My cherry has been popped!

Get advice on making beer from raw ingredients (malt, hops, water and yeast)
stevezx7r

My cherry has been popped!

Post by stevezx7r » Sat Mar 01, 2008 4:18 pm

Hi all, before I begin I would like to thank DaaB for his excellent and quick advice and Dave (aka Horden Hillbilly) for his spot on website which explained everything I needed in glorious Technicolour and one of his recipes which I have used as a basis for my first beer. And last but not least, the rest of you guys (and gals?) here on Jimsbeerkit, not to mention Jim himself.

Thanks.

Right, the recipe I have based my first AG on is one of HH's house bitter -

Pale Malt 3930g
Crystal Malt 262g
Torrified Wheat 174g
Goldings Hops 36 Bittering units, added at start of the boil
Goldings Hops 20g, added at the last 15 minutes of the boil.
Goldings Hops 8g, added at the end of the boil, soak for 30 mins.
Estimated OG 1044

I've had to alter the recipe due to my scales not being very accurate so, the pale malt is 4kg, the crystal is 270g and the TW is 180.

So far I've boiled 5 ish gallons of water and put it (minus around 12litres) into a keg to keep till later.

The mash is on at the moment and will be ready to check in about 50 minutes then it needs another 30 mins to finish.

I'm a bit concerned about the temp as its around 63C which I think is a bit on the low side. I put a litre or so hot water in to raise the temp but it didn't seen to have much of an effect other than begin to over saturate the grains.

I thought about switching the heat back on but thought I would just end up with caramelised grains sticking to the elements.

So, I will just leave it for the water to soak into the grains and boil a kettle to raise the temp in 20 mins or so.

I have taken several pics which I will post once I find my camera to pc lead.

Again, thanks to you all for your sage like wisdom :wink: and help in getting this off the ground.

Steve.

mysterio

Post by mysterio » Sat Mar 01, 2008 4:21 pm

Congrats Steve, welcome to the dark side 8)

Looking forward to the pics.

Buzz

Post by Buzz » Sat Mar 01, 2008 4:26 pm

Indeed, hope it goes well. :D

Wez

Post by Wez » Sat Mar 01, 2008 4:32 pm

Nice one 8)

I hope you find that Camera/PC lead soon, we do love pic's!

Welcome to the dark side :wink:

delboy

Post by delboy » Sat Mar 01, 2008 4:43 pm

Nice one steve, im sure it'll be great, HH's recipes work well.

iowalad
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Post by iowalad » Sat Mar 01, 2008 5:06 pm

A nice solid recipe there!

Hope it all went well!

stevezx7r

Post by stevezx7r » Sat Mar 01, 2008 6:03 pm

Have taken a tumble after the first hurdle.

I forgot to put an element in my sparge vessel. Bugger.

So, i've just removed the grain from the tun and put it in a large pan for later. Meanwhile, the mash tun is now heating several gallons of water which I will then put into a keg for sparging.

I might be done sometime tonight at this rate.

No rush though.

booldawg

Post by booldawg » Sat Mar 01, 2008 6:12 pm

Hope all goes well Steve, whats a 1st AG with no hiccups?. It'll be the best beer you ever tasted!

delboy

Post by delboy » Sat Mar 01, 2008 6:41 pm

The good news is you're learning all the time steve.

macleanb

Post by macleanb » Sat Mar 01, 2008 6:43 pm

enjoy (well in about 5 weeks...

stevezx7r

Post by stevezx7r » Sat Mar 01, 2008 6:53 pm

just a Q, which I need the answer to ASAP please.

The recipe ask for 36 bittering units of hops. I just realised I don't know what that is in weight!

My Goldings are 5.3 AAmif that helps.

Ta.

andyp

Post by andyp » Sat Mar 01, 2008 7:01 pm

If it's a 5 gall brew I make it about 63gms

By the way I'm about to follow you into the darkside when my sack arrives, so best of luck yoof.

anomalous_result

Post by anomalous_result » Sat Mar 01, 2008 7:03 pm

Best I can offer is the hopping rate calculator in DaaB's sig - here. You'll need a figure for utilisation.

iowalad
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Post by iowalad » Sat Mar 01, 2008 7:04 pm

I am away from beersmith at the moment (and I have always been to lazy to figure these things by hand).

Try googling "IBU Calculator"

This is one of the first one that popped up but I don't know what its formula is used.


http://www.realbeer.com/hops/IBU.html

iowalad
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Post by iowalad » Sat Mar 01, 2008 7:04 pm

Or better yet use Daabs! :lol:

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