Have a go at simple AG

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Having done a few kits, I was inspired by the simplicity of the simple AG guide. Yesterday I followed the OPs instructions, using Fuggles (5g at start of boild and 10g with 5 mins remaining) and MO. I achieved an OG of 1042, which appears to come out as 66% efficiency (5L batch).
I do have a couple of questions:

1. What style does this fall under, or closest to? Is it a pale ale? I'd like to know in order to help me choose the most appropriate serving temp and carbonation (any advice on these would be warmly accepted).
2. Would this be best kegged or bottled? I have a 5L SS keg (and associated CO2 setup for force carbing and serving) and ample bottles, so could do either. I may even try 330ml bottles as it's a small batch (5L).

It was an enjoyable, if not slightly stressful experience. I am sure it would be a lot easier and less stressful on subsequent attempts, and I look foward to doing again. I have some Galaxy, Citra and EKG, so thinking one batch of each to help me better understand the hops.

I am usaully very patient when it comes to tasting my first of a batch, but I am very eager to crack this one open!

 

[MmmBeer]

Having done a few kits, I was inspired by the simplicity of the simple AG guide. Yesterday I followed the OPs instructions, using Fuggles (5g at start of boild and 10g with 5 mins remaining) and MO. I achieved an OG of 1042, which appears to come out as 66% efficiency (5L batch).
I do have a couple of questions:

1. What style does this fall under, or closest to? Is it a pale ale? I'd like to know in order to help me choose the most appropriate serving temp and carbonation (any advice on these would be warmly accepted).
2. Would this be best kegged or bottled? I have a 5L SS keg (and associated CO2 setup for force carbing and serving) and ample bottles, so could do either. I may even try 330ml bottles as it's a small batch (5L).

It was an enjoyable, if not slightly stressful experience. I am sure it would be a lot easier and less stressful on subsequent attempts, and I look foward to doing again. I have some Galaxy, Citra and EKG, so thinking one batch of each to help me better understand the hops.

I am usaully very patient when it comes to tasting my first of a batch, but I am very eager to crack this one open!

1 Yes its a Pale Ale, 6.5g/l of granulated sugar for priming according to the Bible.
2 Equally well suited to either, I wouldn't bother with the small 330ml bottles for such a session beer,

 

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1 Yes its a Pale Ale, 6.5g/l of granulated sugar for priming according to the Bible.
2 Equally well suited to either, I wouldn't bother with the small 330ml bottles for such a session beer,

Great, thanks! Good shout regarding the 330ml bottles.

 

[Barley Rubble]

I personally use quite a few 330 ml bottles and even some 275 ml at times. The reason is that I do give around 10% of my brews away to friends and relatives to try. You know, as guinea pigs, so to speak. The proviso is that they report back to me on their interpretation of taste, flavour, carbonation etc.

Using the smaller bottles means there is more 500 ml bottles for me to drink!

 

[AnimatedGIF]

I personally use quite a few 330 ml bottles and even some 275 ml at times. The reason is that I do give around 10% of my brews away to friends and relatives to try. You know, as guinea pigs, so to speak. The proviso is that they report back to me on their interpretation of taste, flavour, carbonation etc.

Using the smaller bottles means there is more 500 ml bottles for me to drink!

I was considering having people as guinea pigs too!

 

[Asherweef]

Last time I did this (10litres) I had major problems draining the wort from the grain and it took an age. Any tips?

 

[MmmBeer]

Last time I did this (10litres) I had major problems draining the wort from the grain and it took an age. Any tips?

When I started, I used a muslin cloth (designed for straining jam) stretched over the top of one of my 15 litre fermenters and held in place with a bungee cord. Sometimes it didn't stay in place and I had to start straining again. After a few fails, I upgraded to a 'mashing and sparging bag' and things became a lot easier.

 

[mitch]

I feel really clever now. Now i looked up AG in the acronyms thread!
PS. Dont tell anyone.

 

[jof]

Thats quite close to the way I do my partial mashes.
With 1Kg maris otter pale malt for the boil & hops, but then I make up the rest of a 40 pint batch with DME.

Next supply order I am going to double up my malt to 2Kg per brew. (I might add a 2 gallon fermenter too if I need to make up cost to get to free postage threshold)

 

[Northern monkey]

If you've made a few kits and/or extract brews, why not have a go at a simple AG brew, to see the difference it makes? A small batch of AG beer is not difficult and you will discover the difference and feel the joy and pride of making it from scratch. All you need for 5 litres is 1kg of Maris Otter, or other pale malt, a packet of hops, and a sachet of yeast. You just need a thermometer, a decent sized pan and something to strain the grain from the wort. A big sieve, or a piece of cloth in a colander. A bag that fills the pan and,drapes over the sides and holds the grains, made from muslin or voile, is ideal. You also need a hydrometer to check the gravity before and after fermentation.

Recipe:

• 1kg Maris Otter (about £1.50)
• One packet of hops (any you like - EKG, Citra, Amarillo, Galaxy, Fuggles, First gold etc) (About £3-4, but you will only use 15g of the 100g, so cost is around 50p)
• One packet of yeast, 3g dried yeast is enough. (50p ish)

Method:

1. Heat 3 litres of water to 75C in big pan.
2. Pour in the pale malt while stirring - get rid of lumps.
3. Check temp is 65-70C - adjust if necessary with cold or boiling water.
4. Wrap a thick towel round the pot and leave alone for one hour.
5. Strain into a bucket or other vessel through sieve, or colander lined with cloth.
6. Heat another 4 litres of water to 80C and add the grains back to it. Leave 10 mins, stir, and strain the liquid to your bucket. You should have about 6 litres, which will reduce when you boil it for an hour.
7. Dispose of grains, add wort to pan and bring to boil.
8. Add 5 grams of hops when boiling point is reached.
9. 55 Mins later add 5 to 10g of hops, depending on your hoppiness requirements, boil another 5 mins and switch off.
10. Cool the wort in sink, with lid on, add to sterilised FV/demijohn via sterilised sieve to catch hops, and top up the level to 5 litres if necessary. Pitch yeast at around 18 - 20C.

[Measure the amount of water added if you top up the FV, and add this amount to the sparge water next time you brew]

You should get 8 or 9 x 500ml bottles of lovely beer for about £2.50. It takes me about 3 hours start to finish, making 10 litre batches in this way (see below).

10 Litre option: You can just double all the quantities and make 10 Litres, which is what I do most of the time, it's a good amount of beer. About 18x500ml bottles, or 27x330ml bottles. You just need a 15ish litre pot.

If you've never made an all grain beer it's really worth giving this a go.

Thanks buddy will be trying in the next few weeks much appreciated, N MONKEY

 

[jake122]

Sorry if it's been mentioned already in the thread, but if I were to make 10 litres by doubling up, will it be ok to ferment in my 5 gallon fermenter? I'm waiting on a 10 litre demijohn being delivered, so can wait till this arrives if not.

 

[AnimatedGIF]

Sorry if it's been mentioned already in the thread, but if I were to make 10 litres by doubling up, will it be ok to ferment in my 5 gallon fermenter? I'm waiting on a 10 litre demijohn being delivered, so can wait till this arrives if not.

What would you do with the other 5L?

 

[St00]

What would you do with the other 5L?

5 Gallons is IRO 19 Litres.

 

[St00]

Sorry if it's been mentioned already in the thread, but if I were to make 10 litres by doubling up, will it be ok to ferment in my 5 gallon fermenter? I'm waiting on a 10 litre demijohn being delivered, so can wait till this arrives if not.

That's an awful lot of headspace. Personally, I'd just wait until your demijohn arrives.

 

[jake122]

Thanks, that's what I wasn't sure about. Will wait until the 10 litre demijohn arrives.

 

[AnimatedGIF]

5 Gallons is IRO 19 Litres.

I should have read it properly instead of trying to multi-task Not sure where I got 5L fermenter from. That would be a lot of headspace, yes.

 

[jake122]

No worries. One other thing, i've made a 5 litre batch as a first attempt which has now been bottled. I ended up with just less than 4 litres in the end though. should I have topped up with water to make the full 5 litres at some point during the process?

 

[MmmBeer]

No worries. One other thing, i've made a 5 litre batch as a first attempt which has now been bottled. I ended up with just less than 4 litres in the end though. should I have topped up with water to make the full 5 litres at some point during the process?

You will lose some volume at every stage, mashing, boiling, transferring, fermenting, bottling etc. It is better to use extra water at the beginning of the process, the mash, than topping up as you go along. Measure how much you are short by and add the appropriate amount next time. If you absolutely have to top up after the boil stage, then ensure you use sterile water, either bottled water or boiled cooled water.

 

[jake122]

You will lose some volume at every stage, mashing, boiling, transferring, fermenting, bottling etc. It is better to use extra water at the beginning of the process, the mash, than topping up as you go along. Measure how much you are short by and add the appropriate amount next time. If you absolutely have to top up after the boil stage, then ensure you use sterile water, either bottled water or boiled cooled water.

Thanks

 

[labrewski]

Omg just done this by 2
had two pots going so I have 10 litres in fv but thought I would go again first thing in the morning just finished now 10.30 so if I go again that's 20 liters but it's in fv now bubbling every 10 seconds with no yeast what is happening here lol when I finsh in the morning it will probably be ready to explode lol