All grain brewing process ?

[DC]

Hi all, As a few of you might know by now I am nearing the point of doing my 1st all grain brew Just need to build my boiler and I am set oh and a chiller too. But I am not sure about the whole allgrain process. I have looked at these guides on the forum (see below), which seem straight forward but I dont have a sparge arm, and will be mashing in a converted cool box, so how do I sparge in a cool box ? is it just a case of bung the grains and water in and leave for an hour or so then drain the liqour and then bung in some more water and leave again then run off into the boiler? And also can some one enlighten me to what IBU's are or is ? And when & why I need to keep taking gravity reading with a hydrometer, as I would like to get my head around the whole all grain process before attempting my 1st all grain brew. Hoping there might be a few more guides on the forum to assist me in my 1st attempt. Basically I would like to do a very simple recipe / brew until I get into the swing of all grain brewing ( I need an idiots guide basically )

http://www.jimsbeerkit.co.uk/ingredients.htm
http://www.jimsbeerkit.co.uk/recipe.htm
http://www.jimsbeerkit.co.uk/mashing.htm
http://www.jimsbeerkit.co.uk/sparging.htm
http://www.jimsbeerkit.co.uk/boiling.htm

Cheers DC

[Shoit]

Don't know whether this is helpful or not but the following thread includes a kind of step by step list that I put together when I did my first all grain brew and might be of some help?! It's on page 2 of the thread:

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=19027&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&start=15

Kev

[Horden Hillbilly]

I need an idiots guide basically

Click on the uk-homebrew link in my signature, that should help you!

[jamesb]

I've just ripped your entire site Chris and I'm happy to host it when your's disappears. All credits to you of course. I don't really want to see a resource like that die.

[DarloDave]

1. Clean and Steralize everything
2.Heat mash/sparge water in HLT and add half a crushed campden tablet
3.pre heat mash tun with a kettle full of boiling water about 10 minutes before mashing, and empty this just before mashing in
4.Add grains to coolbox and add your first mash water taken from the HLT, which should be around 77c to allow for the cold grain, stir this about so there are no dry patches. The mash water should be around 66c at this point.
5.after 90 minutes batch sparge http://www.jimsbeerkit.co.uk/batch_calculator.html (great calculator)
6. when your preboil wort is in the boiler, switch it on and boil for 90 minutes adding hops when required
7.15 mins before end add whirlfloc tablet/irish moss, also add IC to steralize
8. turn on IC and cool down to yeast pitching temp.
9. add yeast, leave for 7-10 days to fement.

IBU are basically how bitter your beer will be. as the same hop can be different alpha acids(how bitter they are going to be) you may need to add more or less depending on the original recipe, this can be calculated from http://www.jimsbeerkit.co.uk/hop_calculations.htm

I only take a hydrometer reading when the wort is at yeast pitching temperature so you can see the original gravity, then after a couple of days in the FV I take daily samples to see when it has stopped fermenting, this will be when the readings are the same two days in a row.

thats pretty much it (i think!)

[Parva]

1. Clean and Steralize everything

I hate being pedantic but there is no need to sanitise anything pre-boil. Only the FV and anything else that comes into contact with the wort post-boil needs to be sanitised. Mash-tun, HLT, boiler etc only need to be fairly clean and not sanitised at all, the boil itself kills the nasties.

[aceuass]

1. Clean and Steralize everything
2.Heat mash/sparge water in HLT and add half a crushed campden tablet
3.pre heat mash tun with a kettle full of boiling water about 10 minutes before mashing, and empty this just before mashing in
4.Add grains to coolbox and add your first mash water taken from the HLT, which should be around 77c to allow for the cold grain, stir this about so there are no dry patches. The mash water should be around 66c at this point.
5.after 90 minutes batch sparge http://www.jimsbeerkit.co.uk/batch_calculator.html (great calculator)
6. when your preboil wort is in the boiler, switch it on and boil for 90 minutes adding hops when required
7.15 mins before end add whirlfloc tablet/irish moss, also add IC to steralize
8. turn on IC and cool down to yeast pitching temp.
9. add yeast, leave for 7-10 days to fement.

IBU are basically how bitter your beer will be. as the same hop can be different alpha acids(how bitter they are going to be) you may need to add more or less depending on the original recipe, this can be calculated from http://www.jimsbeerkit.co.uk/hop_calculations.htm

I only take a hydrometer reading when the wort is at yeast pitching temperature so you can see the original gravity, then after a couple of days in the FV I take daily samples to see when it has stopped fermenting, this will be when the readings are the same two days in a row.

thats pretty much it (i think!)

some great advice but
everyone does it different, me personally do not have the time for a 90 min mash 60 mins is fine, I batch sparge and the same with boiling, 60 mins is fine, I brew great beers but thats my preference, and its 1 hour shorter
`DC` the best advice is to read, learn and try, you will figure out your best preference
Cheers
Paul

[Parva]

I do 90 minute mash and 90 minute boil. I've done 60 minute boils before and they never came out as good as the 90 minute ones. I't's horses for courses, you'll find what works best for you.

[boingy]

Borodave's summary says it all really. I would definitely recommend a 90 minute mash for your first few brews. It will give you a better chance of converting all the starch even if the temperature is not quite right.

The most critical part, and the one that is probably hardest to get right, is the mash temperature. It needs to start out between 66C and 68C. Expect to lose a degree or two during the mash. Getting that initial temperature can be fiddly. It takes a good few minutes of stirring and resting before the temperature settles out. Be patient before you decide to trim the temperature up or down using boiling or cold water and if you do adjust it then give it anoher few minutes to even out before you adjust it again. A few minutes above or below the ideal temperature will not do any harm.

[DC]

Hi all, Thankyou for the replies, this has made the whole AG process alot clearer and not as complicated as I 1st thought it was going to be. Best get onto H&G and get that 10gallon bucket ordered.

Cheers DC

[DarloDave]

1. Clean and Steralize everything

I hate being pedantic but there is no need to sanitise anything pre-boil. Only the FV and anything else that comes into contact with the wort post-boil needs to be sanitised. Mash-tun, HLT, boiler etc only need to be fairly clean and not sanitised at all, the boil itself kills the nasties.

I know, but it cant do any harm to get into being scrupulous with steralisation and cleanliness.

[harvs]

Hi DC

I wrote up my first brew day here. This includes the check list I used, which you may find useful.

Good luck!
Harvs