My Number 1 Smash

[Masimcox]

Evening All

I have been toying with the idea of brewing an all grain for quite a while. Last year I bought a Brewzilla 35l 3.1.1. but never used it. This last week, after loads of reading and watching YouTube videos I finally bit the bullet and started my Brew day, Friday Lunchtime.

One of the things I couldn't get my head around was the order you did everything, even after all the reading and watching I felt I had to produce myself an "Instruction Sheet". So with the help of Brewfather, Grainfater and some North End Brewery instructions I found on line I put together my instruction sheet for my first SMASH beer, hopefully an IPA style of beer, fingers crossed. I used Pale Ale Malt, Polaris T90 Hops and Mangrove Jacks M36 Liberty Bell yeast. It's finally in the fermenter and bubbling away nicely.

I'd like to thank all the people on here whose threads I consistently read for information and inspiration. I have, for completeness ,attached the sheets that I made and used, Please feel free to use them if you like them and also suggest things I could improve. For instance, does it seem like an OK brew? There are some blanks on my sheet but at this stage I don't really understand everything. Be kind please, it's my first go and I hope my research/instructions can be of help to someone else.

Happy Brewing.

 

[Caramel Ox]

How did you choose Polaris?

You have to do a brew to learn so see how you like it.

I also did a smash with my own recipe as a first all grain, but found it much easier to follow Greg Hughes book after that.

 

[The Baron]

Yes Polaris seems a strange choice for a IPA but not knocking it is may turn out top notch.
I once did a all Admiral ale which is not a hop generally used on its own but mainly for bittering and that was very nice

 

[Masimcox]

How did you choose Polaris?

You have to do a brew to learn so see how you like it.

I also did a smash with my own recipe as a first all grain, but found it much easier to follow Greg Hughes book after that.

I was just looking for a Hop that could be used for IPA and it’s profiled said it could, no other reason really and I don’t think they had the Citra that I initially thought I’d use.

 

[Rodcx500z]

All looks good for a first go, now the hard bit leaving it alone to do it's thing, did you recirculate during the mash and what was the OG, i use a gen3 i ditched the overflow pipe blanked the bottom plate the pipe was pita, let us know how the brew turns out

 

[matt.]

I'm onto my fourth all grain so a newbie.
After your mash and sparg you had 27 liters?
After your boil, how much was left?

I'm always 'short' at the end of my boil when aiming for a 10 liter brew.

 

[Masimcox]

All looks good for a first go, now the hard bit leaving it alone to do it's thing, did you recirculate during the mash and what was the OG, i use a gen3 i ditched the overflow pipe blanked the bottom plate the pipe was pita, let us know how the brew turns out

The OG after mashing was 1.045, I kept the overflow pip in as I used it to get the pump recycling at the right rate and it was easier to tell the small difference in flow rate (if I used the right terminology )

I'm onto my fourth all grain so a newbie.
After your mash and sparg you had 27 liters?
After your boil, how much was left?

I'm always 'short' at the end of my boil when aiming for a 10 liter brew.

around 22l

 

[Masimcox]

All looks good for a first go, now the hard bit leaving it alone to do it's thing, did you recirculate during the mash and what was the OG, i use a gen3 i ditched the overflow pipe blanked the bottom plate the pipe was pita, let us know how the brew turns out

And yes I recirculated all through the Mash

 

[matt.]

The OG after mashing was 1.045, I kept the overflow pip in as I used it to get the pump recycling at the right rate and it was easier to tell the small difference in flow rate (if I used the right terminology )

around 22l

I'm a stove top brewer. Maybe I'm loosing quite a high percentage of liquor during the boil. You appear to have lost 5 litres from 27. 18.5%?
I'll have to pay more attention during my own boil.

Thanks

 

[Jiffy176]

Looks good to me.
Couple of bit I found help.
You didn't mention strike temp.
B/Father will calculate this for you and it means by the time you have dough'd in you will be at 65 instead of having to heat back up.
A strike of 69 will do.

If you are whirlpooling then the arm is worth buying and it helps the hops settle in the middle.

I've also started leaving the kettle alone for 30 mins after I finish whirlpooling with the lid on and a bit of sanitised foil over the top hole.

This allows all of the protein break to drop to the bottom and hopefully end up on the hop cone.

 

[Old Fart At Play]

No mention in the notes about treating the water? Depending on your water supply and brew style you would probably benefit from some additions.

 

[Masimcox]

I'm a stove top brewer. Maybe I'm loosing quite a high percentage of liquor during the boil. You appear to have lost 5 litres from 27. 18.5%?
I'll have to pay more attention during my own boil.

Thanks

I kept my lid on for first 45 mins of boil but left it off through the initial mash. More by luck than judgement I think

No mention in the notes about treating the water? Depending on your water supply and brew style you would probably benefit from some additions.

Agreed, it’s something I need to research more to get my head around it. For this brew I used supermarket bottled water

 

[MashBag]

No mention in the notes about treating the water? Depending on your water supply and brew style you would probably benefit from some additions.

Leave the bloke alone.

Water treatment comes later.

To all new brewers out there, water treatment looks scary, it doesn't have to be hard or complicated.

 

[MashBag]

The mention of water around these parts often starts a handbag fight between two members just thought I would mention it, so you can sit back and enjoy the show

 

[rav]

8 or so all grain brews in and I've still not bothered treating my water and haven't noticed any undesirable effects. Maybe I'm lucky round here with my Surrey tap water!

 

[Agentgonzo]

To all new brewers out there, water treatment looks scary, it doesn't have to be hard or complicated.

Or even necessary!

I do feel sorry for new brewers on forums. They come in with enthusiasms and a fresh start and are bombarded with people saying they need to do 15 extra steps, buy a special fridge, install CO2 gas and regulators and a whole host of super-duper advanced stuff that just isn't necessary when you are finding your feet.

 

[Jiffy176]

Delete duplicate post

 

[Jiffy176]

8 or so all grain brews in and I've still not bothered treating my water and haven't noticed any undesirable effects. Maybe I'm lucky round here with my Surrey tap water!

Rav. I'm near you and we have very hard water. Depend where in Surrey we might be on the same supply.
As long as you are adding some camden tablet or allowing water to stand to clear chlorine that's all you need to worry about.

@OP using supermarket water was a good shout. I did about 5 or 10 brews before getting into water treatment.
I'm the sort of person who loves the attention to detail in the hobby by doing my waters by when you are ready.

 

[Rodcx500z]

3 years all grain i have never used any treatments, south Lancashire Cheshire boundary we have very soft water, get the basics right then move on, i started with 2 buckets and plastic barrels, granted i now have a full setup but i didn't spend a load dosh until i knew i could do it with good results, just take your time and you will get there

 

[jof]

@rav @Jiffy176
I too am in Surrey. I only use a pinch of metabisulphate (I ran out of Camden's)
But I also stick to regional styles - eg similar to beers from north & South downs. I wouldnt expect a softwater mild to work as well.