Am I good to go? (1st AG)

[delta9]

Spitfire Clone

19L : OG 1055 : FG 1012 : ABV 5.6%

3.7kg Pale Malt
230g Crystal Malt
170g Amber Malt
170g Caramalt
113g Torrified Wheat
113g Wheat Malt

TOTAL GRAIN BILL = 4.53kg

Mash Temp = 65.5c
Mash Duration = 90 Mins

~

28g Challenger Hops 90 mins
28g East Kent Goldings 15 mins
1 tsp Irish Moss 15 mins
14g East Kent Goldings 1 min
15g East Kent Goldings Dry Hop

Boil Duration = 90 mins
------------------------------

Heat strike water to 71c (28L) - Add Campden, Gypsum and CRS - (target=25mg /l CaC03)

Weigh out the grains into spare bucket and mix around

Add water (20L) to mash tun

Add grain to mash tun and stir well

Mash temp check - 65.5c

Mash for 90 mins

Slowly drain out wort into jug a few times until clear (re-circulate)

Heat 2nd batch sparge water to 71c

Run off (when clear) into bucket

Weigh out the hops

When wort fully drained (1st batch), add 2nd batch sparge water (13L) to mash, stir and let sit for 5-10mins

Add the wort to the boiler and switch 1 element on

Start running off the 2nd batch until clear (re-circulate)

Run off 2nd batch (when clear) into bucket

Add 2nd batch to boiler and bring to boil - Turn off 1 element when boil reached

Add Challenger hops (28g) and boil for 90 mins

Sanitise Fermenter

15 mins before end - Switch on both elements, add cooler, Goldings (28g) and Irish Moss, turn off 1 element (boil over)

90 mins boil reached - Add Goldings (14g), switch off both elements and start cooling it

When it reaches 30c - Drain off into fermenter (with sieve)

Take note of Original Gravity (OG)

Ferment for 10 days @ 18-20c

Transfer to secondary, add Goldings (15g) with dry hop bag and give it another week, then bottle!

-----------------------------------------

Any tips, adjustments any input would be much appreciated, I will be using Danstar Nottingham Yeast. This brew will go ahead next friday hopefully.

I've seen people adding sugar to the boiler towards the end, do you think I need to add sugar?
Many Thanks

Delta9

[jonnyhop]

When wort fully drained (1st batch), add 2nd batch sparge water (13L) to mash, stir and let sit for 5-10mins

I never stir the mash, did this a couple of times and got a stuck mash. Try to not disturb the grain bed and leave the sparge water in there for 20 mins to up your efficiency. this does take slightly longer but is worth it given the time involved in getting a mash unstuck.

You spoke about turning elements off and on - I only have one so not sure about this, but either I am boiling in which case want as much heat as possible, or I am not in which case I want none.

I've seen people adding sugar to the boiler towards the end, do you think I need to add sugar?

Nope

[Parva]

I've seen people adding sugar to the boiler towards the end, do you think I need to add sugar?
Delta9

Only if you want a stronger but 'thinner' beer. Not recommended unless the recipe specifically requests it.

[delta9]

Hi Jonnyhop, thanks for the help! Will take your advice and not stir then, good idea about leaving it longer too.

Yeah, when the cooler goes in, I believe it drops the temp a bit, so to compensate I heard to switch on 2 elements for a few mins before, then dunk the cooler in, then turn it off again.

Cheers Parva, no sugar it is then!!!

Hopefully I'll be cracking them open on xmas eve

[jethrogump]

Reference stuck sparges....stirring is not the prob, high ratios of grains with high beta-glucans is...try some rice hulls, always useful..
jethrogump
Rob Moline

[Piscator]

Have a freshly boiled kettle of water and some cold water ready to adjust the mash temperature on your first go - I find with my setup I have to dough in at 75°C to hit a mash temperature of 66°C.

Once you've found your own optimum it is fairly reliable and you'll probably not need to make adjustments.

[wetdog]

I keep hearing about these rice hulls, where do you get them from?

[Eric]

I have trouble getting gypsum to dissolve. It could be worth you doing a trial first lest it sits in the bottom of the boiler.
It is more usual to use about 8 to 10 litres to mash with that amount of grain. To avoid dry spots it needs to be stirred.
My water is at over 80C when it goes into the tun which I then stir until it cools to strike temperature and warms the tun. With less liquor it would need to be at a higher strike temperature, about 76C if your grain isn't cold.
You might wish to check mash temperature at half way and add some hot water if it cools too much.
After 90 minutes add the balance of your 20 litres, stir and leave for 10 minutes and treat as you propose for your second sparge.
Some brewing sugar on hand isn't a bad idea in case you get lower than expected extraction.

You sound well organised. You should be more than pleased with you efforts.

[harry_mac]

Spitfire Clone
TOTAL GRAIN BILL = 4.53kg
....
Add water (20L) to mash tun
...
Heat 2nd batch sparge water to 71c
...
When wort fully drained (1st batch), add 2nd batch sparge water (13L) to mash, stir and let sit for 5-10mins
Delta9

Based on a grain bill of 4 1/2 kilos, you should be aiming for mash liquor of around 13 litres - that's based on a ratio of 2.5 litres of water per kilo of grain. You can top up to 20 litres just before the sparge, and have 13 litres for the second runoff.

The sparge water temp also should be higher than 71c to get the temperature inside the mash tun at an ideal temperature of 76c. There's probably a calculator for it somewhere...

[jethrogump]

I keep hearing about these rice hulls, where do you get them from?

Dunno where in the UK...in the US I bought them from Briess or Cargill....yer best bet is to have a chat with your local brewery...when I was brewing and a homebrewer would ask, it was practically nothing to slip them a few pounds of rice or oat hulls...sort of a Customer Loyalty benefit!
jethrogump
Rob Moline

[delta9]

Reference stuck sparges....stirring is not the prob, high ratios of grains with high beta-glucans is...try some rice hulls, always useful..
jethrogump
Rob Moline

Good to know, cheers Rob.

Have a freshly boiled kettle of water and some cold water ready to adjust the mash temperature on your first go - I find with my setup I have to dough in at 75°C to hit a mash temperature of 66°C.

Once you've found your own optimum it is fairly reliable and you'll probably not need to make adjustments.

That is a good idea, thanks, will do just that, cheers Piscator

I have trouble getting gypsum to dissolve. It could be worth you doing a trial first lest it sits in the bottom of the boiler.
It is more usual to use about 8 to 10 litres to mash with that amount of grain. To avoid dry spots it needs to be stirred.
My water is at over 80C when it goes into the tun which I then stir until it cools to strike temperature and warms the tun. With less liquor it would need to be at a higher strike temperature, about 76C if your grain isn't cold.
You might wish to check mash temperature at half way and add some hot water if it cools too much.
After 90 minutes add the balance of your 20 litres, stir and leave for 10 minutes and treat as you propose for your second sparge.
Some brewing sugar on hand isn't a bad idea in case you get lower than expected extraction.

You sound well organised. You should be more than pleased with you efforts.

Thank you for the help Eric! Alot of tips there, cheers pal

Based on a grain bill of 4 1/2 kilos, you should be aiming for mash liquor of around 13 litres - that's based on a ratio of 2.5 litres of water per kilo of grain. You can top up to 20 litres just before the sparge, and have 13 litres for the second runoff.

The sparge water temp also should be higher than 71c to get the temperature inside the mash tun at an ideal temperature of 76c. There's probably a calculator for it somewhere...

Yes, sounds good harry, so I'd get 26 Litres out into the boiler and lose 5 litres during the boil, making it 19L in the fermenter, hopefully

The spitfire recipe said the mash temp should be 65.5c? Should I follow this or go higher like you say? (76c)

Thanks for the help and thanks everyone else, cheers

@wetdog, I couldn't seem to find any rice husks/hulls either, hop and grape sell oat husks, I don't know whether this would be an alternative.

[harry_mac]

[quote="j
The spitfire recipe said the mash temp should be 65.5c? Should I follow this or go higher like you say? (76c)

No, the mash temperature is fine. The 76c is what to aim for for the runoff after the mash has finished. By then the mash might have cooled by a couple of degrees to say 63c, so you'll need to add water much hotter to get the temperature up to 76c when the water is mixed into the mash. I have a different setup with different volumes to you so I can't really advise beyond that. It might come down to a bit of trial and error.

I used to aim for 72c as that was what was recommended in one of Dave Line's books. 76c comes from a recommendation I've seen on this forum - apparently it's the temperature for maximum sugar solubility in water.

[quiff]

I find that if I mash in at 66 deg and top up with water at 85 this brings the first run off up to about 73deg. This seems to drop by a few degrees during run off so then, adding the same 85 deg water for the second sparge brings the temp up to about 77-78 which after stirring and 15 mins mini mash settles at about 76.This seems to cover the spectrum of sugar solubility. Dunno if this is a technically correct method but I have got efficiency in the low eighties both times and they have fermented down to the target FG.
Begginers luck maybe

[delta9]

Thanks again !

You guys were right, I heated the strike water to 76c and got a perfect mash temp of 65.5... After 90 mins of mashing, it dropped down to 56c.

It went pretty smooth, no stuck mash... Was very chuffed on how well the equipment performed, all thanks to the ideas and methods posted by the members here.

I also didn't believe that I would get 20L of water + 4.5kg of grains into a 23 bucket, but there was a few inches deadspace, so that worked a treat.

The calc was spot on too with the batch sparge amounts, was just shy of 19L at the end.

The only thing that went bad, was the paint on the wall Had browns runs everywhere!!!! LOL
Was quite scary watching the boiler boil at first too... No boil over too

Ended up with a OG of 1044 (was aiming for 1055)

Many thanks again for all the help you've given me, I can now say I have a AG brew under my belt

[quiff]

Your mash temp shouldn/t have dropped that much over 90mins!!
You need to find ways of insulating it. My mash temp drops about 1 degree over the 90 mins and I'm not overly happy with that.
Try putting layers of bubble wrap on the surface of the mash and tinfoil works well too. Most heat will be lost throught the lid so the more you can unsulate it the better. Then wrap the whole thing up tightly in a sleeping bag or duvet.
Did you pre-heat the mash tun? This makes a big difference.