re: Homebrewing Thread: Volume II

quote:

---

Do ya'll think we should mash on the first brew, or concentrate on the boil, fermentation and bottling, then progress to all grain?

---

Well, if you are going all grain from the jump, then you need additional all grain equipment. That ran me about $200. I use 2 10 gallon igloo coolers and bought an all grain conversion kit from northern brewer. I fly sparge, thus using 2 coolers. If you batch sparge, you can use a different setup than mine.

If that's not an issue, then go all grain. Because if you like it, you'll eventually want to go all grain.

All grain is not much harder, you just have to devote a little more time to your brew day. All you are essentially doing is heating up mash water to a certain temperature, then pouring that into one of the coolers (your mash tun) and adding your grains, stirring them up, and letting it sit for an hour. The temperature and time is converting the starches in the grain, to sugars which your yeast will later eat.

Once you finish mashing, you do what is called a vorlauf, which is simply recirculating the wort you just created. I do this my simply taking a large glass and slowly pouring out the wort, and dumping back into the mash tun. I do this about 10 times. This helps compact the grain bed allowing for a more efficient extraction, and helps clear up some of the sediment in the wort.

Once you do the vorlauf, you take a gravity reading, then sparge. As stated above, i fly sparge. Sparging is essentially rinsing the grains, which further helps extract the residual sugars left in the husks. So you heat your sparge water to around 170. I pour it into my sparge tank, and then connect a piece of tubing to my fly sparge arm and slowly release the sparge water, which is then sprayed out over the top of my grains in the mash tun. I hook up a piece of tubing from my mash tun and run it back into my brew kettle and also slowly open the valve to let that run. This usually takes me about 10-15 minutes or so to collect 7.62 gallons of wort.

I shoot for 7.62 gallons of for a 60 minute boil to get me 5.5 gallons of beer in the fermenter. The amount you need to collect is really up to your brew system. There are many factors that will precipitate wort loss. Same with into the fermenter. I go for 5.5 gallons to end up with 5 gallons in the keg, depending on the beer. If it is very hoppy, then i shoot for that 7.62 gallon mark. If it is low hops, then i gather 7.25 gallons and hope for closer to 5.2 gallons in the fermenter. Hops, yeast, residual pieces of grain is the trub you will find at the bottom of the fermenter. It collects at the bottom and you lose some of your wort.

Anyway after that, comes the boil and there is no difference between boiling from all grain wort as opposed to extract.

It's really up to you, but if you take to home brewing, you will eventually go all-grain. But if you just want to brew a few batches of extract in the beginning to get a hang of things, then go for it. You can always buy the remaining equipment later.

Brewing is like buying tools. You don't just go out and buy everything you think you'll ever need. You start with a set of tools, then as time goes by and you need to fix more things, you end up buying more tools until one day, you have a garage full of tools.

quote:

---

buffbraz

---

My first recipe was this one in how to brew

LINK

This is why i like the book as opposed to reading online (though i guess you can do both). The book jumps you into your first beer. It basically says, here is all the info to brew beer, but first, i'll walk you through a batch and after we finish brewing, i'll tell you why we did what we did.

This beer was pretty good and if i recall tasted a bit like SN Pale Ale. I brewed this recipe 2 or 3 times back in the day.

Also, once you get your brewing down, this recipe was delicious. This is all grain, BTW.

LINK

If you want to brew an extract IPA then try something like this:

LINK

Note that they're talking about boiling 3G in the recipe so you'd need to add 2-2.5g water into the fermenter for the full batch. If you're doing a full boil you need 6g or so in the kettle. Let the temp drop to 75, throw in yeast, and relax. Just throw the dry hops into the fermenter when the fermentation is mostly over; you can use a hop sack on your racking cane to strain.

Citra hops are like autotune for IPAs...

(no message)

quote:

---

Thanks B, I am 2 minutes from Pecue. Think I will go check them out!

---

I can't say enough good things about Keith, Donovan, Bruce and company at LA Homebrew. They will get you all set up with everything you need and nothing you don't need.

I think I will use them too, since there's nothing on the Northshore.

(no message)

quote:

---

Do you think the thermometer on the kettle is a necessity? I'm going to have to find a good way to ice bathe the kettle if I don't get a wort chiller. i don't have a dual sink.

---

Necessity? No. But it's certainly helpful.

I think LA Homebrew has wort chillers for $70 or so. Realize that in south Louisiana, you won't get your wort down to pitching temps with our ground water, unless you use a shite ton of ice and some mechanism to pump that cold water through the wort chiller. I usually get it down to 90-ish degrees then let it finish chilling on its own before I pitch my yeast.

and for the sour beer brewers, some helpful information:

Gigayeast GB 156 Brux Blend

quote:

---

A blend of Brettanomyces yeast that produces stone fruit esters and a hint of barnyard. Creates a moderate amount of acid that adds a tart complexity to the brew.

---

Is actually a 50/50 blend of Gigayeast Brussels Bruxellensis (GB001)

quote:

---

Produces classic Brett “Barnyard” characteristics plus some subtle fruity aroma and moderate acidity. Adds a tart complexity to any beer.

---

and Tart Cherry Brett (GB002)

quote:

---

Produces some Brett Barnyard funk plus stone fruit and cherry-like esters. This Strain also produces a moderate amount of acid that adds a tart complexity to the brew.

---

I was trying to find any reviews on it, but because it is so new, i couldn't find anything, so i emailed them and asked what is comprised of the Brux Blend.