes cool wort down to about 25C
- pitch yeast into FV
- ferment for 10 days
- add freshly chopped coriander leaves and leave for 4 days
- Day 14 bottle and leave for another 14 days
- Yielded 10 bottles
Initial taste from the FV was quite good, but a bit too malty perhaps, coriander flavour excellent!
Was impressed with my first attempt which was per the book recipe.
This time doubled the grains and hops.

 

[dlowe1992]

First couple of extract brews under my belt (one still fermenting, one in pressure barrel), I'm now impatiently planning next brews.
This seems too tempting not to try. I'll try some small batches as I'm keen to experiment with hops / yeasts.

I only have a big 33L fermenting vessel and could do without any more expense on demijohns etc for the time being.
As a cheap workaround I was planning to use a couple of 5L PET bottles such as supermarket's sell water in (I have a couple of Ashbeck bottles left from last brew day). Has anyone attempted drilling the caps to fit an airlock? They're definitely big enough, just not sure how it would hold up to fermentation...

Kicking myself as I had a couple of demijohns in the shed and gave them away a couple of years ago..

 

[klaus]

First couple of extract brews under my belt (one still fermenting, one in pressure barrel), I'm now impatiently planning next brews.
This seems too tempting not to try. I'll try some small batches as I'm keen to experiment with hops / yeasts.

I only have a big 33L fermenting vessel and could do without any more expense on demijohns etc for the time being.
As a cheap workaround I was planning to use a couple of 5L PET bottles such as supermarket's sell water in (I have a couple of Ashbeck bottles left from last brew day). Has anyone attempted drilling the caps to fit an airlock? They're definitely big enough, just not sure how it would hold up to fermentation...

Kicking myself as I had a couple of demijohns in the shed and gave them away a couple of years ago..

Those bottles are ok, drilling hole is easy, though probably best to use a blow off arrangement into a pop bottle as brews could get quite active and would foam through the airlock soon. Try and find a 10L vessel which would give you some leeway.

 

[jof]

Alternatively use cling film on the top of your 5l bottle & put a slit in it to let co2 out if you don't have easy airlocks.

 

[MashBag]

As a cheap workaround I was planning to use a couple of 5L PET bottles such as supermarket's sell water in (I have a couple of Ashbeck bottles left from last brew day). Has anyone attempted drilling the caps to fit an airlock? They're definitely big enough, just not sure how it would hold up to fermentation...

They will be fine. Easier still, pop the lids on, & then just crack. Do this all the time. No airlocks/blowoffs on any of my fermenters.

 

[dlowe1992]

They will be fine. Easier still, pop the lids on, & then just crack. Do this all the time. No airlocks/blowoffs on any of my fermenters.

Thanks, that makes sense annd even easier :)
Any worries for oxidation if you leave for two weeks before bottling?

 

[MashBag]

Two weeks will be fine, nip then up if you are concerned.
I bottle about day 7 ish.

 

[Benfleet Brewery]

Thanks, that makes sense annd even easier :)
Any worries for oxidation if you leave for two weeks before bottling?

I put cling film on the top held on with a rubber band.

 

[clib]

Thanks, that makes sense annd even easier :)
Any worries for oxidation if you leave for two weeks before bottling?

I don't use airlocks myself I just ensure gas can escape. Loose/cracked lid if gas can't escape with the lid fastened. With glass demijohns I put a piece of aluminium foil over the top.