First brew day (with video)! What was yours like?

GCR · Post by **GCR** » Tue Oct 18, 2016 10:50 pm

Check it out: https://youtu.be/fGySspcOnEQ

We had our first brew day on Sunday, and it was a lot of fun. Of course, there were some hiccups - not having the proper faucet connection necessitated an emergency run to Canadian Tire and Home Depot - but we eventually got under way.

Everything went according to plan until it came time to chill the wort, when the pump got clogged. Since the Grainfather was filled with super hot wort at this point, we had no choice but to siphon it into the primary, which we had placed in a big Rubbermaid bin filled with ice (and salty water) to bring it down to yeast pitching temp as quickly as possible. We toyed with the idea of emptying it, fixing the pump and putting it back into the system to chill the wort, but it took us a little while to fix the system, and the temp seemed to be dropping at a reasonable rate, so we opted to wait it out.

We were as cautious as we could be under the circumstances, trying to limit air exposure and contamination, so *hopefully* the beer will turn out ok anyway - it sure looked/smelled decent. And it appears to be happily bubbling away with some nice krausen on the go.

We didn't quite get the 23 litres of wort we were hoping for (there was a lot of hoppy sludge at the bottom); I reckon it was around 22 litres or so. Not sure if that'll make a big difference or not when we rack to the carboy. So. much. to. learn!

Anyways, it was really fun, and so far we do not regret going all-in and trying all-grain from the get-go. I have some pale malt from Horton Ridge I am dying to use (but I need to mill) - I believe we're going to try the Best Case Belgian Farmhouse Saison next.

Anyone else care to share there 1st brewday? Maybe there's a thread and a missed it - if so, feel free to just point me there.

Post by **LeafMan66_67** » Thu Oct 20, 2016 8:56 pm

Looking good,

Keith · Post by **Keith** » Thu Oct 20, 2016 9:27 pm

Awesome. It takes time. But you'll figure it out. Ask for direction if needed!

GCR · Post by **GCR** » Thu Oct 20, 2016 11:32 pm

We racked from the primary (bucket) into the secondary fermenter (23l carboy) tonight, and as previously mentioned, it's about a litre or more short of the 23 litre mark (lots of space between the top of the beer and the top of the carboy)

Is this going to be an issue at all? Should we have topped it off with water to make up the difference when first racked into the primary?

Keith · Post by **Keith** » Fri Oct 21, 2016 12:34 am

Imo. If it's and ale leave it in the primary and go with the flow. In the beginning you'll learn alot. Dont worry about 1 liter now. But figure out where it went. Right now finish the beer and enjoy!

Post by **LeafMan66_67** » Fri Oct 21, 2016 5:23 am

Short 1L? That's pretty good for a first run through. There's lots of factors at play there - trub loss, boil off rates, etc. Track your volumes, your pre boil gravity and volume, post boil gravity and volumes, learn to use Beersmith to predict those numbers and you will find your litre. Or - relax, don't worry, have a home brew! Sounds like you are well on the way to producing beer!

TerryM · Post by **TerryM** » Fri Oct 21, 2016 4:38 pm

Video looks good, clogged pump inlet happens often. Never had to syphon but now use a hop basket if using more than a couple oz. hops. My first AG brewday with Grainfather went smooth, since then 24 batches with only minor glitches, usually from not following the directions. Most GF brews now BIAC, full volume mash, with 7 gallons water and 10 lb grain bill. Larger grain bills I sparge.
I purchased Grainfather and Monster Mill last January, live just outside Moncton, if you need to mill some grain send me a PM. I think your coffee drinking assistant knows where to find me.

GCR · Post by **GCR** » Sat Oct 22, 2016 12:08 pm

Keith wrote:Imo. If it's and ale leave it in the primary and go with the flow. In the beginning you'll learn alot. Dont worry about 1 liter now. But figure out where it went. Right now finish the beer and enjoy!

Thanks for the reassurances, Keith! Going with the flow is my motto on this new hobby for sure. And soon that delicious IPA will be flowing into my gullet.

GCR · Post by **GCR** » Sat Oct 22, 2016 12:23 pm

LeafMan66_67 wrote:Short 1L? That's pretty good for a first run through. There's lots of factors at play there - trub loss, boil off rates, etc. Track your volumes, your pre boil gravity and volume, post boil gravity and volumes, learn to use Beersmith to predict those numbers and you will find your litre. Or - relax, don't worry, have a home brew! Sounds like you are well on the way to producing beer!

Thanks for the encouragement. Trying not to get too obsessed with this new hobby, but it is pretty challenging. It could easily become all-consuming.

GCR · Post by **GCR** » Sat Oct 22, 2016 12:39 pm

TerryM wrote:Video looks good, clogged pump inlet happens often. Never had to syphon but now use a hop basket if using more than a couple oz. hops. My first AG brewday with Grainfather went smooth, since then 24 batches with only minor glitches, usually from not following the directions. Most GF brews now BIAC, full volume mash, with 7 gallons water and 10 lb grain bill. Larger grain bills I sparge.
I purchased Grainfather and Monster Mill last January, live just outside Moncton, if you need to mill some grain send me a PM. I think your coffee drinking assistant knows where to find me.

Thanks Terry! Might take you up on that milling offer... though I am hoping Santa will bring me one for xmas, I plan to use my Horton Ridge malt before then...

What kind of hop basket do you use/where did you pick it up? The Blichmann at E&L looks nice, but it a little bit on the 'spensive side.

TerryM · Post by **TerryM** » Sun Oct 23, 2016 10:51 am

I have a Mangrove Jacks hop basket only because it was on the shelf one day when I was in Fredericton. Serves my purpose, not very expensive IIRC. E&L will bring in almost anything you need, he found me some gaskets for my beertaps that had been very difficult to source. I have also found the online retailers, who support this group, very good to order from.

Post by **Jimmy** » Sun Oct 23, 2016 11:06 am

It looks like you mashed in at 151? Typically you heat the water above your target temp - adding the malt will cause a drop in temperature.

ipamonger · Post by **ipamonger** » Mon Oct 24, 2016 2:39 pm

Jimmy wrote:It looks like you mashed in at 151? Typically you heat the water above your target temp - adding the malt will cause a drop in temperature.

Thanks Jimmy. GRG's partner in crime here. Yeah, we did mash in at that temp, but subsequently, we've been reading about strike water temperature needing to be higher as you mention. As this was our very first brew, we actually had the grainfather step by step video going as we went about our day (you can hear that video playing in the background of our video at one point!). I recall the GF video saying something about the fact that when you mash in, the temp will go down, but don't worry about it. I think we may try the increase strike water temp next time around (tonight!).

GuingesRock · Post by **GuingesRock** » Wed Oct 26, 2016 6:10 am

You can feel the suspense and excitement in the air. Beer on the way. Just off camera some clean glasses waiting.

It's going to be good.

GCR · Post by **GCR** » Mon Oct 31, 2016 7:01 pm

GuingesRock wrote:You can feel the suspense and excitement in the air. Beer on the way. Just off camera some clean glasses waiting.

It's going to be good.

Thanks for reminding me that at some point, very soon, I will also be drinking this stuff. Life's been so busy I had almost forgotten about that. Put a Belgian farmhouse saison on last week too... I sure can understand why people get obsessed with this little hobby...

First brew day (with video)! What was yours like?

First brew day (with video)! What was yours like?

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Re: First brew day (with video)! What was yours like?

Re: First brew day (with video)! What was yours like?

Re: First brew day (with video)! What was yours like?

Re: First brew day (with video)! What was yours like?

Re: First brew day (with video)! What was yours like?

Re: First brew day (with video)! What was yours like?

Re: First brew day (with video)! What was yours like?

Re: First brew day (with video)! What was yours like?

Re: First brew day (with video)! What was yours like?

Re: First brew day (with video)! What was yours like?

Re: First brew day (with video)! What was yours like?

Re: First brew day (with video)! What was yours like?

Re: First brew day (with video)! What was yours like?

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