First AG - 17-01-10

[TravisB]

Hi all,

Though I would share some pic of my first AG.
Was trying to make a mild Irish red and with the help of SwaziPoker (another member here) it ended up being this.

9 Liters (yes, I know, same amount of work, however I have a 9 liter corney on the way )
20 IBU
est Og 1.045
est Fg 1.011

Actual OG 1.042 (batch sparge messup- see below)

Malt:
Pale Ale : 1800g
Caramunic 3 : 100g
chocolate malt : 34g

Hops:
Fuggles : 4g, 60 min,
Fuggles : 4g 40 min
Fuggles : 10g 20 min
East Kent Goldings : 7g 5 mins

Right, on to the pics:

The Grain


The Kit:




Onto the Mash
I hit 65 pretty much dead one, but was looking for 66 so added 'bout half a liter to get it up.
I was trying to batch sparge, but got my liquor quantities all wrong, so ended up taking 9 liters in the first batch and only adding 3 liters to the second for a total of 11... not sure how I managed that one. Either the grain didn't absorb as much or the grain bed made a syphon and pulled the dead space out.



First runnings:
Pretty dark, yum


Onto the boil:
First time with this kettle,I got it from work as it's thermo was broken, removed that and wired it straight in.
I lost more to the boil than expected and had to top up with about 1.5 liters.

Hot break


and after 60 mins, in with the chiller:



It is pretty hot out here (I live in South Africa), the tap water temperature was 26c, so I improvised an ice water cycle using a fountain pump and a cooler of ice water



Did the job alright, got down to 20c in about 25 mins.

Cold break and pellet hops gunk



did the whirlpool /stir and settle method, seems to work


Right, the final push now,

straining


yeast and pitching:




All done:




It was a great day actually, long, but fun. I have only done 2 kits before this so was taking a bit of a leap, but, in the end, it is only beer, if I duff it, there is always another one waiting to be brewed

I cant wait to taste this one, been planning it for a few weeks and now the agony of another few weeks wait

Thanks all

Travis

[kfm]

Great set of snaps man, good luck with your beer

[crookedeyeboy]

Nice one well done. You never forget your first AG

[WishboneBrewery]

Hope its a good one, certainly sounds tasty

[mysterio]

Congratulations, welcome to the dark side and welcome to the forum

Always amazed at the neat looking, well planned set ups. My first time was chaos

[Trefoyl]

My first time was chaos

My first all grain was a nightmare. I was reading vague directions and I had no idea what I was doing. After being glibly told to "sparge" the grain, I remember yelling at the page "How the [censored] do you do that?"
After finding out how I was supposed to do everything, the next time went like a dream.

Nice set up.
I hope to do my first mild soon.

[leedsbrew]

Awesome 1st time matey. You'll not look back! Where in SA are you. My girl friend lived near Hluhluwe, Natal for a few years! Took me over in 2008, we had a fantastic time.

[TravisB]

Thanks for the replies guys!

Oh believe me is was chaos, I just filtered out the chaos picks I also had my mate on skype helping me out, which was great.

The next challenge for me it trying to keep the FV at a constant temperature. I built a fermentation chiller box out of polystyrene and am using frozen bottles of water to chill the box down to around 18-21c. But, with average temps at around 32c it goes through a lot of ice. Luckily the rest of the week is supposed to be cold, down to 23-24.

Leedsbrew, Hluhluwe huh, I would hate to try and keep things cold down there, that place is really hot. I am in Pietermaritzburg, 'bout an hour inland from Durban, not quite as hot, but still warmer than is actually necessary

Have a good one,

Travis

[pokerswazi]

nice one Trav. well done.
I like the chilling method for warm weather, may come in handy this summer. There are lots of posts here showing smooth brew days, the chaotic pics would be the real gems...