Have a go at simple AG

[Greenhorn]

May the force be with you 😉

Cheers.

Hopefully with this beer it'll be the Dark Side.:lol:

 

[H0PM0NSTER]

@HOPMONSTER:

Will boiling in two pots increase the amount I'll lose in evaporation??? Yes. It'll be trial and error, maybe have a practice run with water.

Also thinking about the option of doing a partial AG and adding some DME to produce a full 23 ltr batch. This would make the mash and boil volume more manageable but will the end result be noticeably different? I wrote a how to on this too, it works well, a partial mash beer with DME can be very close to AG beer in quality.

Last question! I have bought my grain, hops and yeast but forgot to order Irish moss. I know this helps with clearing but I could live with cloudy beer if there's no difference in taste. (I do have a packet of wilko finings - could I use this instead of Irish moss?) Yes just use the finings.

Good luck. :thumb:

Thanks Clibit - brewed my first all grain* this afternoon! 4 and half hours from Mash to pitching yeast. I managed to get a good boil temperature in one pot so I didn't need to have to split the wort and avoided the extra complexity.

* It turned into a bit of a Frankenstein's monster of different brew methods: a cross maxi-BIAB and partial extract to make a full 23ltr batch!

Smelt and tasted good though, so I've got high hopes. Thanks for all your help - this thread and all the advice you've given have been invaluable.

 

[cheapbrew]

congrats on your first AG, what was the recipe?

 

[geigercntr]

First attempt at using grains went into the FV today. Think it'll be a bit more bitter than I intended, but you live/you learn I guess! :) OG came out at 1.048, so pretty happy with that

Currently had about a week in the fv. Experiencing the old newbie "it's infected" terror... Google search suggests I'm looking at yeast rafts!

Had a nice thick krausen after 4/5 days but gravity hasn't really moved as much as I'd thought it would. og 1048, currently sat at 1020 after 8 days... Ah well. Patience is a virtue I guess!

:clarity edit: smells and tastes ok though. Though I may have overdone the bittering hops

 

[Tony1951]

Currently had about a week in the fv. Experiencing the old newbie "it's infected" terror... Google search suggests I'm looking at yeast rafts!

Had a nice thick krausen after 4/5 days but gravity hasn't really moved as much as I'd thought it would. og 1048, currently sat at 1020 after 8 days... Ah well. Patience is a virtue I guess!

:clarity edit: smells and tastes ok though. Though I may have overdone the bittering hops

How hot was the mash at the beginning? I have had mashes that were at the upper end of acceptability and perhaps a tad more (they have got as high as 70C) and this knocks off the beta amylase enzyme that makes your fermentable sugars out of the malt starch. This leaves you with unfermentable sugars which are great for mouth feel and (for me) flavour, but leave you with a rather higher final gravity than you might want. The brew before last that I made finished at 1.019 after a fortnight. I'm noit bothered, it is still at 5.8% Abv before carbonation, so I'm expecting it to be a great drink and entirely to my taste. A always try to mash at about 68 for that big mouth feel effect, but I overshot a bit that time.

On the other hand, if your brew has been a little on teh cold side it might just be working slowly. What yeast did you use and what temperature was it kept at?

 

[Covrich]

How hot was the mash at the beginning? I have had mashes that were at the upper end of acceptability and perhaps a tad more (they have got as high as 70C) and this knocks off the beta amylase enzyme that makes your fermentable sugars out of the malt starch. This leaves you with unfermentable sugars which are great for mouth feel and (for me) flavour, but leave you with a rather higher final gravity than you might want. The brew before last that I made finished at 1.019 after a fortnight. I'm noit bothered, it is still at 5.8% Abv before carbonation, so I'm expecting it to be a great drink and entirely to my taste. A always try to mash at about 68 for that big mouth feel effect, but I overshot a bit that time.

On the other hand, if your brew has been a little on teh cold side it might just be working slowly. What yeast did you use and what temperature was it kept at?

Yeah and the yeast will play its role too.. Last few English PA IPAs I did were all with Wyeast London Ale and that has a low attenuation so I was getting 1017 1015 but it was good.. I like the finish it does for the style

 

[geigercntr]

Thanks for the reply!

Haven't got my notes at the moment, but I think temp was around 67, losing a degree or 2 over the 1hr mash.

Might just be working on the slow side. Don't know what temp it's been sat at, but it's sat in a double glazed spare room, so shouldn't be too cold.
Yeast was just some generic unbranded sachet of English Ale yeast from my LHBS. I used the same type in a reasonably successful extract brew before Xmas...

Whatever's the issue, it's a fairly tasty also & with a bit of bottle conditioning should be OK. I'll see what it does by the weekend I guess
:edit: for info same yeast brand went as low as 1008 last time

 

[Tony1951]

Thanks for the reply!

Haven't got my notes at the moment, but I think temp was around 67, losing a degree or 2 over the 1hr mash.

Might just be working on the slow side. Don't know what temp it's been sat at, but it's sat in a double glazed spare room, so shouldn't be too cold.
Yeast was just some generic unbranded sachet of English Ale yeast from my LHBS. I used the same type in a reasonably successful extract brew before Xmas...

Whatever's the issue, it's a fairly tasty also & with a bit of bottle conditioning should be OK. I'll see what it does by the weekend I guess
:edit: for info same yeast brand went as low as 1008 last time

Sounds like the mash was OK then, but do as the others say - stir it up, get it a bit warmer (20C) and leave it like that for a few more days. I don't bottle any of my beer these days until it has had a fortnight in the fermentation stage. If it doesn't finish any lower, you can carbonate and bottle it as usual and it will probably have a big mouth feel and a pleasant finish on the palate. That's probably a subjective remark, but I like that kind of beer myself and have always tried to make it that way since I started AG and did it accidentally the first time.

 

[H0PM0NSTER]

congrats on your first AG, what was the recipe?

Thanks!
It was the Cornish Tin Miners Ale recipe from Greg Hughes book. Described as a satisfying malty ale with undertones of blackcurrant. Has First Gold and Bramling Cross hops. Fingers crossed it will be a good one - I've only found one review online and the chap who brewed it was I bit disappointed. Still, it's going like stream train at the moment - so far so good.

 

[cheapbrew]

I hope it turns it well :thumb:

the trouble with reviews is everyone has different tastes

 

[Tony1951]

Thanks!
It was the Cornish Tin Miners Ale recipe from Greg Hughes book. Described as a satisfying malty ale with undertones of blackcurrant. Has First Gold and Bramling Cross hops. Fingers crossed it will be a good one - I've only found one review online and the chap who brewed it was I bit disappointed. Still, it's going like stream train at the moment - so far so good.

I'm hoping to hear good things about First Gold as I just bought three roots to grow my own hop plants of this type.

 

[monkier]

I brewed up a basic 1 gallon SMASH recipe on the weekend. Recipe was very similar to this one and i had a blast doing it too :)

 

[Herb]

So seen as my first brew day using pre-packaged ingredients went OK on Saturday, I might have accidentally ordered a couple of kilo of Maris Otter, some Fuggles and some yeast....

Hoping to do a simple beer as in Clibit's OP here - then in the future I can start fiddling with recipes, whilst having a base to compare to (if that makes sense?).

 

[Notlaw]

All went OK for me at the weekend... I think...

Going to try and whittle down all the things I want to do and come up with a sensible second AG.

I think if I write a shopping list for all the recipes I want to try, see which ones share ingredients and go from there.

Looking forward to it, as I thoroughly enjoyed the first one.

 

[Tony1951]

All went OK for me at the weekend... I think...

Going to try and whittle down all the things I want to do and come up with a sensible second AG.

I think if I write a shopping list for all the recipes I want to try, see which ones share ingredients and go from there.

Looking forward to it, as I thoroughly enjoyed the first one.

Just wait until you get to drink it Notlaw. If it is as I expect, you will be enjoying it a lot.

 

[Notlaw]

Just wait until you get to drink it Notlaw. If it is as I expect, you will be enjoying it a lot.

Thanks Tony. I'm going to try my best to leave trying it until Easter weekend, so I've got 8 weeks to wait.... I'll give it my best shot :-?

 

[Tony1951]

Thanks Tony. I'm going to try my best to leave trying it until Easter weekend, so I've got 8 weeks to wait.... I'll give it my best shot :-?

:-? EASTER???!!

You are a tougher man than I am Gungadin. I can barely manage two weeks in the bottle unless I have a massive stock. With APAs especially, they seem drinkable very quickly and in my experience they don't get any better after about two or three weeks. This may be a sacrilege for some so I will wait to be chastised for 'beer abuse'.

Had a neighbour around last night for a couple of jars of APA and IPA. All the beers we drank were made since New Year and he was very appreciative. I had some of Leo and Mike's Newcastle Brewing ales at a tasting a couple of months ago and they weren't even nearly clear and they were selling them like hot cakes. I tasted a couple and liked one called Newcastle IPA which was an APA in my opinion. I liked that one and bought four off them to show willing with their enterprise, but it wasn't as good as mine was. I don't think it had been kept at all - not more than a week or so in my opinion. I doubt they have the space to store it long.

 

[Herb]

Hi All,

I am going to do a batch of AG on Saturday morning, and looking for a bit of advice. I was going to do a dead simple brew, I currently have in stock just some Maris Otter and some Fuggles Hops, so I am a bit worried I'll end up with a beer a bit lacking in taste.

Should I pick up something to add to it? I have a local shop that will carry the basics.

cheers,

Herb

 

[clibit]

Hi All,

I am going to do a batch of AG on Saturday morning, and looking for a bit of advice. I was going to do a dead simple brew, I currently have in stock just some Maris Otter and some Fuggles Hops, so I am a bit worried I'll end up with a beer a bit lacking in taste.

Should I pick up something to add to it? I have a local shop that will carry the basics.

cheers,

Herb

You can make very tasty beer with one grain, one hop and a nice yeast.

I'm not the biggest Fuggles fan, so it wouldn't be my choice. But many people love Fuggles - if you do, go for it. If not, what commercial beers do you like?

 

[Herb]

Typically, I prefer darker, redder beers.