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My first All-Grain but only my second brew!

Post #1 made 15 years ago
by ElPresidente
[MODNOTE: El Presidente's post below was buried in another thread but it deserves a thread of its own. Well done El Presidente! (We hope you don't mind us creating and wording a new thread on your behalf.)]

Well, I ended up needing some help with the sewing, but made the bag, and it worked like a charm. Got out of my first AG brew day at about 74% efficiency, and my guess is that I can get another percent or two by being more patient with the draining/squeezing.

I followed hashie's advice and used the elongated 'D' shape. Yeasty's advice to add some extra bag height was also helpful--my kettle is rather short and wide.

Never thought I'd be doing all grain on my second ever brew--big thumbs up for the Commentary, the Calculator, and the forum. :thumbs:
Last edited by ElPresidente on 08 Mar 2011, 05:43, edited 5 times in total.

Post #2 made 15 years ago
by Yeasty
Nice one Elpres' :clap: amazed that its only your second ever brew and AG :cool:

74% isnt bad for a first attempt, I think someone doing a 3 vessel brew would be happy with that. Hope it turns out to be a good un.

:thumbs:

Y
Why is everyone talking about "Cheese"
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Post #3 made 15 years ago
by hashie
+1 on what Yeasty said, 3v brewers aim for 60 - 65% on their first brew. As a BIABer it's easy to hit 75+

Well done Elpres', great stuff, let us know how it turns out once fermentation has finished.
"It's beer Jim, but not as we know it."

Post #4 made 15 years ago
by PistolPatch
That's a tremendous achievement Elpres. Top job :champ:

Hope you didn't find the process too hard or bewildering. As for your efficiency, this can be measured at varying times. Here are a few averages that have been collected by several brewers...

Efficiency into Kettle (Start of Boil) = 80.4%
End of Boil Efficiency = 78.4% (theoretically this should be the same as the above as a higher gravity should compensate for the lower volume caused by evaporation)
Efficiency into Fermenter = 67.7% (lower than above because you have lost volume due to kettle trub)
Efficiency into Bottles/Kegs = 62.9% (Lower than above because you have lost volume due to fermenter trub)

It's very hard to tell from one brewer to the next, even in the same country, let alone some software packages, what they mean when they say "efficiency" so it's always a good idea to use one of the full terms above.

Great to see this thread.

:clap:
PP
Last edited by PistolPatch on 08 Mar 2011, 16:57, edited 5 times in total.
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Post #5 made 15 years ago
by ElPresidente
Don't mind the new thread at all, although now I really, really want this brew to turn out well :-)

PistolPatch- I really like that the Calculator is precise about end of boil vs. into fermenter vs. brew length, and it makes sense to be precise on efficiencies, also. My "End of Boil Efficiency" was reported as 74.8 on the spreadsheet, but that may be a bit off because I haven't had a chance to really do a proper calibration on my kettle, so I rounded.

Between the Commentary, Calculator, the Forum, "How to Brew" by John Palmer, and lots of Brew Strong podcasts, the process overall made sense. Looking forward to getting the system down and learning from the many, many mistakes I'm sure to make.

Post #6 made 15 years ago
by PistolPatch
I think your brew will be absolutely fine ElPres. A good recipe and a good thermometer is pretty much all you need.

Volume and gravity figures (efficiency figures) are very helpful but should be regarded as indicators not Gods. In this post here, I just uploaded a spreadsheet of several brewers figures. You will see many discrepancies from one brew to the next - just look at the PP ones ;). Figures really are just indicators.

So, ElPres, what beer did you brew?

:peace:
PP
Last edited by PistolPatch on 09 Mar 2011, 20:21, edited 5 times in total.
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