My First Attempts At All Grain
Posted: Mon Dec 10, 2012 7:12 pmI recently tried my hand at all grain brewing. I’m not that interested in whisky so an all grain vodka is my goal.
I am brand new at this, so this is not a “how-to”, rather a record of what I did.
Grain Bill:
20lbs Maris Otter barely malt
8lbs Malt Wheat
4lbs Malt Rye
Target Vol: 48L
I am using my T500 as the hot water source, this is actually on the small side for doing this volume, but I have a work round that lets me use it. I am using a 100qrt ice chest\cooler with a slotted copper manifold as a mash tun.
The Process:
Grind all the grain and put it into the mash tun.
I already have the T500 almost up to temp, so I measure the temp of the grain and plug the numbers into a calculator. I’m trying to hit 65oC so the calculator advises a 74oC water temp (my grain temp was very low from being stored in the cold garage)
I tip in the 30L and give it a good stir and break up any dough balls.
I measure the temp, it’s on the high side, so I stir the thick mash until it hits 65oC.
As I am using all the water my t500 can hold, I also have a pan of boiling water on the stove in case I made a mistake and the temp was low side.
I close up the cooler and cover with a blanket and leave for an hour.
Now what I have done is make quite a thick mash, I put another 22L in the boiler and bring that almost up to the boil.
After the hour has been reached, I open the cooler stir the mash and add another 12L from the boiler. The mash is now at about the consistency you would go for at the start if you had a bigger boiler available. This 12L or so is just replacing the water that the grain has absorbed. I give it a stir until it hits 65oC, and then close it up again for another half hour.
I top up the T500 with another 8L of cold(total of 18L in the boiler) this is heated to just over 70oC. Easily done in the half hour with the 10L of almost boiling water that it already in there.
I drain off all the liquid from the mash tun, then dump the 18L from the boiler in, give it a good stir, Leave it for 10mins then drain that off.
I hope to hit my target of 48L, I did, and the reading was 1.070 ish when cooled to pitching temps.
Most of the above is complicated by the fact I only have a small boiler to use for supplying the hot water. My keg never really smells great, even after cleaning, so I don’t want to use that for this purpose. This is all brand new to me, and I was surprised how easy it was. Yes it is messy and much more work, but I hope to have a few bottles of something special at the end of it.
I’ll be stripping my second 48l wash later this week, and do the spirit run at the weekend.
I am brand new at this, so this is not a “how-to”, rather a record of what I did.
Grain Bill:
20lbs Maris Otter barely malt
8lbs Malt Wheat
4lbs Malt Rye
Target Vol: 48L
I am using my T500 as the hot water source, this is actually on the small side for doing this volume, but I have a work round that lets me use it. I am using a 100qrt ice chest\cooler with a slotted copper manifold as a mash tun.
The Process:
Grind all the grain and put it into the mash tun.
I already have the T500 almost up to temp, so I measure the temp of the grain and plug the numbers into a calculator. I’m trying to hit 65oC so the calculator advises a 74oC water temp (my grain temp was very low from being stored in the cold garage)
I tip in the 30L and give it a good stir and break up any dough balls.
I measure the temp, it’s on the high side, so I stir the thick mash until it hits 65oC.
As I am using all the water my t500 can hold, I also have a pan of boiling water on the stove in case I made a mistake and the temp was low side.
I close up the cooler and cover with a blanket and leave for an hour.
Now what I have done is make quite a thick mash, I put another 22L in the boiler and bring that almost up to the boil.
After the hour has been reached, I open the cooler stir the mash and add another 12L from the boiler. The mash is now at about the consistency you would go for at the start if you had a bigger boiler available. This 12L or so is just replacing the water that the grain has absorbed. I give it a stir until it hits 65oC, and then close it up again for another half hour.
I top up the T500 with another 8L of cold(total of 18L in the boiler) this is heated to just over 70oC. Easily done in the half hour with the 10L of almost boiling water that it already in there.
I drain off all the liquid from the mash tun, then dump the 18L from the boiler in, give it a good stir, Leave it for 10mins then drain that off.
I hope to hit my target of 48L, I did, and the reading was 1.070 ish when cooled to pitching temps.
Most of the above is complicated by the fact I only have a small boiler to use for supplying the hot water. My keg never really smells great, even after cleaning, so I don’t want to use that for this purpose. This is all brand new to me, and I was surprised how easy it was. Yes it is messy and much more work, but I hope to have a few bottles of something special at the end of it.
I’ll be stripping my second 48l wash later this week, and do the spirit run at the weekend.
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