First AG is now in the fermenter. It hasn't gone well.

[Aethelstan]

Today I started my test run for my first AG beer which came out @1032 and only 3.6 litres in the end. Obviously this is very low so I may top up with some dextrose and water to 4.5l, but there are so many variable that could have resulted in such a low reading. Here is how I went about it...

1kg of home malted and milled barley.
14g of Challenger pellets

Mashed the grain @67 degrees for 1h 15m
Run the mash through a muslin bag
Sparge the grain in cold water for 10mins
Add the sparge water to the wort
Boil for 60min
6g challenger @60
6g challenger @30
2g challenger @10
Chill
Syphon into fermenter.

Obviously the first variable is my own milled malt, I understand this can have a massive effect on the available sugars and next attempt I will buy some pre milled grain.
The mash, is 1h15m long enough?
The sparge, this is the part that I still don't understand. Should I have brought the wort to the boil before sparging, or after?

Thanks for looking

[Jim]

You sparged in cold water??

Sparge water should be at about 72C minimum. I take it this was BIAB?

If you sparged in cold water, that would probably explain your poor extraction.

[Aethelstan]

Yes, I used cold water. Oops! I thought the sparge was to rinse sugars from the grain, but I take it from your reaction that it is still part of the extraction? That also explains why the grain at the end tasted so sweet, I had a sneaky taste before giving it to my hens.

[far9410]

Yes that would have been the point that you could have got your volume up to spec, by sparring with enough hit water to get a pre boil volume figure. Note all these things as you go along, you'll soon get it right.

[far9410]

Unlike my typing!

[Jim]

Yes, I used cold water. Oops! I thought the sparge was to rinse sugars from the grain, but I take it from your reaction that it is still part of the extraction? That also explains why the grain at the end tasted so sweet, I had a sneaky taste before giving it to my hens.

It's not actually part of the extraction; the sugars already extracted during the mash cling to the grains and have to be rinsed out. Hot water dissolves those sugars much more effectively than cold.

Next time!

[Fil]

you got over 1030 OG so it will ferment into beer, on my first ag EVERYTHING went awry or at least it felt like it i was dreading the tasting, and was gobsmacked that i had managed to produce a quaffable pint.

beer wants to get brewed and drunk and is a very forgiving product, im sure you will relish your first beers, and it will only get better

sparging with hot water helps thin the sugar solution and lets it run more freely iirc. sparge between mash temp and 75C imho any hotter and bitter tannins can get released requiring longer maturing to mellow out.. tho one of my cock ups on a fairly recent brew was to sparge at 85C DUH!!!

[Rick_UK]

I usually sparge at 85'C and never had a problem with tannins. I understood from my research that the grain bed needs to be raised above 75 for the sparge to prevent the wort being too fermentable and reduce body.

I suspect this is probably another debate though!

[Goosey]

I usually sparge at 85'C and never had a problem with tannins.

Same here. And I got that out of Graham Wheeler's book.

[Befuddler]

Your sparge water can be 85C; you'll lose a few degrees en route anyway. Your grain bed shouldn't be allowed to get that hot though.

[Aethelstan]

I definitely need to research the sparging thing some more, then. I will probably go for a biab method next time

[pantsmachine]

You got it in the fermenter, that's a victory. Early AG is like early sex. You know you can do better but its still an enjoyable experience.

[micmacmoc]

Get yourself a copy of 'brew your own british real ales' by Graham Wheeler. its easy to follow and has brilliant recipes in it. I have done eighty odd brews and still use it. A quick read through that and you'll know all necessary to make great beer.

[lord.president]

You got it in the fermenter, that's a victory. Early AG is like early sex. You know you can do better but its still an enjoyable experience.

Not quite. The more you do,the less time it takes.