making the switch to all grain!!!

Systems, Gear, & DIY
1

i’ve been brewing extract for the past eight or ten months.  i had upgraded my brew kettle to a 10 gallon mega-pot already and was perfectly happy for a few months.

now i’ve got the itch to brew all grain so i have more control over the flavor of the beer and cut the cost of my brewing.  i ordered the 7 lb barley crusher from northern brewer as well as this…

10 gallon AGS

not a sabco i know, but i’m sure it will keep me occupied until i have the resources to upgrade again.

i’m actually more nervous about screwing my beer up now than i was before my first extract batch…

2

you know what they say

RDWHAHB

Fred

3

+1

once you go all grain…you’ll never look back.

4

Plus-you have good gear.  Good bear is good recipe, good sanitation, good procedure, good ingredients, and good gear.  Period.

now make something you like first so you have a reference point.

but seriously!  RDWHAHB

It is a RUSH being within reinheitsgabot and having good beer as a result.

5

Hey Deep,

Welcome to the AG club! That is a great setup! You may decide you don’t need to “upgrade”, and I can assure you, you can make as good a beer with twin Rubbermaids as you can with a BM. Plus, the money saved in gear can go towards more ingredients!  ;D

So . . what’s the plan for the inaugural batch?

6

That looks more like a 5 gallon AGS, but then I tend to brew BIG

Fred

7

I have a Sabco and before I had it I had (have) basically the same Set up you ordered. Guess what? Same beer. I do have a lot more fun with the Sabco and hey, the wife made me get it. Actually she bought it for me as a gift but I made really good beer with the Rubbermaid coolers.

8

i just bought some grains for my first couple batches…

---- Crisp Maris Otter
30 lb
---- Belgian Pale Ale
10 lb
---- Briess Victory
5 lb
---- Briess 2 Row Caramel 10
5 lb
---- Caramel Vienne
5 lb
---- Biscuit
3 lb
---- Special B
2 lb
---- Briess Special Roast Malt
2 lb
---- Aromatic
2 lb
---- Flaked Oats
2 lb
---- Weyermann Cara Munich III ®
1 lb
---- Briess 2 Row Caramel 60
1 lb
---- De-Bittered Black
1 lb

i’ve already collected quite a few hops…

hallertauer
williamette
ekg
fuggles
centennial
chinook
nugget
amarillo
simcoe
warrior
magnum
columbus
pallisades
citra
(one more that i can’t remember the name of that is not common in the states)

yeasts

london ale
ringwood ale
american ale II
us-05
nottingham

can’t wait for my first all grain brew day!  i’m going to do a black ipa.

9

i’m using the following recipe…   (may modify it a bit…)

5 gallon batch

12 lbs Maris Otter
1 lb Crystal 60L
1 lb Carafa Special

1.5 oz Amarillo  - 75 min
1 oz Simcoe  - 60 min
.5 oz Amarillo - 20 min
.5 oz Amarillo - flameout
.5 oz Simcoe - flameout
1 oz Amarillo - dry hop

probably ferment on the us-05 or the american ale.

if i’m feeling crazy, i might put it in an american oak barrel for a couple weeks before i keg it.

i’m open to suggestions of course.

10

I think you have too much Carafa Special.
You should not have more then 5% in you grist.

And of course Happy AG brewing.

11

I think it’s too much, too, but setting a % limit makes no sense to m.  Use as much as your tastes want you to use.

12

I would also cut back on the Carafa unless you want an over the top roastiness to your beer. I calculated your color to be about 30SRM.

13

I do not like to use more then 3 %.

Weyermann recommends 1 - 5 %.
http://www.weyermann.de/eng/produkte.asp?idkat=19&umenue=yes&idmenue=37&sprache=2

14

thanks for the advice guys.  i will cut back on those specialty malts.  probably by at least half and then add maybe four ounces of de-bittered black for color?

15

It all depends on the results you want, though.  I’ve used much more than that for a porter, for example.