Flinter - New Member from Newfoundland

[Flinter]

As a new member to the forum, I just wanted to say hello to everyone. I am based in Corner Brook, NL and I'm currently in the process of my first All Grain brew. For my first brew I started with something basic, an American Ale.

Recipe
- 8 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row)
- 1 lb Carafoam
- 1 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L
- 1.00 oz Northern Brewer - (Boil 60.0 mins)
- 1.00 tsp Irish Moss - (Boil 10.0 mins)
- 2.00 oz Cascade - (Boil 5.0 mins)
- 1.0 pkg American Ale (Wyeast Labs #1056) (I made a 1.5L starter using this)

OG was - 1.045 (a bit lower than Beersmith tells me it should be so I probably need to work on my mash process a little)
Gravity after Primary was - 1.004 (I think that is pretty good attenuation by the yeast. My efforts on a starter must have worked)

I racked to a secondary today and I was also able to have my first taste. I must say, it is tasting pretty good so far. The caramel malt gives it a slightly darker color than a Blonde Ale and you can definately smell the floral scent from the Hops and taste the associated bitterness.


Looking forward now to tasting the final product.

[sig brew]

Nice I have an aunt in Stephen ville

Sent from my SGH-I337M using Tapatalk

[Lucas]

Welcome! I don't know what number Beersmith uses for mash efficiency by default but it may be pretty high. After a few brews you will get a better idea what your actual mash efficiency is and you can plug it right in to Beersmith. The software gets better as you tweak it to your system, it just takes some time!

Beer looks great, by the way!

[Flinter]

Thanks for the responses!

@sig brew - Stephenville is about 40 minutes away from Corner Brook and I've been there often. I'm hoping to get out that way more this summer and tour around the Port-aux-Port peninsula. Very scenic area.

@Lucas - Good point about some of the default mash efficiency. I also think I may have messed up a little on the sparge process. Since this was my first brew I decided to use batch sparging to make it a little simpler to control. Beersmith indicated I should batch sparge in 2 steps( 1.4gal, 3,4gal) with 168F water. I ran off the 1st runnings from my cooler mash tun and then did the 2 sparge steps, taking additional runnings each time.

Now I am wondering if I should have added the 1st sparge water (1.4 gal) before taking my 1st runnings? Then after 1st runnings, sparge with the 3.4Gal and take second runnings?

[canuck]

Good to see you here, Wayne!

[Lucas]

Usually that process is determined by your system and the amount of liquid that you can actually fit into your mash tun. I personally like to add some hot water to the mash after saccharification before running off any wort. You will see this called "mashout". It is just a fancy name for adding hot water to raise the temperature of the grain bed to approximately 170F (77C) to stop enzymatic activity. For beers with a large grain bill or with multiple prior infusion steps, there is sometimes just not enough room left in my mash tun for me to do a mashout step and I drain before I add my sparge water.

I'm sure everyone's system of lautering and sparging is a little bit different, but the differences it makes are pretty minimal all other things being equal. I know there are quite a number of people on this forum that do full volume mashes and don't sparge at all.

[Flinter]

Good to see you here, Wayne!

Thanks Shane.

I appreciate you making me aware of this forum. Over the past while, I've been reading and learning alot on various brewing forums like this one. It's been great fun learning how to get into AG brewing on a smaller budget. Lots of creative solutions out there.

After getting a taste when racking this first brew, I'm already starting to think of how to build a cheap fermentation temperature control set-up using the junk in my basement.

[Flinter]

Usually that process is determined by your system and the amount of liquid that you can actually fit into your mash tun. I personally like to add some hot water to the mash after saccharification before running off any wort. You will see this called "mashout". It is just a fancy name for adding hot water to raise the temperature of the grain bed to approximately 170F (77C) to stop enzymatic activity. For beers with a large grain bill or with multiple prior infusion steps, there is sometimes just not enough room left in my mash tun for me to do a mashout step and I drain before I add my sparge water.

I'm sure everyone's system of lautering and sparging is a little bit different, but the differences it makes are pretty minimal all other things being equal. I know there are quite a number of people on this forum that do full volume mashes and don't sparge at all.

Thanks for the explaination Lucas.

The next time I brew I''ll follow the mashout process you outlined. As you say, I might not notice a difference, but it makes more sense than what I did on this first brew.

[Flinter]

Bottled my first brew yesterday. Used a cold crash for a couple of days with some gelatin to try and improve clarity. I'm cautiously optimistic.

There's hope yet that I won't poison myself with this hobby.

[Bluefin 774]

Welcome to the Forum from Bluefin in Mount Pearl. That beer looks really clear.

[Flinter]

Welcome to the Forum from Bluefin in Mount Pearl. That beer looks really clear.

Good to see that there are some fellow NL'ers here on the forum. I might touch base some time to ask where you get your malt/hops/brew gear here in NL. I have purchased some things from Brewery Lane via their online "click-a-brew" website. I'm not sure if there are other options here in NL?

I was also very surprised how clear the first brew came out. As I mentioned I just cold crashed it to approx. 35F using ice, added a gelatin/water mixture and let it sit for two days. I just hope that there is still enough suspended yeast for bottle carbonation. I guess I'll find out soon enough.

I did my 2nd brew yesterday, a Kolsch that is happily bubbling away. As you can see I rigged up a cooler bath, aquarium heaters and an Inkbird temperature controller to warm it up to 60F in my basement that's normally around 50F.

[MitchK]

you're lucky to have a basement that cool. It's definitely cheaper to warm wort up than cool it down. I'm sure the beer will still bottle condition just fine gelatin or no - I bottle conditioned 1 gallon of a 6 gallon pilsner batch that I gelatin fined and it turned out right on. Might be a little slower - I wouldn't know as I didn't think to check the bottle conditioned gallon until the keg was empty.

[Flinter]

This week I bottled my second batch of all grain beer. This one is a classic style Kolsch. Overall, it turned out pretty good I think. Looking forward to tasting the final product once it gets carbonated.

As It has taken quite a while to get carbonation in my first brew of American Pale Ale. It's been almost a month and I'm just now starting to get some bubbles.

[Bizlair]

As It has taken quite a while to get carbonation in my first brew of American Pale Ale. It's been almost a month and I'm just now starting to get some bubbles.

Where are you storing your bottles while they condition? That seems like a long time to start getting carbonation. Are they in the 50 degree basement? That would slow it down a lot.

[chalmers]

Looking great, and I agree, the clarity is very nice.

Blair's comment about the temperature is a good one, may be worth bringing a few bottles into a warmer area to speed up the process.

[Flinter]

Looking great, and I agree, the clarity is very nice.

Blair's comment about the temperature is a good one, may be worth bringing a few bottles into a warmer area to speed up the process.

Thanks for the feedback chalmers and Blair.

I have been storing my Pale Ale and the Kolsch on the main floor of the house which is usually in the 68-70F. The Kolsch (no gelatin added) carbonated very well over a couple of weeks. The Pale Ale did eventually get some carbonation but still not ideal. I can only conclude it was the combination of too much gelatin and the cold crash. In any event, I'm still having no problems drinking it.

I'm beginning to drink the Kolsch too now. As you would expect for a traditional Kolsch it is a light bodied beer with a more subtle flavor profile. I think it will make a great summer beer if it lasts that long. Here is the finished product.