A beginners guide for beginners

Northern Brewer General
21

[quote=“kcbeersnob”][quote=“Nighthawk”]
Horse hockey!

I know people that never brewed an extract beer. Straight to AG.

It’s simple. Soak grain, rinse grain, boil.

Then you can get as complicated as you want with water adjustments.[/quote]
I agree with this. Understanding water and how to tweak it is the most complex part, but not particularly hard and is well worth it. Bru’n Water

really simplifies the water part of AG.

It’s also worth pointing out that AG doesn’t require that much more equipment and you’ll save money on ingredients, so it should be cheaper in the long run as long as you don’t go crazy on hardware.[/quote]

I agree with the above. All grain is not complicated at all. It’s in no way harder than extract, it’s just different. I got into brewing via Mr. Beer, with two kits. After that I went straight into all grain. After my first batch, my only thought was “that’s it?”. I do agree that good beer can be made with extract, but if your goal is all-grain why waste time honing your extract brewing skills? You don’t even need to take the equipment plunge either; even extract brewers with a small kettle should be able to do a 3 gallon BIAB all grain, all you need is a $2 paint strainer bag. :cheers:

22

[quote=“Nighthawk”][quote=“flars”]

Horse hockey!

I know people that never brewed an extract beer. Straight to AG.

It’s simple. Soak grain, rinse grain, boil.

Then you can get as complicated as you want with water adjustments.[/quote][/quote]

+1. What he said. It’s not difficult and there’s no reason to concentrate on other aspects first while waiting to move to all grain. You can concentrate on all aspects at once. It’s not like you have to practice temp control. You buy a minifridge and temp controller. BOOM, DONE!!! Yeast is a little trickier, but again, that shouldn’t hold you up from moving to all grain. And sanitation is what it is. Soak everything in starsan… again… BOOM, DONE!!!

23

[quote=“dobe12”][quote=“Nighthawk”][quote=“flars”]

Horse hockey!

I know people that never brewed an extract beer. Straight to AG.

It’s simple. Soak grain, rinse grain, boil.

Then you can get as complicated as you want with water adjustments.[/quote][/quote]

+1. What he said. It’s not difficult and there’s no reason to concentrate on other aspects first while waiting to move to all grain. You can concentrate on all aspects at once. It’s not like you have to practice temp control. You buy a minifridge and temp controller. BOOM, DONE!!! Yeast is a little trickier, but again, that shouldn’t hold you up from moving to all grain. And sanitation is what it is. Soak everything in starsan… again… BOOM, DONE!!![/quote]
Tell it like it is Nighthawk! Absolutely agree! I only did a couple extract brews before going AG. If you BIAB(brew in a bag) there’s not a great deal of additional equipment required. Maybe it’s because my processes improved but I feel like my AG beers are better and have better clarity.

24

Okay, I’ve looked at what you guys have written. If all grain is so exceedingly simple, why are there so many posts in extract/partial mashing. If it was so simple,as you say, no one would post a problem or question.

25

Lots of flaws with this question/statement, but looking past that… I would expect there to be more posts in that section because beginners start with extract (usually) and then move on to partial mash (sometimes) and that’s when new brewers have the most questions. In the beginning, right? Sounds logical to me.

PS, no one said it was exceedingly simple either. We were just saying there’s no need to be scared and wait. You don’t need to spend months and months working on sanitation, temp control, etc before you can even think about all grain. Those aspects (sanitation, temp control, etc) should be practiced with any type of brewing… extract, partial mash, all grain… even Mr.Beer kits :lol:

EDIT: Having looked at the posts, your wording is wrong. There are more posts in the All Grain section. Probably because it’s so easy to move to all grain that more people brew all grain. And I would think that the occasional extract brewer probably doesn’t spend large parts of their day on these chat boards. The more advanced home brewer probably brews all grain and spends more time talking to other brewers, trading recipes, talking about brewing, and ASKING QUESTIONS to help improve their craft.

Again, just my thoughts.

26

Lots of flaws with this question/statement, but looking past that… I would expect there to be more posts in that section because beginners start with extract (usually) and then move on to partial mash (sometimes) and that’s when new brewers have the most questions. In the beginning, right? Sounds logical to me.

PS, no one said it was exceedingly simple either. We were just saying there’s no need to be scared and wait. You don’t need to spend months and months working on sanitation, temp control, etc before you can even think about all grain. Those aspects (sanitation, temp control, etc) should be practiced with any type of brewing… extract, partial mash, all grain… even Mr.Beer kits :lol:
[color=#FFBFFF][color=#4040FF]Horse hockey!

I know people that never brewed an extract beer. Straight to AG.

It’s simple. Soak grain, rinse grain, boil. [/color][/color]Then you can get as complicated as you want with water adjustments
EDIT: Having looked at the posts, your wording is wrong. There are more posts in the All Grain section. Probably because it’s so easy to move to all grain that more people brew all grain. And I would think that the occasional extract brewer probably doesn’t spend large parts of their day on these chat boards. The more advanced home brewer probably brews all grain and spends more time talking to other brewers, trading recipes, talking about brewing, and ASKING QUESTIONS to help improve their craft.

Again, just my thoughts.[/quote]

27

The Extract/Partial Mash Brewing forum was launched Nov 1, 2012. The AG forum has been around for years and years.

28

I think most questions/problems have to do with temp. and racking too soon. Outdated instructions. Alot of people start with extract because they’re told AG

is hard. If I saw Denny’s site 15 yrs. ago, I would be brewing AG for 15+ yrs.

29

Although I agree that AG isn’t overly complicated, there ARE additional parameters that must be met such as mash pH, sparge pH, efficiency, additional equipment, additional time (not including recipe time, grinding grain, weighing grains/hops, etc). In addition, there is MUCH more commitment and I do believe that techniques can be mastered.

For example… you brewed one batch… with an ambient temp of 65* then all of a sudden the ambient temps rise to 75*… sure you can deal with this by using a swamp cooler. However, you never used one and the ferm temps drop to 50* for an ale! OH SHIT! too low… then rise to 75* Oh SHIT to high… Then with AG you have to deal with mash temps, pH, sparge temps, pH, full boils, wort chillers, ambient temps, ferm temps, ferm time, secondaries, dry hops, bottling buckets, bottling in general, bottling conditioning, so on and so on…

This I why I say start with extract. See if you like it. Hone you skills. Then think AG.

30

I would say that all-grain is exceedingly simple, if you want it to be. But it can be overwhelmingly complicated if you let it. Like all things that people are passionate about, it’s easy to get overwhelmed by all the process options and details. For example, read a few coffee forums. There are people out there (okay, I’m one of them) that can get crazy with their coffee, different brewing options, machines, presses, roast types, home roasting, etc. You can make amazing coffee from green beans, home roast, grind, press, with virtually no equipment and just a few minutes, but you can also make amazing coffee with thousands of dollars worth of equipment and several hours out of your day.

The goal of brewing (for me anyway) is to enjoy the process and learn how to produce the beer I like to drink. I’ve changed the way I brew several times over the years, and have established an easy, quick process that I enjoy, which produces awesome beer that my friends, family, and I enjoy.

31

As a beginner, will someone directly address gravity measurements while in the process?

I just transferred a Caribou Slobber to a secondary today after allowing the primary to ferment for nearly 5 weeks, which showed really positive signs of fermenting and had no reason to be off, and pulled a very low rating.
I’m using this Hydrometer from NB (http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/beer … meter.html) and it sank to about the 2% alcohol level. It should be much higher than that.

When getting low measurements, I’ve heard that fermenting isn’t done yet. Is that the case here despite letting it ferment in the primary for 5 weeks?

What are you supposed to do with a low rating?

What are you supposed to do with a high rating?

THANKS!

32

[quote=“Shark”]As a beginner, will someone directly address gravity measurements while in the process?

I just transferred a Caribou Slobber to a secondary today after allowing the primary to ferment for nearly 5 weeks, which showed really positive signs of fermenting and had no reason to be off, and pulled a very low rating.
I’m using this Hydrometer from NB (http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/beer … meter.html) and it sank to about the 2% alcohol level. It should be much higher than that.

When getting low measurements, I’ve heard that fermenting isn’t done yet. Is that the case here despite letting it ferment in the primary for 5 weeks?

What are you supposed to do with a low rating?

What are you supposed to do with a high rating?

THANKS![/quote]

Lot’s of articles out there on hydrometer use, but here’s the quick version. Hydrometer measures the gravity, which in brewing is due to fermentables in solution. So when you’re looking at the alcohol level, you’re actually looking at the potential alcohol post fermentation, not the current alcohol in solution. Once fermentation has begun, an isolated SG measurement doesn’t really tell you anything. You need to know your OG for comparison. For example (again, expressed in alcohol, because that’s what you’re asking about):

OG 7% = If you get 100% fermentation, you will have 7% alcohol after it ferments
FG 2% = You currently have 5% alcohol, there is 2% alcohol potential if fermentation is able to continue

So a low measurement means that fermentation is close to finishing. A high measurement means fermentation hasn’t started, or stopped abruptly, and of course all this depends on fermentability, yeast, etc…

Hopefully that answers your question. :cheers:

33

I have only 2 things to say to your post:1)a hydrometer IS absolutely necessary for brewing quality beer.There is simply no other way to accurately monitor your fermentation or calculate your mash efficiency,so saying you don’t need one is pretty much like saying you don’t really need to do either of those things.I’d strongly urge you to rethink that idea and go and get yourself one before you brew even one more beer.2)There is absolutely nothing wrong with plastic bucket carboys.I’ve brewed with both plastic and glass,and I can confidently say that there is no advantage whatsoever to be had from a glass carboy.Yes,plastic can absorb flavors over the years,and the rubber ring inside the lid can become cracked.But glass is an absolute nightmare to clean,and light can have a detrimental effect on yeast,especially fluorescent light…oh yeah,and it’s a lot heavier,more expensive,and fragile.You want to know something more?I’ve been fermenting in the same plastic fermenter for years and…(horror upon horror) the rubber ring inside the lid fell out years ago :cheers:

34

I am trying to be a snob, sir! Plastic simply will not fit with that image!

. . . But, yeah, that’s what I’ve heard. I just can’t imagine not being able to see what’s going on.