Thinking about switching to AG... advice?

[Ashley]

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.

I agree! The taste in the trial jar alone before any yeast added has lots of flavour coming through so i jnow they will taste fantastic! And yes i think the same. I doubt i would do extract kit again unless of course i was desperate. But im seriously reducing my alcohol intake and planning on sticking to 21 units a week so every weekend this month will involve a brewday and by march i will have a huge back stock of which i can rely on to never need an extract kit ever again!!!

 

[MyQul]

You could do a 60min boil, you'd only need to add a small amount more hops and you can do a 60 min mash (I only do a 40min mash) so that's save you an hour

 

[mirsultankhan]

I agree! The taste in the trial jar alone before any yeast added has lots of flavour coming through so i jnow they will taste fantastic! And yes i think the same. I doubt i would do extract kit again unless of course i was desperate. But im seriously reducing my alcohol intake and planning on sticking to 21 units a week so every weekend this month will involve a brewday and by march i will have a huge back stock of which i can rely on to never need an extract kit ever again!!!

I think people are put off by how difficult they think it will be. Its certainly no more difficult than brewing an extract. I found that i had to sanitise less equipment because the heat took care of what would otherwise have been sanitised by hand.

One interesting thing I noticed was that I left my beer to cool overnight. I had planned to put it in a cube but just left it in the kettle with the lid on. In the morning i found that it had created a vacuum possibly due to the difference in temperature so that when i pulled the lid off it was kind of sucked on to the kettle.

 

[clibit]

You could cling film it overnight, if the lid wasn't a close fit.

 

[MyQul]

I think people are put off by how difficult they think it will be. Its certainly no more difficult than brewing an extract. I found that i had to sanitise less equipment because the heat took care of what would otherwise have been sanitised by hand.

One interesting thing I noticed was that I left my beer to cool overnight. I had planned to put it in a cube but just left it in the kettle with the lid on. In the morning i found that it had created a vacuum possibly due to the difference in temperature so that when i pulled the lid off it was kind of sucked on to the kettle.

you need to be careful leaving your wort over night because as the wort cools it contracts and as you have noticed sucks in air (creating a vacuum with your lid) this air of course will have have all kinds of airborne microbes which can end up in your wort and infect your beer

 

[mirsultankhan]

you need to be careful leaving your wort over night because as the wort cools it contracts and as you have noticed sucks in air (creating a vacuum with your lid) this air of course will have have all kinds of airborne microbes which can end up in your wort and infect your beer

Yes i will be careful, I was just so tired as I started to brew at 7:30 in the evening. Will not make the same mistake again.

 

[Ashley]

7:30 at night? Wow that was ambitious!!!!

 

[mirsultankhan]

7:30 at night? Wow that was ambitious!!!!

LOL, the smell of the grain was permeating the kitchen, I could not wait until morning

 

[MyQul]

mirsultankhan, your leaving your wort in your pot overnight got me thinking, "surely you can no-chill in a fermenter?" So I did a bit of googling and yes, as long as the fermenter is sealed really well with cling film so no microbes can get sucked in when the wort cools and contracts, it seems there's no problem with just putting your boiled wort in your fermenter and leaving it to cool on its own.

I did a maxi-biab Guinness clone today and after filtering out the hops with a seive and also passing the wort through a paint strainer, I put my boiling wort in my FV and covered it really well with cling film. I made sure to spray the cling film with star san as the steam is condensing on the cling film and dripping back into the wort.

If by the morning the wort isn't at pitching temp I will put some frozen 500ml PET bottles in it to chill it further

 

[mirsultankhan]

mirsultankhan, your leaving your wort in your pot overnight got me thinking, "surely you can no-chill in a fermenter?" So I did a bit of googling and yes, as long as the fermenter is sealed really well with cling film so no microbes can get sucked in when the wort cools and contracts, it seems there's no problem with just putting your boiled wort in your fermenter and leaving it to cool on its own.

I did a maxi-biab Guinness clone today and after filtering out the hops with a seive and also passing the wort through a paint strainer, I put my boiling wort in my FV and covered it really well with cling film. I made sure to spray the cling film with star san as the steam is condensing on the cling film and dripping back into the wort.

If by the morning the wort isn't at pitching temp I will put some frozen 500ml PET bottles in it to chill it further

Yes, this is excellent. It appears to me that almost boiling wort and the steam that condenses from it should kill just about every known microbe, thus all that is necessary is to make sure that its in an air tight environment when stored. This may be even more hygienic than a wort chiller because the wort is left open to the air while it cools wheres with the no chill method, its roasting hot and sealed air tight until morning. If you seal it in your fermentation vessel thats even better for the wort sanitises the vessel and all one need do is add yeast in the morning. I will be doing the same next time for sure. Thank you for the suggestion, its most appreciated.

Waht do you think of these strainers below, they have an excellent little clip that you can attach to the side of your brew kettle and are large enough to put hops in for a five gallon batch. I have ordered three from Hong Kong, only cost 1 pound each, including postage.

 

[Ashley]

'Lease could you let me know how you get on witn those? I saw slmeone ln youtube using one and they look really convenient but k was reading graham wheelers book and he says the hops should be allowed to flow freely through the copper and that by restrictkng can reduce their efficiency. I dont really see how... teabags dont reduce efficiency over leaf tea after all...

 

[Fil]

'Lease could you let me know how you get on witn those? I saw slmeone ln youtube using one and they look really convenient but k was reading graham wheelers book and he says the hops should be allowed to flow freely through the copper and that by restrictkng can reduce their efficiency. I dont really see how... teabags dont reduce efficiency over leaf tea after all...

The free floating hop v's bagged or caged hop debate/argument has staunch supporters on both sides,

i went hop spider, a simple copper tube frame to support an open grain bag full of hops suspended in the boil.

initially the bag just floated on the top of the boil ;( so i used the recirculation pump to pull the liquor out of the drain valve and pump it back in through the bag.. :)
works a treat And no hop debris to filter out..