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Hi folks,

I'm about to brew my first all grain this week end. I've done extracts and have purchased wort many times, but like I said, first time all grain. I've done lot's of reading on the theory but undoubtedly there are lots of little things that you find out that mainly come from experience.

When you read the title "First all grain" what was the first thing that popped into your head that I'm likely to mess up?

Thanks,

CEB

Ensure you figure out your boil off rate on your pot, and compensate for grain absorption.

Good luck!

Trying to do a lager on your first few brews. Don't! Find a solid recipe from a friend, Brewnosers, Beersmith or the American Home Brew Association. Your success rate will be much higher. Word of caution: Once you smell that mash, the hops in the boil and all the other wonderful smells from the brewing process the obsession goes to a whole new level. Relax, have fun and nothing teaches you like doing it.

beersmith was a blessing when it came to getting correct volumes...take a min to get it set up...after that ur golden.

we were under volume our 1st batch by a couple litres.

relax and have fun...

jacinthebox wrote:

relax and have fun...

^^^This^^^

Remember, this is fun. Even if something goes awry, you will still end up with beer!

Had a friend around and we drank the best part of a bottle of malt scotch during my first AG brew, it was Christmas time. I don't remember much more except it was a lot of fun and the beer was good.

So make sure it's fun is my advice and don't worry. Brewing is very forgiving.

Thanks for the advice and words of encouragement. The recipe is pretty simple and started as the OBK IPA. Although availability at my local brew shop has changed it up. Here is the recipe:

10 lbs 2-row
1 lbs Carafoam
1 lbs Light crystal malt (30 - 37 lov)

2 Oz Nugget (15.3 % AA) @ 60
1 Oz Goldings @ 5 min
1 Oz Goldings @ flameout

Yeast 1450 Denny's fav 50

Originally I wanted Cascade and Columbus but the selection was pretty limited. I've also never used this yeast so I don't really know what to expect even if I did everything right. But as already mentioned, it'll be beer and I'll drink it.

I'd have some dry malt extract around, in case your extraction efficiency is not as high as you'd like. You can also boil away excess water, but then you're going to end up with a much smaller brew. Better to compensate with extract if you end up in that boat.

I jumped into brewing with both feet and all grain (albeit small batches). So if you already have experience with extracts or whatnot, you'll be just fine.

I went from 2 festas too ag. Was a lot of fun, and probably too much worrying lol.

I may sudgest dry yeast till you get your feet.

Just my opinion.

Sandy

The yeast has already been purchased. if I get wort with a reasonable OG I'm not too worried about the fermentation.

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Not all grain specific but try to find somewhere (a basement ) with reasonably cool stable temp. Stable is important particularly IMO.

Also, keep a towel handy. Not a little one either, get a bath towel you don't care about anymore. Things get messy.

CorneliusAlphonse wrote:Not all grain specific but try to find somewhere (a basement ) with reasonably cool stable temp. Stable is important particularly IMO.

I think the biggest improvement in my amateur brewing career was stabilizing fermentation temps and learning to keep the yeast happy.

Keep it as simple as you can for a few batches

I went strait to AG (did some nasty beer in a can decades ago). Make sure to keep an eye on the brewkettle at all times to avoid the dreaded boilover.

As I'm sure you're aware, don't cover your pot during the boil... My biggest mistake yet in terms of mess and DMS!

I too recommend dry yeast, so simple!

And in terms of hops schedule, I like your style with the cascade and Columbus! I use those in my IPA!

I did 1 festbrew, 1 extract and about 10 BIAB all grains. In hindsight I spent way too much time on my first few ag batches agonizing about grain absorption, boil off rates, mash temperatures, OG, FG, efficiency, etc. Precision in these things likely matters for repeatability but for all around good beer, approximate values serve me perfectly well. Sanitary equipment, quick cooling and transfer to primary (no secondary), and a stable fermentation temperature are my main concerns. Keep it simple and have fun!

More physical than technical, but I found setting everything up and having a time schedule helped to reduce the stress in my first several AG brews. It may sound simple but plan on starting your brew at a set time, so mill the grains before that, have your mash tun clean and ready to go before you start heating the strike water, have the wort chiller ready to go before the boil even starts, hops measured out and marked.....etc, etc, etc.

I have brewed with guys who do none of this......and they still make great beer, so this is only a suggestion. I am a pretty organized guy who documents most things during the brew day for the sake of learning, repeat-ability and quality control in my system.....so this extra planning works for me, good luck

amartin wrote:Also, keep a towel handy. Not a little one either, get a bath towel you don't care about anymore. Things get messy.

Pretty sure I told my wife this very same thing years ago.

amartin wrote:Also, keep a towel handy. Not a little one either, get a bath towel you don't care about anymore. Things get messy.

actually have you ever seen the show Dexter. I like to prepare my brewroom like he prepares his kill room

Update:

Tapped the keg yesterday and it was pretty good. Other than a horrible efficiency, I hit the OG but only had about 3.5 gallons instead of the 5.25 I was shooting for; I’m pretty pleased with how it turned out.

It only gets better. All about dialing in your system.

Awesome! Glad it tastes good, too.