I think i should be taking notes

[keat64]

In anticipation of moving up to AG, i've been watching this forum avidly.
Picked up lots of tips, but foolishly made no notes, so I'd like to start a thread where I can ask lots of questions regarding each stage and start to make notes.
If that's OK ??

Maybe this will help other newbies to AG

 

[keat64]

Subject 1. Mashing.

I believe there's a ratio for steeping of 1.25
I take it this is 1.25 litres of water per kilo of grain.
In a temperature range of 66°c to 70°c

 

[Covrich]

Subject 1. Mashing.

I believe there's a ratio for steeping of 1.25
I take it this is 1.25 litres of water per kilo of grain.
In a temperature range of 66°c to 70°c

People will try and stick to a ratio which suits them i think most would aim for 2.5 -3 liters of water per kg of grain

But it depends on you're setup , if you're doing true BIAB you include the full water including sparge and grain absorbtion

 

[clibit]

Subject 1. Mashing.

I believe there's a ratio for steeping of 1.25
I take it this is 1.25 litres of water per kilo of grain.
In a temperature range of 66°c to 70°c

I think your 1.25 figure comes from American websites where they use 1.25 quarts per pound of grain. 2.5 to 3 litres per kg is the metric equivalent.

And this applies if you mash and sparge, but not if you do BIAB, as Cov says.

The mash temp range is about 63 to 70C.

 

[Joeyriles]

Ask away, it's how I got started.

The biggest hurdle is 'the fear'; "What if I mess it up? What if I make bad beer? What if my significant other discovers how much I spent on that shiny pot?"

I haven't looked back and I'm a huge provocateur/worrier. I also now know how to make good beer (though I'm always learning new tricks.)

 

[keat64]

I'm happy to ask away, hopefully, with everything in one place, might make it easier for others.

 

[keat64]

I'm assuming around 1kg of grain per gallon of intended brew (4.5l), so a 5 gallon brew would be 5kg of grain or there abouts.

Hitting this with a strike temp of say 72°c, should settle down to somewhere within the 63-70 sweet spot.
lets say the temperature falls under or over the sweet spot, is there any detrement to adding more water at this point to stabilise the mash temp.

 

[clibit]

I'm assuming around 1kg of grain per gallon of intended brew (4.5l), so a 5 gallon brew would be 5kg of grain or there abouts.

Hitting this with a strike temp of say 72°c, should settle down to somewhere within the 63-70 sweet spot.
lets say the temperature falls under or over the sweet spot, is there any detrement to adding more water at this point to stabilise the mash temp.

The practical range for water:grain ratio is something like 2 litres per kg to 4 litres per kg. Most people mash in the 2.5 to 3 litres per kg range - so you can add some boiling or cold water to adjust the temperature and stay in the mashing range.

The amount of grain per gallon can obviously vary with the strength of beer you are making, your mashing efficiency and the types of grain used, but 1kg per gallon is reasonable as a rough guide. It should give you a beer around 5%.

 

[TartanSpecial]

Hitting this with a strike temp of say 72°c, should settle down to somewhere within the 63-70 sweet spot.
lets say the temperature falls under or over the sweet spot, is there any detrement to adding more water at this point to stabilise the mash temp.

72-75 strike should get you in the range (I normally find 74-75 gets me to 66-67 C using my equipment set-up using eg 18 ltrs water for 6kg grain) ...but will depend on the temperature of the mash tun and the grain..if you store your grain in a cold garage or shed, best to bring it in the day before brewing. If you miss the temperature you can add cold or hot water to bring it back to the target....better a little more water than planned versus wrong mash temp.

 

[geetee]

I us a water ratio of 2.7 -1 but again this can be varied if you are using a lot of roasted or darker grains you may want to increase this as they can affect run off.
You refer to the sweet spot between 63 and 70, this is not just a variable range during your brew. You should choose your mash temp according to whether you want a thinner beer (lower) or full bodied (higher) and this should be chosen with the constraints of your chosen yeast in mind.
By all means adjust your strike temp just after adding grain with hot/cold water but carfeul not to overshoot as you will be there all day

A few years back I used to copy interesting articles from here and Jim's and paste them into word documents under specific titles. You can either refer to these off line or print them and keep in ring binder, saves making notes and you can highlight important points.

 

[Halfacrem]

What brewing equipment do you have?

You may be planning on creating your own recipes from scratch, but consider getting a homebrew book with recipes in. You can work backwards from the recipes and work out your ratios from those to find out what works best. Myself and other forumites have found Greg Hughes book very useful, but there are plenty more around.

It seems that the deeper you delve into AG, the more questions that arise, however, from my own experience, the good news is you don't have to know all the answers (or indeed all the questions) in order to start making really good beer and practical experience is priceless :)

 

[keat64]

moved this one down a post

 

[keat64]

What brewing equipment do you have?

You may be planning on creating your own recipes from scratch, but consider getting a homebrew book with recipes in. You can work backwards from the recipes and work out your ratios from those to find out what works best. Myself and other forumites have found Greg Hughes book very useful, but there are plenty more around.

It seems that the deeper you delve into AG, the more questions that arise, however, from my own experience, the good news is you don't have to know all the answers (or indeed all the questions) in order to start making really good beer and practical experience is priceless :)

To be honest, for my first half a dozen, i'd be more than happy to work from tried and trusted recipies, until i get an instinct for it.
As regards equipment, very little additional equipment from my kit brewing.
A home made mash tun, and a 30L Ace water boiler.

Need to dig out my hydrometer if i can find it, and possibly invest in a refractometer, although, i'm not so sure on the refractometer.
I've always gone on the principle to brew with what i got and don't worry about it, (hence the reason i've no idea where the hydrometer is)

 

[keat64]

So lets assume, i'm using 5kg of grain with 13 litres of mash water, for a mash hour.
With grain absorbtion and dead space, i'll probably come out with about 10 litres, which i'm going to drain off.

If i intend to brew 23 litres, i'll need to sparge with an additional 13 litres in two batches, however, also need to consider a possible 2 litre loss during boiling, so sparge with 15 litres.

 

[buzzharvey22]

So lets assume, i'm using 5kg of grain with 13 litres of mash water, for a mash hour.
With grain absorbtion and dead space, i'll probably come out with about 10 litres, which i'm going to drain off.

If i intend to brew 23 litres, i'll need to sparge with an additional 13 litres in two batches, however, also need to consider a possible 2 litre loss during boiling, so sparge with 15 litres.

If im aiming to make 23 litres of beer, I normally aim for 26.5 litres for a 60 minute boil or 28 litres for a 90 minute boil. That's just how much I normally tend to boil off.

I normally end up with 21 litres in the FV as i lose a couple of litres in the boiler due to trub and hop's absorbing the wort.

 

[Halfacrem]

To be honest, for my first half a dozen, i'd be more than happy to work from tried and trusted recipies, until i get an instinct for it.
As regards equipment, very little additional equipment from my kit brewing.
A home made mash tun, and a 30L Ace water boiler.

Need to dig out my hydrometer if i can find it, and possibly invest in a refractometer, although, i'm not so sure on the refractometer.
I've always gone on the principle to brew with what i got and don't worry about it, (hence the reason i've no idea where the hydrometer is)

Is it a cool box mash tun or a pot?

I quickly learned a hydrometer is very useful, as is a turkey baster and a trial jar for samples. I bought a refractometer, but in honesty I haven't used it much. It's quite an expensive bit of kit for something that isn't entirely necessary.

I'm 7 AG brews in now, and I've gone from complete chaos to actually being able to do other things around the house while the brew is on.

 

[keat64]

Is it a cool box mash tun or a pot?

I quickly learned a hydrometer is very useful, as is a turkey baster and a trial jar for samples. I bought a refractometer, but in honesty I haven't used it much. It's quite an expensive bit of kit for something that isn't entirely necessary.

I'm 7 AG brews in now, and I've gone from complete chaos to actually being able to do other things around the house while the brew is on.

Its a 30l cool box, insulated with vermiculite. Not quite finished, as i need to get to the plumbers merchant for the manifold bits.

 

[clibit]

The grain will absorb more like 1 litre per kg. So you will lose 5 litres to that, and roughly speaking 5 litres to evaporation and trub. So you probably need to start with about 33 litres total, with 12.5 to 15 litres going in the mash and the rest for the sparge. The first time you brew you will discover how far out this is for your equipment and timings, and you can adjust for the next brew.

I'm not sure a thread asking loads of questions is the best way to go. It could get very confusing, and possibly over-complicate things. We all have different brew set-ups and methods, and brew different amounts. At the very least you need to tell us what equipment you will use and how much you will brew each time.

You could follow the simple AG method in the how-to section of this forum, for a very basic guide that will explain the crucial elements very quickly. I also recommend reading this all grain walk through article, this guy is an experienced home brewer and writer for Brew Your Own magazine who explains things really well IMO. His recipes are good too.

http://beerandwinejournal.com/walkthrough-iii/

 

[Halfacrem]

Its a 30l cool box, insulated with vermiculite. Not quite finished, as i need to get to the plumbers merchant for the manifold bits.

Once you've used it a couple of times you'll get an idea of how much heat you lose during a mash. I've got a 34L cool box (which I bought, I'm lazy!). I brewed yesterday and added my strike water at 76. After doughing in, the temp was at 66. Over the hour it dropped to around 64. I've taken to adding lots of towels on top as the lid leaks the heat!

Another tip is to have the grains and mash tun at room temp before brewing and pre heat the mash tun with warm water before adding the strike water.

 

[keat64]

I agree on the lots of questions thing.
Just mashing has opened up a whole new set of questions.