So I haven’t been brewing for very long, but I wanted to go AG so I just pulled the trigger and did it!
Built my mash tun based on www.dennybrew.com (thank you Denny!) and took the plung with NB’s Irish Red AG kit.
Things I learned:
Be more accurate with strike water temp. I guess I was a little low because when I stirred in the grain I was a few degrees shy of my target mash temp (153). Added some hot water and it seemed to go up a couple degrees so I decided to just let it go for an hour.
Be a little more careful with the runoffs from the mash tun. I got excited by the smells of the mash and opened the valve full on. It didn’t get stuck, luckily, but my pitcher filled up with some pretty murky looking brew really fast and then dumping it back on the grain to recirculate I disturbed the grain bed a little bit.
Have a partner or brew in one central location. I was afraid to leave my mash in the garage where my equipment is because of how cold it was outside (~30 degrees) because I was worried that I’d lose a lot of heat in the mash. I did my mash inside and the rest of the stuff stayed outside (except one kettle with hot water). So when I was done draining the mash tun, I had to carry 6 gallons of water outside. Not easy, but luckily I had some help!
All in all, after my boil I think I came a little higher than the OG noted in the recipe (about 1.047 instead of 1.044). Not really sure how that happened… Either way, fermentation started less than 8 hours after I pitched the yeast and it is bubbling away in my chest freezer.
Thanks to all here who constantly post all their helpful info!
Sounds about par for a first try, you did good. Better than my first attempt. Carrying 6 gallons of very hot water is a disaster waiting to happen try not to do that. Keep good notes on your volumes and temps that’s how you can get consistent results.
Sounds like a good first shot. I have been using the same Denny set up for years. Here is my advice for your strike temp. Aim high. It’s easier to bring your temp down than up. Also, make sure you pre-heat your cooler. Dump your strike water in, get the temp where you want it and close the lid for 10 minutes. Then dough in. Made a huge difference for me.
Don’t worry about disturbing the grain bed returning runnings. It will only move the upper area of the mash bed. Just don’t dump it in, pour gently. Congrats on your first AG! BTW, this is my first post on here.
Recipe calls for 1-2 week primary, 2 week secondary, and 2 week bottle conditioning. I’m not doing a secondary, and it’s been almost three weeks so I decided to take a gravity sample (and a taste).
The taste is pretty good. Tastes better than the extract brews I have done to date.
As I noted above, my OG seemed to be a little on the high side. My concern was that the trub that was in the sample made the starting gravity a little skewed. I tried to let it settle, decant from the test jar, and get a sample without the trub/break material but it didn’t work out so well and I decided to just pitch my starter and let it go. The OG for the recipe stated 1.044 and I was at 1.047 with the break/trub. I figured it was close enough.
My sample last night was 1.007. It seems to have fermented out a whole lot. Based on that, attenuation is in the mid 80% range, which is way above what is called for this yeast (Wyeast 1272). Is this a cause for concern at all? I didn’t notice any strange flavors, no mouth puckering astringency or anything. It seemed pretty good. My wife isn’t much of a beer drinker and even she said she could drink it. The color is pretty much spot on too.
The plan is to take another sample Friday to ensure it’s finished out and then cold crash and use some gelatin. As long as it’s finished, I want to bottle it soon. Looking to have some at a party at the end of February.
I think if like you said your mash temp was lower than you calculated it would mean your OG would be higher and you FG would be lower which seems to be the case. It should be fine just a little stronger than you calculated.
48 hours later, another hydrometer reading confirms it’s complete. Same gravity reading.
I’m going to cold crash and use some gelatin to clear it up before bottling. Might be bottling next week. It still tasted good last night, so I’m excited to let it carb up for a few weeks and try it out!
Now I guess it’s time to start planning my next brew…
I have my mash tun in the house, but my boil kettle is outside on the patio. I don’t like carrying full heavy buckets of hot liquids either, so I have a bucket marked with easy to see markings at the gallon intervals and generally limit it to 3 gallons at a time. It’s not going to hurt anything for the mash tun to sit for that minute it takes to run 3 gallons out and dump it into the kettle. I’m retired and want to play more than work. Then finish draining it, pour it into the kettle, add the sparge water to get the volume I need and run it off the same way. Afterwards, I’ll occasionally add about 1/2 gallon more warm water and let it sit a while, then fill up mason jars and pressure can them, 15 minutes at 15lbs. I use that as the base for future yeast propagation on the stirplate.
