My first proper AG Brew! HBC Brown Porter

[timcunnell]

Hi chaps. After boring most of you with my many questions last week in readiness for having a crack at brewing with my new Peco BIAB setup, I thought I better report in with an update on how things went.

And I am pleased to say they went surprisingly well!!

I brewed the HBC Brown Porter kit, and here are the key numbers:

Target Boil Volume : 27 litres
Actual Boil Volume : 26 litres
Volume transferred to FV : 21 litres
Target Gravity : 1044
Achieved gravity : 1052
Total brewday time : 4:45

I kicked things off at 8:55 by filling my Peco boiler with 23 litres of cold water. (I don't know why I used 23 and the instructions say 26! When I realised this my plan was to make up the difference with additional sparge water later on - but that didn't happen in the end!).
I was really quite impressed with the little Peco. It heated my liquor to 70 degrees in 40 mins, which I thought wasn't bad. I chucked in all the grain and mixed in with balloon whisk. Checked temperature after all grain was mixed in and it had dropped to 64, so I gave the heater a quick blast and got it back up to 67, then switched off and wrapped the boiler with a duvet and left to mash.

An hour later I unwrapped the boiler and checked the temp. Very happy to see that it had only dropped to 66.

The sparging was perhaps the one thing I really wasn't sure about. My plan was to fill a spare FV with a few kettle-fulls of water to achieve the 80-deg needed, and transfer my grain bag into that for 10 mins or so. Because I wanted to compensate for my earlier mistake of starting with 23 litres rather than 26 my plan was to use 9 litres of sparge water, but after boiling the kettle 4 times I'd had enough so I went with 6 litres. The one thing that did surprise me is that my thermometer (a Kilner jam thermometer) was telling me the boiling water coming out of the kettle was only 75 degrees!? This to be honest has cast some doubt over everything as I would expect it to be hotter than that? I am going to buy a "proper" digital thermometer for next time!

So I sparged my bag of grains in the water which was apparently 75, and then added that to the boiler. I also went through the pain barrier squeezing all the juice out of the bag by hand.

From there things went pretty smooth. The little Peco did take a while to get the wort to a proper bubbling boil - but it got there in the end (about 40 mins).

I lost 5 litres during the boil - in future I think I will have to remember to add water to compensate. I put my immersion chiller (disconencted!) in the boil for the last 10 minutes to sterilise it, and then connected the hoses once the 1 hour boil was complete. I was really impressed with the chiller! It reduced the temp to around 22 in 25 minutes.

I transferred the wort from the boiler via the tap (with hop filter connected) by sitting the boiler over the edge of a kitchen worktop and my FV beneath it. The seemed to help with aeration also - although I also gave the wort a really good go with a balloon whisk too.

A pitched Safale S-04 (straight from the packet - no hydrating) at 1:40pm and that was that! By the evening she was bubbling away merrily!

After talking about brew efficiency last week I am definitely pleased with the final SG of 1052. Although this was higher than the target 1044 - and I put this down to ending up a couple of litres short of the 23 litre post-boil target. I hope the extra 1% of alcohol (assuming all ferments out correctly) won't affect things too much. Still - its a learning curve either way, and just pleased there were no major hiccups!

Thanks to all you guys who very kindly gave advice last week! When this beer is ready I shall toast you all!

 

[Sandimas]

After talking about brew efficiency last week I am definitely pleased with the final SG of 1052. Although this was higher than the target 1044 - and I put this down to ending up a couple of litres short of the 23 litre post-boil target. I hope the extra 1% of alcohol (assuming all ferments out correctly) won't affect things too much.

If you want to drop the ABV back towards the target, just add a litre or two of cold water to the FV and mix it in well. Should be OK to do this whilst the ferment is underway, tapwater is warmish at the moment, just sterilise the stir spoon. That's what I do, I nearly always end up with more boil-off than expected and have to top up.

Well done on your first AG, it's a great feeling.

 

[timcunnell]

If you want to drop the ABV back towards the target, just add a litre or two of cold water to the FV and mix it in well. Should be OK to do this whilst the ferment is underway, tapwater is warmish at the moment, just sterilise the stir spoon. That's what I do, I nearly always end up with more boil-off than expected and have to top up.

Well done on your first AG, it's a great feeling.

Ah thanks mate I will give that a go! I must admit I sort of panicked a bit when I transferred the wort to the FV and realised I was a bit short, and over SG. I guess I can see the point of a refractometer now! With one of those I guess I could've tested the wort while it was still hot?

I must admit I toyed with the idea of adding some tap water but I didn't know if that carried too much risk of bacteria getting in. But by the sounds of it I guess its okay!

And yeah it really is a great feeling to have completed an AG brew and got it safely into the FV and bubbling away. I just hope that in a few weeks it tastes good!

Already planning the next one now - and I've just received the bits I need to make my fermenting fridge, so game on!

 

[clibit]

Yes you can top it up with tap water, if it's highly chlorinated boil and cool it. I would it add it later, before bottling. Have a taste first. You might like it as it is.

 

[timcunnell]

Thanks Clibit! I'll give it a go and see what it's like. I don't mind a stronger brew in general so maybe it'll work. But it is certainly good to know that I can safely water it down a tad if needs be.

 

[Spapro]

Nice right up Tim, sounds like you did well. Sure it will taste great !

 

[timcunnell]

Nice right up Tim, sounds like you did well. Sure it will taste great !

Thanks Spapro! And thanks for your advice which helped loads - especially the immersion chiller, which was really effective!

 

[Spapro]

Thanks Spapro! And thanks for your advice which helped loads - especially the immersion chiller, which was really effective!

No worries, sounds like you did well with the chill, 25 minutes is quick.

I terms of volumes I am losing around 5 litres to the trub and hop debris etc in the bottom of the boiler (putting the whole leaf hops straight in the boil without muslin bags). I kept topping up to 26litres during the boil, will go to topping up to 27 litres for the next brew, should get me 22 litres in the FV I think.

Let us know how your brew progresses - and a picture of the finished pint is always good to see.

 

[timcunnell]

No worries, sounds like you did well with the chill, 25 minutes is quick.

I terms of volumes I am losing around 5 litres to the trub and hop debris etc in the bottom of the boiler (putting the whole leaf hops straight in the boil without muslin bags). I kept topping up to 26litres during the boil, will go to topping up to 27 litres for the next brew, should get me 22 litres in the FV I think.

Let us know how your brew progresses - and a picture of the finished pint is always good to see.

Nice one Spapro and thanks again. I shall def try topping up the boiler next time I think.

And yeah I will definitely keep you updated with the brew when I rack it in a couple of weeks - and defo when trying the first pint! I really can't wait for the moment of truth when I find out if it's actually any good!