Hi
I am about to do my first brew ( when I get passed the teething problems, such as a leaking boiler!) and I have a recipe from GW's book for a simple TTL style.
It is a very good book but I am a little confused about the amounts of brewing liquor used throughout the whole process.
I understand it is called a 25 lt brew but then it mentions something about 13lts. Is this the amount I should be getting out from the mash? I understand the sparge water is going to water it down to get under 1005 so that is what I assumed.
Any help is greatfully appreciated.
Thanks
Newbie first brew
-
Eric
- Even further under the Table
- Posts: 2879
- Joined: Fri Mar 13, 2009 1:18 am
- Location: Sunderland.
Re: Newbie first brew
You need to get to grips with the basic principles before you get into the technical aspect to start quoting and dealing with such as 1005 and many other mysteries.
You'll do this by reading published information and you can get much more than is needed to start from Graham's book. Learn that and then read his recipes.
You make a common beer by using yeast to ferment dissolved sugars that have been boiled with hops. The sugars in an all grain beer are derived from malted barley and the process is known as mashing. Avoiding all technicalities, you do this by mixing water with grain at the right temperature until the malt becomes sugar. Then you wash out the sugar making the liquid you will boil with hops.
Usually you will use about 4 Kg of malted grain to make 23 litres of a typical final product. You will need nearly 30 litres of water to produce this because of losses at every stage. However, it is usual, and much easier, to star by mixing the grain with a smaller quantity of water, say 2 to 3 times as much water as grain (this I think is where the 13 litres comes in). Then you use enough of the rest of your water to produce the required volume for your boiler.
The 1005 refers to a specific gravity (SG) of 1.005, pure water having an SG of 1. Dissolving products like sugar in water will increase SG. Once you wash out all the sugars in your mash the specific gravity will tend to that of pure water, 1. At this stage you will get no more sugar and possibly get stuff you don't want, hence the limit of 1005. Don't get wound up in this, firstly you'll need to be one of the greatest brewers to grace this world to wash out every bit of usable sugar in your first mash. Indeed, if you ever reach this stage it is because you either want to get every pennies worth of extract or you've cocked up the mash in some way.
Put another way, this 1005 is just a small measure of the detail and efforts of GW to spread knowledge and stretch the art of brewing.
You'll do this by reading published information and you can get much more than is needed to start from Graham's book. Learn that and then read his recipes.
You make a common beer by using yeast to ferment dissolved sugars that have been boiled with hops. The sugars in an all grain beer are derived from malted barley and the process is known as mashing. Avoiding all technicalities, you do this by mixing water with grain at the right temperature until the malt becomes sugar. Then you wash out the sugar making the liquid you will boil with hops.
Usually you will use about 4 Kg of malted grain to make 23 litres of a typical final product. You will need nearly 30 litres of water to produce this because of losses at every stage. However, it is usual, and much easier, to star by mixing the grain with a smaller quantity of water, say 2 to 3 times as much water as grain (this I think is where the 13 litres comes in). Then you use enough of the rest of your water to produce the required volume for your boiler.
The 1005 refers to a specific gravity (SG) of 1.005, pure water having an SG of 1. Dissolving products like sugar in water will increase SG. Once you wash out all the sugars in your mash the specific gravity will tend to that of pure water, 1. At this stage you will get no more sugar and possibly get stuff you don't want, hence the limit of 1005. Don't get wound up in this, firstly you'll need to be one of the greatest brewers to grace this world to wash out every bit of usable sugar in your first mash. Indeed, if you ever reach this stage it is because you either want to get every pennies worth of extract or you've cocked up the mash in some way.
Put another way, this 1005 is just a small measure of the detail and efforts of GW to spread knowledge and stretch the art of brewing.
Without patience, life becomes difficult and the sooner it's finished, the better.
-
Jerry Cornelius
Re: Newbie first brew
The total amount of liqour to start with is something that I misunderstood on my first brew. I was aiming for 23 L in the FV and batch sparging. Part way through the first batch I realised I hadn't prepared enough liqour!
Firstly you need to know what losses you will incur to the deadspace in both boiler and mashtun - i.e with no grains or hops added how much water is left behind when you drain them both; for me this is 1.5 L in the boiler plus 0.4 L in the mash tun, so at an absolute minimum I will need 23 L (target volume) plus 2 L for deadspace losses. But it doesn't stop there. Because I use my boiler as hot liqour tank, I'm already losing 1.5 L before I start, so that gives me a total of 3.5 L deadspace losses I need to add to the volume of starting liquor.
The grain and the hops will also absorb liquid and this too must be added to the total starting amount. During the boil you will also lose liquid to evaporation, this is usually expressed as a percentage of 10% for a 60 min boil and 15% for a 90 min boil, again this must be added to the starting volume.
Probably down to inexperience and poor technique, I now know that to get 23 L in the FV, I need to start with around 40 L. Using this amount, I get around 33 L in the boiler, which after boiling leaves me about 26/27 L in the boiler and approx 23 L in the FV.
The last brew I done - batch sparging, I needed to collect two equal batches of 17 L. I doughed in with 10.3 L and added 11.3 l after the mash to collect the first 17 L. I then added another 17 L and collected 16 L. This gave me 33 L in the boiler and almost 23 L in the FV.
Firstly you need to know what losses you will incur to the deadspace in both boiler and mashtun - i.e with no grains or hops added how much water is left behind when you drain them both; for me this is 1.5 L in the boiler plus 0.4 L in the mash tun, so at an absolute minimum I will need 23 L (target volume) plus 2 L for deadspace losses. But it doesn't stop there. Because I use my boiler as hot liqour tank, I'm already losing 1.5 L before I start, so that gives me a total of 3.5 L deadspace losses I need to add to the volume of starting liquor.
The grain and the hops will also absorb liquid and this too must be added to the total starting amount. During the boil you will also lose liquid to evaporation, this is usually expressed as a percentage of 10% for a 60 min boil and 15% for a 90 min boil, again this must be added to the starting volume.
Probably down to inexperience and poor technique, I now know that to get 23 L in the FV, I need to start with around 40 L. Using this amount, I get around 33 L in the boiler, which after boiling leaves me about 26/27 L in the boiler and approx 23 L in the FV.
The last brew I done - batch sparging, I needed to collect two equal batches of 17 L. I doughed in with 10.3 L and added 11.3 l after the mash to collect the first 17 L. I then added another 17 L and collected 16 L. This gave me 33 L in the boiler and almost 23 L in the FV.
-
crookedeyeboy
Re: Newbie first brew
Thanks for the info. I work in the brewing supply business and supply many of the UK's leading microbreweries with technical information for brewing so I do understand the principles of brewing and a lot of the science too.
The only reason I posted is that I never found a clear definition in GW's book about this subject and its only when you get down to doing it on your own at home that all the silly niggly issues raise their heads.
From what you have described I was right anyway so I shall hopefully have a go this weekend once Ive bought myself a new boiler!
The only reason I posted is that I never found a clear definition in GW's book about this subject and its only when you get down to doing it on your own at home that all the silly niggly issues raise their heads.
From what you have described I was right anyway so I shall hopefully have a go this weekend once Ive bought myself a new boiler!
-
Eric
- Even further under the Table
- Posts: 2879
- Joined: Fri Mar 13, 2009 1:18 am
- Location: Sunderland.
Re: Newbie first brew
Sorry if I was over the top but there are a lot of things in brewing that frighten or confuse people unnecessarily. With just some essential knowledge as well as basic equipment it is possible to make good beer. It might not be like some of the greats or be to everyone's palate but you can certainly produce something to be proud of. Forgetting to include all ingredients, remembering to close taps on vessels before filling them or not watching when your beer boils over are more likely problems in early brews.
Get your boiler fixed, reread the basic process, write yourself a list of necessary steps, bother yourself about getting the equipment, quantities, temperatures and timings correct and record your actual progress and measurements taken. I would suggest this is not the stage to get too involved in higher technical aspects, that comes next when you want to brew the ultimate pint. Meanwhile you will have learned about such things as dead space,temperature correction etc. and there will be beer on its way to being drank. Good luck, have plenty of hot sparge water on hand and you'll never look back.
Get your boiler fixed, reread the basic process, write yourself a list of necessary steps, bother yourself about getting the equipment, quantities, temperatures and timings correct and record your actual progress and measurements taken. I would suggest this is not the stage to get too involved in higher technical aspects, that comes next when you want to brew the ultimate pint. Meanwhile you will have learned about such things as dead space,temperature correction etc. and there will be beer on its way to being drank. Good luck, have plenty of hot sparge water on hand and you'll never look back.
Last edited by Eric on Tue Sep 22, 2009 8:51 am, edited 1 time in total.
Without patience, life becomes difficult and the sooner it's finished, the better.
-
Horden Hillbilly
- Moderator
- Posts: 2150
- Joined: Mon May 08, 2006 1:00 pm
- Location: Horden, Co. Durham
- Contact:
Re: Newbie first brew
crookedeyeboy, to see a nice & simple guide to ag brewing, click on the uk-homebrew link in my signature.