My first AG brewday

[Martin the fish]

Today is the day and all is going ok so far. I have doughed in my grains and checked at halfway stage and from 67 down to 66. I left it at that. Not wanting to try to raise temp by 1 degree.

I seem to have misplaced 2 of my 3 muslin bags for my hop pellets so i nicked some of wifeys stockings and cut the foot out to use as a bag. Hope it works!
mmm, thinking about it they are probably nylon. Not good i guess. I think i'll have to hope my hop strainer works


The recipe i used was one from DaaB.
RECIPE
5kg Maris Otter
200g Crystal

HOPS Fuggles
53g 60 mins
27g 10 mins
20g Steep once wort cooled to 20C.

I'm hoping Steep is for 15mins

My sparging device is a bit overkill but it seems to work well. I'll know for sure in half hour
Pic's to follow

I used 14 ltr's strike water for my mash. Hope this is about right?
I have 30 ltr's boiled in my HLT for the sparge. Do i keep sparging untill gravity is 1006? Hope so.

I'm really enjoying today

Here's the ingredients.



200g of Crystal added to my 5kg Maris Otter

[Martin the fish]

My first reading from the wort was 1060. Haven't adjusted for temp yet either. I'm hoping this is ok?
It smells great!!!

First runnings...



and recirculating the first few litres...

[Martin the fish]

My 'sparging' device seemed to work well. Took 45 mins to sparge and i collected approx 30ltr's before gravity reading was 1006. I'm not 100% confident that my sparging technique was ok. Basically i set the flow from HLT to match flow from MT, allowing an inch of water to sit above the grain bed. I hope this is correct
It's now in my boiler-i wasn't sure whether i could allow this to splash so i fitted a hose to my MT to stop splashing.

All in all it's been quite simple so far. Off to sterilise my FV now.

My sparging device, it sure ain't pretty...


The underside. Incidently no water comes out of the middle section at all


and the 'action' shot...

[Martin the fish]

I also have a pack of irish moss now. I'm guessing about 1 tsp 10mins from end of boil?
Hopefully someone would have woken up by then and can let me know?

Ta in advance

Collecting the wort. I got at least 30 ltr's before reading was 1006.



The hot break


Cooling with my IC. I'm so impressed with this gadget. It's simple, easy to make and effective.

[Martin the fish]

Thanks for your answers Daab.

I think it has gone amazingly well, so far. I'm cooling the wort down now.

My hop 'sack' has had to have additional hops added, i tied a knot in to keep from the other hops and loaded it with the 10min amount.

I will have to tie another knot and add my steeping hops.

Do these steep for 15 mins once wort down to 20C?

[Martin the fish]

mmm, too late for that now. Wort is down to 24 and falling.

can i just throw the pellets in?

My hop strainer should work, i reckon.

Rehydrating the yeast in 50ml 30C water with half tsp sugar. I collected 250ml wort and cooled to 30C. I then mixed the two together. Ala Jim.

[Martin the fish]

mmm, too late for that now. Wort is down to 24 and falling.

can i just throw the pellets in?

My hop strainer should work, i reckon.

I's still draw some off (say 2L) into a sanitised pan, raise the temperature to 80 deg c and add the hops and allow to steep.

I'll remember for next time. I hope.

I'm knackered. It's been a long day. Was due to start at 1pm but didn't get started till 5pm.

OG reading once in my FV is 1040, I ended up with 23.5 ltr's. I got about 30 ltrs from sparging and topped up the boiler from time to time but i still have 4ltrs left over. I'll try filling the boiler a tad more next brew. I was worried about it boiling over but it didn't.

I think you call this Trub?


Lastly, pitching the yeast starter into my well aerated wort.

[Andy]

Basically i set the flow from HLT to match flow from MT, allowing an inch of water to sit above the grain bed. I hope this is correct

IMO an inch is too much, getting the liquor level to about the same as the grain bed is my goal.


Sounds like you've had a great brewday, just got to wait now

[Martin the fish]

Basically i set the flow from HLT to match flow from MT, allowing an inch of water to sit above the grain bed. I hope this is correct

IMO an inch is too much, getting the liquor level to about the same as the grain bed is my goal.


Sounds like you've had a great brewday, just got to wait now

Waiting is the worst part!

Thanks for the tip about the sparge water. I'll try to have it just sitting on the grain bed next time.
Already planning my next brewday

[roger the dog]

Looks like a great first brew to me Martin, should be a tasty one. Well done

[Martin the fish]

OG reading once in my FV is 1040, I ended up with 23.5 ltr's. I got about 30 ltrs from sparging and topped up the boiler from time to time but i still have 4ltrs left over. I'll try filling the boiler a tad more next brew. I was worried about it boiling over but it didn't.

Are you sure?

If you sparged 30L and have 4 left that's 26 in the boiler which with a reasonable boil and evaporation would have boiled down to 23.4L and you would have lost a certain amount to the hops and trub, and it's normal to loose a little more due to the design of the boiler (ie the position of the tap and hop strainer).

1040 will produce a good beer though and the gravity and hop balance will be fine. Congratulations on brew no'1

I estimated 30ltr's in HLT, marks on side stop at 25.

I'm very pleased how it all went and with DaaB's(and others) help i wasn't too worried about anything going too wrong. Honest

Will 10 days in the FV be about right? What should this ferment down to? 1006 or thereabouts?
It's a lovely golden colour.

[Martin the fish]

It ain't anything to look at but it does the job

[Martin the fish]

I used Gervin English Ale yeast. I'll take a reading in ten days.

[Martin the fish]

Cool.

I've heard that GEAY is the same as Nottingham? Is this so?

I also fancy trying a liquid yeast. It's easier for me to get here than dried as Dunedin Malthouse get regular shipments.

More things to learn

[ECR]

Looks excellent MTF!