My First AG This Weekend

[adm]

Best to do that than find your mash tun leaks or the tap isnt closed...

Ah, yes! I think most of us will have been guilty of that one, me included!

Oh yes.....

One other tip - never brew wearing sandals! Boiling wort on unprotected feet can ruin your whole month!

[Mitchamitri]

Heres my bastardised bath ales gem recipe (original gem recipe below). I like the thought of it as I want FRUITY MUSKINESS!- if you think it'll be crap then shout before 6am tomorrow!! (5 gallon)
SCREAMING MIA:
MARIS OTTER PALE MALT 3800
WHEAT MALT 50
CRYSTAL MALT 340
CHOCOLATE MALT LOW 40
Total Grain Bill 4230
Boil
FUGGLES 20
GOLDINGS 20
Boil last 15 minutes
PROTAFLOC 1
FUGGLES 8
BRAMLING CROSS 16


Original gem:
Bath Ales Gem
5 gallon batch
OG 1041
MARIS OTTER PALE MALT 3590 gms
WHEAT MALT 40 gms
CRYSTAL MALT 320 gms
CHOCOLATE MALT LOW 40 gms

HOPS boil time 90 minutes
30 EBU

CHALLENGER 33 gms

Add 20 gms GOLDINGS last 15 minutes

[yashicamat]

All has gone quiet . . . . how is the brewday going?

[chris_reboot]

ssshhh, can't you see he's busy!

[yashicamat]

ssshhh, can't you see he's busy!

[chris_reboot]

hehe
I know I was pretty stressed on my first one last week!

he may need to calm down for a bit afterwards...

[Mitchamitri]

I DID IT - EFFING AWESOME. Although i admit to some excitement and started at 5.30 in the morning.

Only real problem I had was a stuck racking, and some S04 that didnt rehydrate, but the second lot was fine and its bubbling lovely.

I have some questions though -

For sparging do I empty the tun of wort first or run the worth out of the bottom simultaeneously running the hot in the top (the latter is a hard way of getting the desired temp).

How long do I leave it after chilling (with a very effective copper pipe coil giving us warm water for Mia's paddling pool) before racking it into the FV?
The copper tubing foot I made kept blocking so I ended up drawing off what I could, whirlpooling it, then racking off again, lost a good half gallon.

My tips for anyone doing it first time:
1) Allow lots of time and tell the missus its going to take ALL DAY - it won't so she'll appreciate how you have free'd up time (and you have given yourself some slush time)
2) Wear boots and leggings - at some point you WILL get hot water on your feet
3) Ignore the science and just follow the instructions - dont worry about your og etc - just measure it and if its a bit off, so what?
4) There are "Dead spots" during which you could have lunch etc but there is good learning is watching the way the nature of the boil changes over the 90 minutes
5) Top tips from this thread - weigh everything out in advance and do a dry run, and dont touch anything boozy until you have added the yeast.

[adm]

Well done! Glad it went well for you.

For your sparging question, were you batch sparging or fly sparging? If you used the batch method, then basically you need to top up with the hot water first, give it a good stir, then run off (collect the first few litres in a jug and pour it back on top of the mash), then when it's empty, close the tap and add the second batch of water, and repeat the procedure.

What's up next then ?

[Mitchamitri]

I think I messed that bit up as I'd run some wort out then ran in the sparge water and stirred it - its fermenting fine though so I dont think I killed it.

This was a recipe I made up myself - Gem base but lots of fruityness - experts who know about EBUs and ph etc etc will say itll be rubbish I expect but I like the taste of the wort!!

SCREAMING MIMI:
MARIS OTTER PALE MALT 3850 g Standard malt
WHEAT MALT 50 g As in wheat beers
CRYSTAL MALT 340 g Toffee sweet
CHOCOLATE MALT LOW 40 g Vanilla / caramel


FUGGLES 20 g Earthy
FIRST GOLD 20 g Smooth, sweet, cinammon


FUGGLES 8 g Earthy
BOBEK 16 g Lemon citrus




Next up is Illustrious Pumpout Ale for my mates narrowboat - will need to be lightly hoppy, floral and grassy, and not too strong. Open to suggestions!!!

(Actually, reality is next up drinkies!!!!)