Starting my first AG.

[Aethelstan]

Today I will be starting my first AG beer, just a gallon to see if I get can get it right. I will be using some light malted barley and challenger hop pellets to make a basic brew. The few questions I have are about cooling and mashing really and why I should be doing it.

Firstly, the mash. I will be mashing 1.5kg of my own malted barley which I will be crushing today. The mash temperature is important because of they enzymes catalysing the breakdown of starch, but the mash length determines exactly how fermentable those sugars are, yes? The longer it mashes, the more fermentable it becomes, with less malty sweetness?

Secondly, boiling. This is to achieve two results I believe, one is to destroy the enzyme and the other is to sterilise the wort? This is the point you add hops for the bittering compounds too? Is the length of the boil only dependent on your bittering goal?

Thirdly, cooling. I don't have any method to cool my wort. Is this vital, as it only seems to me to be to reduce oxidisation, which if covered is not a big deal?. If it is vital, my one gallon ferementer is plastic, so I could put it in a cool water bath.

Please forgive what must seem basic questions, but I often misinterpret guides and such

[Jim]

Firstly, the mash. I will be mashing 1.5kg of my own malted barley which I will be crushing today. The mash temperature is important because of they enzymes catalysing the breakdown of starch, but the mash length determines exactly how fermentable those sugars are, yes? The longer it mashes, the more fermentable it becomes, with less malty sweetness?

Yes, kind of, but really you want the wort to be correctly balanced - in the region of 75% maltose - 25% dextrins, you need some maltiness to balance the bitterness of the hops. A mash of 1 to 1 1/2 hours at 66C will be fine.

Secondly, boiling. This is to achieve two results I believe, one is to destroy the enzyme and the other is to sterilise the wort? This is the point you add hops for the bittering compounds too? Is the length of the boil only dependent on your bittering goal?

The technicalities of the boil are more complicated than they appear at first. Just make sure you get a rolling boil going for at least an hour and preferably up to 2 hours (I boil for 1 1/2 hours)

Thirdly, cooling. I don't have any method to cool my wort. Is this vital, as it only seems to me to be to reduce oxidisation, which if covered is not a big deal?. If it is vital, my one gallon ferementer is plastic, so I could put it in a cool water bath.

You also get precipitation of 'cold break' proteins, plus you can pitch the yeast sooner (which reduces the chance of infection). A water bath is an acceptable alternative to a proper cooler - that's what I used before I made my counterflow chiller and the beer was fine.

[Aethelstan]

Thanks, Jim. I will go ahead later with the brew