Pie's First AG Brew 20 Aug 2006

[PieOPah]

Today is the day that I brew my first All Grain and I cannot wait.

Everything is prepared. Just need to get the family duties out of the way first (taking my daughter swimming) and then the rest of the day is mine to brew

First thing I need to check is roughly how much water will the grain hold? I will be batch sparging so as far as I know, the first batch of water needs to be half the total boil amount plus the extra amount that the grain will hold?

So, for a 6 gallon boil, how much water would I need for the first infusion? I will have 6.65kg of grain.

Thanks.

PS, There will be plenty of pictures (and maybe a little bit of video) to document this moment in history

[Jim]

Good luck with your brew today, PoP.

I don't batch sparge, but I generally prepare about 8 or 9 gallons of water for a 5 gallon batch of beer and that seems about right to compensate for water left in the grains, hops and boiled off as steam. That may or may not help you, but it's the best I can do!

[Andy]

If you assume that 1kg of grain absorbs 1lt of liquor then:-

with 6.65kg of grain

at a liquor/grist ratio of 2.5L/kg then you use 16.5L in the mash

mash will absorb say 6.5L of this so runoff would yield 10L

Target is 6 gallons = 27.3L so in two equal batches = 2 x 13.65L

So top up mash with 13.65 - 10 = 3.65L before first runoff

Second infusion = 13.65L

I'm not a batch sparger so the above is theory only!

[jasonaustin]

QUOTE (PieOPah @ Aug 20 2006, 09:13 AM) So, for a 6 gallon boil, how much water would I need for the first infusion? I will have 6.65kg of grain.
I may be misunderstanding you, but are you asking how much water to use for the mash?
If so, then 2.5L/kg would be a good starting point - so about 16.5L.
If you're using a bucket-in-bucket tun, then I also add extra water to allow for the deadspace under the false bottom.
To batch sparge I would then, as DaaB says, add enough water to just float the grain bed.
Good luck (and have fun)

[sagwalla]

Using the Cheers set-up (rectangle cool box mash tun), I fill it about 2/3 full with hot water, then mash in. I use a little less for a large batch. If there's headspace available after mash in, I top with hot water. I find it useful to leave a little space in case you need to make a temperature adjustment. But generally I think you want the cool box as full as possible to reduce heat loss in the headspace.

Volumetrically, that usually amounts to 16-20 litres for about 5kg of grain.

Good luck with the AG. It's a great way to spend six hours.

[mysterio]

Good luck with the brew Pie.

I would be infusing with 18 litres for 6.65kg of grain. That will give you a a ratio of 2.7 L/kg. I would have the initial water temperature at 71.5 degrees C for a strike of 65 C, but it depends on what beer you're doing.

[Bigster]

Good luck PoP, have a great time

[PieOPah]

Thanks for all the hints and tips. Gonna start brewing now

[Andy]

Good luck! Don't forget the pics B)

[PieOPah]

Well, the brew day is almost at a close and I have really enjoyed myself. My wort is currently cooling. I couldn't believe just how hot the water coming out of the Chiller was. Great for washing up with

Did have a couple of accidents and school boy errors but it is all a learning experience.

I think the worst was when I was draining my Mash Tun for the first time. The tap was a little dodgy and as a result ended up leaking. Not too much to worry about - except it was on one of the 'dining room' chairs (white - I am making a stout!). Fortunately I was able to clean up the mess.

Got plenty of pictures but I need to play around with them first (shrinking and uploading). Once I have finished I will be putting them into a blog so I will post the link (If it is quiet at work I can do it tomorrow )

[bitter_dave]

Nice one PoP

Sounds like it all went really well. If the worst thing that happened was a spillage on a chair I envy you - my kitchen generally looks like there has been a war in it by the time I'm finished

[BlightyBrewer]

Did you manage to clean up before SWMBO found out?

[PieOPah]

Seems that some of my posts don't always make it... Dunno why. Anyway...

Brew day is over and it was a good un. I confessed to the wife that I got stout on the chair but the fact that it was clean made it okay.

The kitchen floor is filthy but SWMBO has said that she will clean it tomorrow. Dunno what I did right

Completely forgot about the amount of wort that the hops absorb so I ended up about 10 pints short of my final volume. This meant that I ended up with an O.G of 1.050 which gives me an efficiency of 44%. Not great but at least I should still end up with a good beer.

I am still a little worried about the yeast, but I am sure it is completely unfounded.

Also managed to fix the tap on my outer bucket which means it has now been employed as a primary fermenter

Pics will follow soon

[PieOPah]

http://community.webshots.com/album/553328924MpFUuZ

[DRB]

Looks like you`ve been doing just as much photography :huh: as brewing there pieopah