Thinking about switching to AG... advice?

[Dads_Ale]

Thanks guys. I worked it out this morning and felt so embarrased. I plan to not put all the wort into the boiler at first and then add back in once some has steamed off. Is this ok to do?

I am also thinking about buying a grain mill because i read that crushed grain doesnt keep long but whole grain does.. is it worth doing?

That is exactly what I did with my 30ltre boiler. Kept 2 or 3 litres back and added them after about 1 hr. Beer came out fine. Usually ended up with about 25ltres in the FV.
One thing is to be careful not to over sparge to get a larger final volume. I fell fowl of this when I upgraded to a 56litre boiler and ended up with a harsh alcohol taste in the finished beer.

 

[Ashley]

Thanks fuys. The pack cane with a london bitter grain "kit" and while i don't like the idea of a grain kit it will serve a purpose to get my first ag brew on the way. Watch this space i will let you know how i get on

 

[Fil]

i use 45/50l ex mango chutney barrels for grain storage, you can just about get 25kg of milled grain in one, a bit of tamping down may be needed to get the last bit in..

£11 via ebay delivered just search for "mango chutney barrel" pm me if u need a linky

they take a bit of cleaning/bleaching/airing to dewhiff of the mango chutney pong.. a few weeks airing after a good clean should do it,,

ive toyed with the idea of modding the lids to accomodate a vacuum valve hacked off one of those storage bags that lets u store 10 quilts in a suitcase,
but not gone down that route yet!!

 

[Dads_Ale]

Thanks fuys. The pack cane with a london bitter grain "kit" and while i don't like the idea of a grain kit it will serve a purpose to get my first ag brew on the way. Watch this space i will let you know how i get on

I think the grain 'kit' will be good start as it will let you concentrate on the process knowing the ingredients will be about right. Once you have the hang of the process then you can start experimenting

Good luck

 

[Ashley]

Good advice on the chutney barrels!!! Once i get up to scratch i think i will invest in some.

Just done the kit today. Couple of mistakes on my front but the "mashkit instructions were ****! No actual numbers or amounts and 1 bag of hops. Nothing to say to add them all at the begining or to save some behind... anyway they weighed 70g so i used 45g in the begining and saved 25g for the last 10 mins.

Long story short i finished 2 litres shy of final volume on 21l but got my target OG spot on at 1.038. Not a strong beer but tasted lovely in the trial jar.

One thing though... nearly 4l loss from tap to bottom in the boiler 3.7l)

Very proud of my first AG brew day and looking forward to my next one very much 😃

 

[Fil]

sounds like a very successfull brewday regardless of the lack of destructions,,.. the boiler deadspace is probably full of hops and break material, but if you are concerned too much valuable beer is left behind rigging up a sieve over the fv should allow you to pour out any residual beer into the fv.. a fine nylon sieve should screen out most of the hop/break that comes with the beer..

:thumb:

 

[philld]

I have the same kit as you do, I dived straight into AG brewing about 18 months ago (never done a kit) with it, and it has been amazing. Mine came with a summer lightning recipe pack which I made so many mistakes with but still has a very good beer at the end.

A couple of things I found:

Do not boil with the lid on, you will lose a lot of beer over the edges, keep the lid on until it starts to rumble (to get to heat quicker) then leave the lid off.

Mash tun - my mash tun came with the wrong size false bottom, it was letting grain get underneath and clog up the valve. Brupacks were brilliant and sent me a replacement when I asked them about it. I'm sure yours is fine but worth checking if the wort gets stuck.

 

[Ashley]

Been working the last few days so not had much chance to reply. I left the lid off when boiling but did leave it on when hearing back up. Mine has a bazooka fitting with a plastic false bottom on it to protect the element. Although after cooling i cleaned it out straight away, unscrewed the plastic bottom and there must have been a vine's worth of hops in there... next brew day tomorrow. Im doing a slight tweak in the timithy taylor landlord recipe in the graham wheeler book that came with the kit. Only tweaked because i couldnt get the exact hops...

 

[Dads_Ale]

Good luck and let us know how you get on and what the finished product tastes like.

 

[MyQul]

Do not boil with the lid on, you will lose a lot of beer over the edges, keep the lid on until it starts to rumble (to get to heat quicker) then leave the lid off.

You also don't want to leave the lid on as there are compounds in the wort than need to be boiled off. Can't rememeber what exactly but when I first started AG I did some googling as to whether I should leave the lid on and all the answer stated not to and mentioned these various compounds as the reason

 

[Ashley]

BUGGER!!! I FORGOT TO GET IRISH MOSS!!!!!!!!!

I didnt use any in the kit i got... will it make a difference? If not where can i get hold of any on NYD???

 

[MyQul]

Won't make any difference to taste but your beer will be a lot less clear.

If clarity bothers you, once it finishes fermenting you can use gelatine or inisglass to clear the beer, although 'i've never bothered the times I've forgot to add irish moss myself. Cold crashing will help too.

 

[Ashley]

What's cold crashing?

 

[MyQul]

Once you finish fermenting your beer and before you put it in bottles/keg you lower the temp by putting the beer in a fridge. This clears the beer. If you have shed or garage or somewhere outside its cold enough now to just put your FV outside overnight to cold crash

http://www.brewersfriend.com/2009/04/18/cold-crashing-ales-a-way-to-clarify-beer/

 

[Ashley]

Would that kill the yeast and cause problems with secondary ferment?

 

[brewpirate]

It pulls most of the yeast out of suspension but there is enough to carbonate ...generally :)

 

[Ashley]

Okay, so i waited until the 2nd of jan so i could get some irish moss. Everythong was going fine, except this time i boiled under the extractor fan on the cooker. When i was cooling i noticed a couple of drips coming down from the extractor fan and into the brew. Oh well, i will be bottling that next weekend so we will see if it is ruined then...

Today i did my third AG brew. I overcompensated on the water loss either by mistake or miscalculation so got a much lower sg than expected but still should be nice. I aslo bottled AG1 while the mash was, well, mashing. That tasted fantastic. It tasted better than a conditioned kit that's for sure!!!

Anyway, i'm really enjoying the brewing. It really tires me out though but it feels very rewarding already and i havent even had a chance to sample the fruits of my labour yet 😆

 

[MyQul]

Anyway, i'm really enjoying the brewing. It really tires me out though but it feels very rewarding already and i havent even had a chance to sample the fruits of my labour yet ������

Glad your enjoying it. As you increasingly become familiar with the techniques and you brew day routine I found it became less tiring and you'll also be able to knock time of your brewday.

 

[mirsultankhan]

Okay, so i waited until the 2nd of jan so i could get some irish moss. Everythong was going fine, except this time i boiled under the extractor fan on the cooker. When i was cooling i noticed a couple of drips coming down from the extractor fan and into the brew. Oh well, i will be bottling that next weekend so we will see if it is ruined then...

Today i did my third AG brew. I overcompensated on the water loss either by mistake or miscalculation so got a much lower sg than expected but still should be nice. I also bottled AG1 while the mash was, well, mashing. That tasted fantastic. It tasted better than a conditioned kit that's for sure!!!

Anyway, i'm really enjoying the brewing. It really tires me out though but it feels very rewarding already and i havent even had a chance to sample the fruits of my labour yet ������

While taking gravity readings from my first ever all grain rather than throw the content of the trial jar away, I drank it. Its a week old and already I can tell its going to be a phenomenal beer. It has a smoky quality and a beautiful coffee taste that I have never experienced in a beer before. Its way better than the first extract kit that I brewed even though that is quite drinkable. It just has a much broader spectrum of flavours. I don't think I will ever make an extract kit again unless I am desperate.

 

[Ashley]

Glad your enjoying it. As you increasingly become familiar with the techniques and you brew day routine I found it became less tiring and you'll also be able to knock time of your brewday.

Im starting to become a bit more efficient but 8 hours from start to finish including sterlising everything and cleaning everything afterwards i am struggling to see where i can save time as i insist at the moment on doing 90 minute mash and 90 min boil...

Im happy at that though it's a good day's entertainment lol