Have I got this right?

[Wez]

I have only ever done kits (which is probably where we all started) but really want to have a go at a ‘proper’ brew this year. From reading through the posts and looking at Jims very useful site I have so far managed to ascertain what I think is a very basic run through of grain brewing…

1. Prepare / Treat Water
2. Weigh out Grains and Hops
3. Heat brewing liquor to ‘strike’ temperature
4. Place grains into mash tun
5. Pour water onto grains stirring to avoid dry spots
6. Check temperature in MT and adjust as necessary
7. Insulate MT
8. Leave for required time as per recipe
9. Toward the end of the mash - Boil up required volume of sparging water to desired temp
10. Start run off from MT to FV returning cloudy run-off back to MT gently
11. Collect required volume in FV
12. Return wort to boiler
13. Bring to boil
14. Add hops at required times
15. When boil complete run through cooling system into FV
16. When wort reaches required temp pitch yeast
17. Ferment
18. Keg
19. Condition
20. Drink & Enjoy

Marks out of 10 please (be nice)

Equipment needed :

• Mash Tun
• Boiler
• Sparge Arm
• A cooling system (hose pipe and cold running water or similar)

A few questions….

Firstly, Am I on the right lines?

Are there any important stages that I have missed?

I’ll have a go at converting a coolbox to a mash tun but if I screw up can you buy mash tuns my LHBS only sells a boiler which they say doubles as a mash tun.??

[confused]

Bonzer post Wez, as I was just about to type the same thing, so I'll read the responses with interest.

I've finally taken the plunge and ordered a 10x6 shed for the garden which will become my brewery so the next thought is to stock it with the extra equipment I'll need for AGB. having shelled out for the shed though other equipment may need to be bought as and when.

A bit of plagiarism may work well with a copy of Jim's own excellent looking sotckpot come boiler. Presumably I can use this for initial supply of hot water then it will double up as a wort boiler.

A cool box has already been obtained and will soon become my mash tun, and I'm working on a spray bar to fit on top of it for sparging.

I have 20m of 15mm i/s diameter braided tube ready for my counterflow cooler and I'm busy on the "solder free" design of said cooler.

If anyone has any tips on layout, do's and don'ts, things i'm likely to have forgotten I'm more than happy to learn.

[bitter_dave]

You've distilled the process nicely Wez

The only thing I spotted was that most people add the grain to the water in the mt, not the other way around. What is commonly done is you heat the water above strike heat, say 77 c, and add it to the mash tun. Once the water has stabilised at strike heat in the tun, generally about 72 C, you add the grain, stirring as you add it. This should bring the mash to around 65 - 68 C, which is a good range to mash within.

You've got the idea though; it's pretty straightforward, much easier than certain books and other forums would have you believe.

[Wez]

Excellent feedback guys. I thing the most difficult thing might be to get SWMBO to agree to the outlay, i'll have to play the old "It'll save money in the long run" card. I'll let you know how I get on, any suggestions for a simple starter recipe anyone?

Confused - A Shed! A Shed! a flippin' Shed! Good work!

[bitter_dave]

i'll have to play the old "It'll save money in the long run" card. I'll let you know how I get on,

It's a good card to play Wez, I just worked out that my lastest beer cost around 20p a pint in ingredients; compare that to £1.50 - £2.00 a bottle in the supermarket, or 40 - 50p for a 3kg kit.

any suggestions for a simple starter recipe anyone?

You could try either of these simple recipes originally from the Marc Olloson book 'Real Ales for the Homebrewer', which should yeald good results:

http://jimsbeerkit.co.uk/forum/viewtopi ... tisfaction

http://jimsbeerkit.co.uk/forum/viewtopi ... ht=stunner

[Horden Hillbilly]

It is also a wise move to preheat your mash tun before using it, use boiling water from your kettle, 2 should do the trick, this helps the mash temperature from falling below the required range of 62c - 68c.

[SteveD]

Nice summary Wez, just one or two things, swap points 2 and 3 around. Get that liquor heating early, it takes a while. Mess around with grain while it's heating up. I bought a 13 amp mains timer swich from Ikea for about £3.00 and I set it for about an hour before I get up. When I come down, the liquor I prepared the night before is already at about strike temperature. Cup of tea, mash in, have breakfast

I'd have the mashtun already insulated before anything goes into it, or one that already is, eg a coolbox, unless you mean throw a duvet over it once the lid is on.

Also, point 11 should be 'Sparge until required volume is collected', unless you're practicing no-sparge small volume extreme high gravity brewing

[johnmac]

Wez, I'll give you a nine out of ten. Justifying the cost of equipment is easy. The other day, I bought something for £40 and it occurred to me that if my next brew is forty pints and it costs a pound a pint less than the supermarket, the cost is recovered in one brew. All the equipment lasts ages. Ask Jim how many brews he did with his old plastic boiler!

[NzDan1]

Between 2 and 3: Mill the grain
Between 16 and 17: aerate the yeast
These are the only really important things that spring to mind that you didnt mention, there are lots of other finicky things that can be done as well such as skimming off the hot break!
Who skims off the hot break? I do! does this improve the clarity, does it lessen head retention? I dont know but I do it anyway! any feedback on the hotbreak skimming?

[onlooker]

I used to , I dont anymore. Since getting my mill the hotbreak is far less creamy and chunky and seems there is little to skim.

[SteveD]

Between 2 and 3: Mill the grain
Between 16 and 17: aerate the yeast
Who skims off the hot break? I do! does this improve the clarity, does it lessen head retention? I dont know but I do it anyway! any feedback on the hotbreak skimming?

Mill? For a beginner? Not essential, not even necessary. I don't know about the situation in NZ but here the throughput in the busier shops is high enough not to give problems buying pre-crushed grain, and with so many vital steps to consider, I wouldn't go burdening a beginner with grain milling just yet - not to mention the expense.

Aerate the wort/yeast....Omigod yes! Did I miss that one...ooops.

Skim hot break? Nope, just boil till it disappears, then add the hops. (Nicked from Seveneer - I do like to credit my gear and technique thefts - apparently adding hops before the hot break coats the hops in break material resulting in lower utilisation. He got that from Ant Hayes)

I must come down to NZ one day and see what the situation is regarding brewing grain - I hear you have God's Country there, and I need an excuse to visit

[louthepoo]

I've been over there a few times steve, its a beautiful country and loads more laid back than here - i've put my expression of intrest form in to emigrate there - hopefully should be there later this year

[Wez]

Thanks for all the helpfull feedback guy's glad my reading up on the subject seems to have paid off, I don't appear to have missed too much off. Hopefully be able to have a go at my first 'proper' brew fairly soon. SWMBO didn't fall off her chair when i mentioned it so i'll take that as a green light. i'll let you know how it goes.

One extra question....the smell....how bad is it when you're boiling the hops? Will it stink out the house, street or village? Should I prepare myself for complaints from the surrounding areas?

[delboy]

I'd try and get it outside/into a shed if at all possible (obviously thats a no no if your boiling on the kitchen stove). Its not so much the smell (i quite like it) its the sheer amount of water evaparation. In some of my brews i've boiled off about 2 gallons, thats a lot of water vapour to have 'floating' about the house. Might lead to damp problems!

[tubby_shaw]

Yes the boil smells, but it smells wonderfull
If anyone complains who cares, they are obviously fools
As for SWMBO tell her about the antiseptic benefits of the steam that contains beneficial essential oils, that sort of new age waffle tends to work