Have a go at simple AG

[SiMania]

Earlier on in this thread I did my first AG which I gave to my brother for his 39th birthday, it was the best I'd made and he loved it. Last week was his 40th so he got 40 bottles of IPA this year.

After that first one there was no going back. Even though I was immobile for several months last year after breaking my foot, I did 10 x 21l batches since my first one on this thread.

So yes. Beware!

 

[Klemay83]

I cackled open a bottle of the original recipe from the first post that I did with Amarillo. It's a nice simple no frills beer that is good for refreshing or neutralising the palette. Compared to my first brew which was a can/ extract brew this AG has much more of a (dare I say it) "commercial beer" taste and body too it (in a good way). I would probably 9 times out of 10 use this recipe as a base for experimenting with dry hoping, hop flavour profiles and yeast strains rather than dry hop a one can kit etc. The remaining 8 bottles I have are getting put away for a nice sunny day and I'll add a wedge of lime to them. Cheers folks!

 

[mike-os]

Be warned.... There's no going back.

Feed your hop addiction, embrace the dark side
:mrgreen:

 

[BeerCat]

I am up to 75 brews now since last year plus kits. What a wonderful hobby. :)

 

[rory_way]

I'm about to start my first stove top AG, very excited. I just need to clean everything down before starting and I'm ready to go. I bought a 'Stove Toppers - English Pale' which I realise now was a bit unnecessary but ah well, I thought better to be safe. Fingers crossed it'll all go well and I'll post some updates on how it goes.

 

[cheapbrew]

I hope your first AG goes well :thumb:

 

[Chrislane]

What a brilliant thread - i have read the 89 pages over the course of the last week or so and have now become mildly obsessed with giving this a go. Thanks to all who have contributed to it, and especially Clibit; it has made the thought of my first AG brew a lot less daunting (having just done a couple of kits previously). I need to buy a 15l pan and then will be having a go at the simple recipe on the first page when my current kit has been bottled and freed up the FV.

One question re water - i have used bottled water for the kits that i have done, is this also recommended for AG? Or given it will be boiled for over an hour will tap water be ok?

Cheers
Chris

 

[Covrich]

What a brilliant thread - i have read the 89 pages over the course of the last week or so and have now become mildly obsessed with giving this a go. Thanks to all who have contributed to it, and especially Clibit; it has made the thought of my first AG brew a lot less daunting (having just done a couple of kits previously). I need to buy a 15l pan and then will be having a go at the simple recipe on the first page when my current kit has been bottled and freed up the FV.

One question re water - i have used bottled water for the kits that i have done, is this also recommended for AG? Or given it will be boiled for over an hour will tap water be ok?

Cheers
Chris

With AG the water quality is much more significant..

Is there a reason you use bottled water already? such as tap water isn't maybe teh best ect.. if so carry on for the AG..

If your tap water is perfectly drinkable you could try one with that..

 

[cheapbrew]

While the water composition may also have an impact on attenuation and efficiency besides the change in mash pH through the residual alkalinity, its impact is considered small and secondary.

SOURCE: http://www.braukaiser.com/wiki/inde...ciency_in_single_infusion_mashing&redirect=no

 

[MyQul]

While the water composition may also have an impact on attenuation and efficiency besides the change in mash pH through the residual alkalinity, its impact is considered small and secondary.


SOURCE: http://www.braukaiser.com/wiki/inde...ciency_in_single_infusion_mashing&redirect=no

I both agree and disagree with this. My bitters/pales have come on leaps and bounds now that I use bottled water rather than my tap water. However there are definately other things that need to be looked at first with AG before looking at water treatment

 

[Tony1951]

I just use my virgin local water. Looking at the water company website it contains (average):

108 mg /l HCO3 (bicarbonates)
47 mg/l Calcium

The natural PH is said to be 4.5.

Should I be doing anything?

I brew only pale ales - they go down alright. I just pour the water into the boiler right out of the mains and get going. :)

 

[MyQul]

I just use my virgin local water. Looking at the water company website it contains (average):

108 mg /l HCO3 (bicarbonates)
47 mg/l Calcium

The natural PH is said to be 4.5.

Should I be doing anything?

I brew only pale ales - they go down alright. I just pour the water into the boiler right out of the mains and get going. :)

If your happy with your beer then there's no need to do anything. Just FYI 108ml/L is high for pales, the recommended amount is <50 and <30 for things like pilsners

 

[Covrich]

There isn't a one size fits all regarding water treatment since none of us will have the same water.

my AG was fine without water treatment.. with it however it is certainly improved In clarity and cleanliness and hop flavour profile.

I see it as just fine tuning.. as long as water is drinkable I ceratinly wouldn't worry about it until I had AG down

 

[Tony1951]

Not sure what to do to lower the bicarbonates.

My happiness with my beer may be just down to lack of tastebuds, but I had a couple last night with a friend and we were both over the moon with the citra/centennial pale ale. It was like a basket of peaches, mango and pineapples with a 7.7% kick. Went down a treat. It has really improved after an extra fortnight in the bottle since I last tested it.

 

[Brewed_Force]

I really fancy having a go at this, as I've just bought a 10L FV and gotten a small brew fridge.
If I wanted to add a little bit of crystal could I steep this in with the pale malt mash, or would it involve a separate step?

 

[wfr42]

I believe you're fine just adding it all at once, as I have on my first 4 AG brews.

 

[Notlaw]

I really fancy having a go at this, as I've just bought a 10L FV and gotten a small brew fridge.
If I wanted to add a little bit of crystal could I steep this in with the pale malt mash, or would it involve a separate step?

Yes mate, stick the crystal in with the pale malt. I wouldn't use any more than about 10% though, so if you're making a 10l batch you'll need about 2kg of Pale Malt and about 200g of crystal malt. That should give you a pale ale of around 4.5 - 5.0%.

 

[MyQul]

Not sure what to do to lower the bicarbonates.

My happiness with my beer may be just down to lack of tastebuds, but I had a couple last night with a friend and we were both over the moon with the citra/centennial pale ale. It was like a basket of peaches, mango and pineapples with a 7.7% kick. Went down a treat. It has really improved after an extra fortnight in the bottle since I last tested it.

If you really want to find out whether water treatment/lowering your bicarbonates will improve your beer try making a beer with ASDA Eden falls water (btw not all bottled water is created equal. Tantanspecial has done a bit of research into this and he says only Waitrose water and Eden Falls is low in bicarbonates) as that is 30mg/L

 

[mishking]

New to the forums but have been brewing kits for a few years now.

I have been looking to give small batch all grain a go for a while now and when i came across this thread i was reminded that i should crack on with it.

I have some questions around pot size, i have a 12l pot and wondered if i would be able to get away with a 10l batch size?

Also can i get away fermenting 5-10ltrs in a full size vessel? Or would there be to much head space.

Cheers,
Greg

 

[Notlaw]

New to the forums but have been brewing kits for a few years now.

I have been looking to give small batch all grain a go for a while now and when i came across this thread i was reminded that i should crack on with it.

I have some questions around pot size, i have a 12l pot and wondered if i would be able to get away with a 10l batch size?

Also can i get away fermenting 5-10ltrs in a full size vessel? Or would there be to much head space.

Cheers,
Greg

A 12 litre pot will probably get you just under 10l. Stick a bit more fermentables in, then top up the boil with the kettle to up your volume.

Using a full size fermenter is fine. I usually do 10l batches and ferment in a 25l bucket or one of those big wine fermenter things.