AG 1: Pale Malt Ale (With Pics)

[L2wis]

hey all, just inbetween sparges on my first brew, its not gone all that well so far tbh, i had a leak on my mash tun (pfte tape sorted that).

Here is the recipe i'm brewing:

10 lt batch.

2kg palt malt.

20g Goldings 60 mins.
20g bobek 15 mins.

60 minute boil and 1h 30m mash.



Ive been having a mare with tempertures though! i had strike water of 72C. mashed in took reading and it was like 63C :/.

Went for it anyway, after 1hr 30m temp reading was 56C :/

is my beer going to be watery or rancid!?

im brewing in the shed and only doing a 10lt brew in a 28lt coolbox so i guess the headspace might also be causing me an issue.

any advice?

i covered the mash tun with 2 towels btw.

Here are pictures from this morning:

Grain weighed out.


Heating mash liquor:


Ready to add:


Grain is in mash and under towels:


Close up of hidden mash tun:


Taking 1st runnings (I added 4lt to my initial 5lt of mash liquor to get my full first runnings volume):


Tilting the mash tun end of 1st batch sparge:


Grain bed after 1st batch sparge:


Second runnings being collected:


Wort in the boiler ready to go!


Mash tun all liquor gone:


I felt drawn to touching the grain bed:


Pretty much boiling (the Goldings went in soon after this shot):


Shed has been turned into a sauna:


Another shed/sauna shot:


Bobek ready to go in:


Boiling away:


Should have got a shot of the goldings they looked great!

[L2wis]

My shed has beeb turned into a sauna!!

sparging has gone well and the boiler is doing a superb rolling boil! boiler has been great!!

[Manx Guy]

Hi,

I find that in the cold weather its best to add the liquor at 80c to preheat the MT - then add the grain once the temp is at strike temp!

Much easier than faffing about.. Other folk add a litre or so of boiling water to preheat the tun, empty then add water at strike temp

Wh knows how your been will turn out?

Chances are though it will be lacking in body but will reach a low FG...
So I'd suggest on dropping the hop schedule back a bit so its not too bitter (unless thats what you want)

what is the gravity of your first runnings compared with your target (preboil) OG?

That should give you an idea of where you are at...

Guy

[L2wis]

i didnt take a reading after mash but i just took one now, (15mins from end of boil) and it was 1.022 @ 75C. which raises another concern... how can my sample be 75C when it's just come out of a boiling vat? im not sure my glass thermom is up to much...

[Rubbery]

that is 1046.6 corrected.

calibrate your thermometer now in the boiling wort. It should be 100C.

[L2wis]

well if that is right then I'm over the moon as the target was 1.045!! I've got exactly 10lt in the boiler with the heat off which is also great!

Things that went wrong on this one are:

I forgot to put the hop strainer in haha, easily fixed.
Mash tempertures were all over the shop...

The rest went well I'll edit first post with recipe.

[L2wis]

added recipe and pics

[Rubbery]

Looks good - I'm sure it will taste good as well.

I did a similar extract brew recently with Goldings and Styrians and that was excellent. I added some crystal malt to give it a bit more body.

You can add your own hops (Bobek with correct AA) in the Beer Engine - look under Editors, Hop Editor.

I will remember to fit the hop strainer before adding the hot wort one day too I have put it in bold on my brewing schedule now - next to the reminder to make sure the tap is shut!

[haz66]

Not bad for your first go at it, mine was a nightmare
But you`ll soon get to grips with temps etc the first one is always gonna be the tough one to
get everything right.

[L2wis]

thanks for the feedback guys, i tested the termometer in the kettle and it is spot on accurate so thos temps were true. it was pretty chilly in the shed so perhaps that plus the very large headspace in the mash tun were the problems. i was going to bring the mash tun inside but i didnt bother. maybe i'll do that next time its that cold out.

next time i think i'll get the mash liquor up to 85C before adding it to the coolbox. there only being 5lt probably didnt help it hold it's temperture.

[FUBAR]

Welcome to the Darkside,I found the first couple of brews sorted out most of the problems that I had.

[WishboneBrewery]

Nice going... I do 12 & 15 Litre Mashes in the same cool box as you, no problems... make sure its pre-heated with hotter liquor than you need (put the lid on and leave for a few mins) then let the temp drop down to your strike heat before mashing in.

[Dennis King]

[quote="L2wis


I felt drawn to touching the grain bed:


[/quote]

Is that a scorpion in the grain bed

[L2wis]

haha no creepy crawlies were in the mash. the mash was only 5lt + grain.

the mash liquor was at 72C in the coolbox before adding the grain, it was around 80C.

Next time i'll do as suggested and get the mash liquor really hot and then wait for it to get to around 75C then mash in.

[Dennis King]

Maybe you should call it scorpion bitter