1st AG Mini Mash

[clootie]

Kicked off the new year with my 1st attempt at all grain mini mash. Followed DaaB's Best bitter recipe on the 18000ft site. I mashed in a small cool box I got from woolies for £2. I think it holds about 8/10 litres so more than adequate for the 1 gallon recipe. Temp dropped to 60 deg C by the end (I kept an eye on it apart from the last 30 mins) but hopefully stayed within target range for long enough. If I use this again I will insulate better. Then poured all the grain into a large plastic mesh colander. 1st runnings were like mud. Recycled and then slowly added sparge water. The whole process seemed to take ages and the wort still seemed a bit cloudy but I pressed on nevertheless. I pretty much expected my 1st crack at this to be problematic but I am starting off small to get used to the process before buying some kit and so that I can iron out problems without wasting too many ingredients. Currenly mid boil and the hops smell great

[clootie]

Cheers Chris. It's bubbling away fine this morning. Hopefully any mistakes made won't ruin the end product. I bought enough ingredients to try 3 mini mashes so will get another one on the go ASAP.

[clootie]

OK, only let this mature for about a month but cracked one open tonight as I could not wait any longer. Having tried a range of kits over tha past 4 years or so I hoped that all grain would be a step up in quality. I have always felt that kits have always been a compromise. A drinkable, nice beer rather than a brilliant one. So what can I say??? Fantastic. Totally different. Really fresh taste. Enough to convince me to ditch the kits and go AG for good. Have to confess that the one taster ended up with me having most of the gallon that I brewed but what the hell.....

[yashicamat]

OK, only let this mature for about a month but cracked one open tonight as I could not wait any longer. Having tried a range of kits over tha past 4 years or so I hoped that all grain would be a step up in quality. I have always felt that kits have always been a compromise. A drinkable, nice beer rather than a brilliant one. So what can I say??? Fantastic. Totally different. Really fresh taste. Enough to convince me to ditch the kits and go AG for good. Have to confess that the one taster ended up with me having most of the gallon that I brewed but what the hell.....

Good stuff. I found that moving to all grain from extract was a massive change, the complexity of the flavours (and especially the lingering finish which doesn't seem to exist as much in an extract beer) was well worth it.

[sdcspeak]

The good thing is an 25L AG brew takes little more time than a 5L batch. Glad it was a sucsess, that 1 gallon of beer might be gone but it will change the way you make and think about beer for ever.

True !

. . . . . . and a 10 gallon brew takes little more time than a 5 gallon brew, I am stepping up a gear, I have made some good brews, but they seem to go too quickly and I am unable to build up a stockpile. Do I have a problem ?

[adm]

Yes you do.

Check and see if there's a big hole at the top of your glass. I've heard that's a known issue and can potentially cause beer to evaporate too quickly

[sdcspeak]

Yes you do.

Check and see if there's a big hole at the top of your glass. I've heard that's a known issue and can potentially cause beer to evaporate too quickly

Well I have located the hole ! Wan't too difficult actually, oh no, I have located it again !

[clootie]

The good thing is an 25L AG brew takes little more time than a 5L batch. Glad it was a sucsess, that 1 gallon of beer might be gone but it will change the way you make and think about beer for ever.

Luckily I made another gallon straight after. Problem now is keeping my hands off it. Thanks all for your comments.

[damo2576]

Hi,

I just posted in the all grain forum about doing my first brew, now I'm tempted to try a mini mash first, mostly because I was just interested in doing smaller quantities and this all seems doable in my kitchen!

I'm going to follow the intructions from here http://www.18000feet.com/minimash/page1.htm

Problem is there are just 2 bits I dont follow. Firstly when I check the gravity (bottom of page 1). How do I do that? I am guessing there is some kind of tool?

The second bit which confuses me is the final 2 paras on page 2. Is it really necessary to do the 2nd fermentation?

Finally, are you allowed to pass the wort through a sieve after its been through the collander? That would get all the little bits out? Or do you need that in their for flavour?

Thanks in advance,

Damo

[sdcspeak]

Hi,

I just posted in the all grain forum about doing my first brew, now I'm tempted to try a mini mash first, mostly because I was just interested in doing smaller quantities and this all seems doable in my kitchen!

I'm going to follow the intructions from here http://www.18000feet.com/minimash/page1.htm

Problem is there are just 2 bits I dont follow. Firstly when I check the gravity (bottom of page 1). How do I do that? I am guessing there is some kind of tool?

The second bit which confuses me is the final 2 paras on page 2. Is it really necessary to do the 2nd fermentation?

Finally, are you allowed to pass the wort through a sieve after its been through the collander? That would get all the little bits out? Or do you need that in their for flavour?

Thanks in advance,

Damo

You will need a hydrometer to measure the Specific Gravity (SG), they are cheap, about £1.80 but they break quite easily (buy two and you will never break one again !)

The transfer to the secondary is basically to get the fermented beer away from the dead yeast which could potentially spoil the beer with off flavours, however it makes it easier at the end of the process when you want to transfer the finished product to bottles or kegs.

The little bits will settle out in the secondary vessel, so don't worry about them.

[damo2576]

This is probably a stupid question, but how do I transfer from the first fv to second fv?

[sdcspeak]

This is probably a stupid question, but how do I transfer from the first fv to second fv?

It is better to ask, than squander 40 pints of your delectible nectar ! That said, there are a variety of methods,

I personally have a tap on my FV, to which I connect some sterilised tubing, the height of the tap ensures that the trub (dead yeast cells and other debri) are left in the primary. I ferment the beer on a small side table (in the FV) with the tap over the edge, so that I don't need to disturb the contents of the primary, by moving it to a position where I can work when the time comes to transfer to the 2nd FV.

You can use sterilised tubing to syphon from one to the other, however you need to be careful not to disturb or suck up the trub. There are a number of implements (Racking Canes and auto syphons) designed to make the process easier, however I like the tap (it makes it easy to take samples to monitor the progress during fermetation).

[damo2576]

This is probably a stupid question, but how do I transfer from the first fv to second fv?

It is better to ask, than squander 40 pints of your delectible nectar ! That said, there are a variety of methods,

I personally have a tap on my FV, to which I connect some sterilised tubing, the height of the tap ensures that the trub (dead yeast cells and other debri) are left in the primary. I ferment the beer on a small side table (in the FV) with the tap over the edge, so that I don't need to disturb the contents of the primary, by moving it to a position where I can work when the time comes to transfer to the 2nd FV.

You can use sterilised tubing to syphon from one to the other, however you need to be careful not to disturb or suck up the trub. There are a number of implements (Racking Canes and auto syphons) designed to make the process easier, however I like the tap (it makes it easy to take samples to monitor the progress during fermetation).

Thanks