First All Grain Batch Under My Belt

M

McAvinbrew

New Member
Trial Member
Joined
Mar 6, 2016
Messages
35
Reaction score
1
Points
0
Well that's that! My first All Grain all finished and in the Primary. :D :D

I was a little nervous taking the final leap but a simple american wheat came off today without ending up a disaster and I dont think I'll ever be going back. All the temps came in just right and the amount absorbed by the grain and the boil off came in spot on. I went with a no sparge approach for the first time as it seemed a little easier but over the next few batches I reckon I will give the other ways a go.

Just wanted to say thanks to you folks on here for the few pointers over the last few weeks.

And to anyone thinking of making the change to All Grain, just do it. It was surprised at how easy it way.

Now I just have to wait until I can drink it! :( :(
 
congrats, and good luck and I see more beer in your future. funny when you start out its exciting and new and after many many years of advanced brewing it can become work lol, just finished a 7 hour brew day and Ill be waiting 30 days to drink it
 
Congrats!

I agree, the finer details of all grain can be daunting, like water chemistry, but the basic concept is easy to grasp. I think it's kind of like driving a stick shift. If you're new to driving, it's just way too much to do all at once. Better to start with an automatic to get the basics down

Now you can plan / brew the next batch while you wait for this one
 
Im looking at a nice simple sessionable summer Ale. Something light and refreshing. The hot days at the BBQ are coming soon so I want a beer to match.

Any suggestions are welcome!

@Ozarks
What kind of brew day took 7 hours to do? Must be something special?

@JMcNamara
I think everyone should have to drive stick before they get a license :D :D

For now I'm just glad I've made the final leap to doing it all myself. I started about 18 mths ago with two oversized cans of syrup and just added water thinking I was the next Gerard Heineken.
 
Well, you already got a wheat covered. How about a crisp pale ale? Maybe some piney or fruity American hops.
 
seconded on the Pale, even a session pale if that's what you're interested in. and especially if you're going for easy drinking, try a single malt single hop recipe.
 
I brew old school, "no short cuts". usual it takes me 4 to 5 but when I say 7 hours it starts with a through cleaning of my equipment, I have 3 pots and 2 pumps and several feet of pipe and boil through everything prior to brewing which takes an hour, then change the chemistry of my water and heat that 20 gallons before adding it to my mash tun, then I recirculate for 90 minutes using 3 different temperature settings and do a full mash out, then a 60 minute fly sparge at 168 and recirculate chill while whirl pooling for 30 minutes, add that all up and a through clean of all parts makes a long day :shock:
 
the key to a good lite tasting session beer is ferment cold 60 or less, you will see a huge difference in the taste when fermenting any beer that cold
 
Ozarks Mountain Brew said:
I brew old school, "no short cuts". usual it takes me 4 to 5 but when I say 7 hours it starts with a through cleaning of my equipment, I have 3 pots and 2 pumps and several feet of pipe and boil through everything prior to brewing which takes an hour, then change the chemistry of my water and heat that 20 gallons before adding it to my mash tun, then I recirculate for 90 minutes using 3 different temperature settings and do a full mash out, then a 60 minute fly sparge at 168 and recirculate chill while whirl pooling for 30 minutes, add that all up and a through clean of all parts makes a long day :shock:
Click to expand...


That seems an awful lot more like a days work that a relaxing evening making beer. :? :?


As for this SMASH idea, a sessionable pale ale is exactly what I was thinking, would you use something like all two-row or all vienna something like that? Time to start googling smash recipies. Then figure out how to get the wife and kids out of the house for another saturday evening, that'll cost more than the grainbill :lol: :lol:
 
2 or 6 row, maris otter, vienna, or Perle will make a good pale ale. 2 or 6 row isn't really flavorful to me. Its good for layering other flavors on top of though, just not a smash malt. One of the other 3 i mentioned would make a good pale

You could also brew an all munich beer, but that's not very pale ;)
 
McAvinbrew said:
That seems an awful lot more like a days work that a relaxing evening making beer. :? :?


As for this SMASH idea, a sessionable pale ale is exactly what I was thinking, would you use something like all two-row or all vienna something like that? Time to start googling smash recipies. Then figure out how to get the wife and kids out of the house for another saturday evening, that'll cost more than the grainbill :lol: :lol:
Click to expand...
Nah, just 7 hours of relaxing fun. I have those days as well..sometimes.

I know all about getting the house to myself to try and brew. Then I got a Blichmann burner and started brewing outside... Now, I'm lucky enough that my wife is interested in helping, as well as a couple of new friends that want to help. We just make a day of it and enjoy brewing, chatting, and chillin'. Couldn't get any better than that.
 
i'd say go with 100% maris otter, and around 30-40 IBUs. But find a hop variety that sounds really good to you. i always start here --> http://ychhops.com/varieties
 
I saw another SMaSH recipe with Maris Otter so Im leaning that way for the grain. But when it comes to Hops, Im like a goat looking into a helicopter. I haven a bloody clue what going on in there.

Im thinking 10lbs Maris Otter and Cascade Hops. 0.5oz@45mins, 1oz@15 and 0.5oz@5mins with a Nottingham yeast.

Should be good to repeat a few times.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Copyright © 2007-2024 Brewer's Friend, Inc. - Send Feedback - Terms - RSS Feed - Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information

Back
Top