First all grain brew observations

[Rosshedley]

Hi Brewers,

Some issues I had with my first all-grain brew, and some observations. Any pointers greatly appreciated.


-Pre-boil SG was only 1.022 (should have been 1.060)

Observation: Need to crush grain more. Also, temp kept dropping below 75 during steeping. Someone suggested I should put pot in oven on low during this phase. Will also have some extract on stand-by during this phase next time, so raise SG if needed.


-Post-boil SG was only 1.024

Observation: The boil didn't reduce down the volume of water (and thus raise SG) as much as intended. Not sure what to do here. Could put lid on pot to try and keep temp higher (I noticed temp was not at 100 whole time) and watch for boil overs.


-Final SG was only 1.019

Observation: This means final alc vol is only 0.7%! I was expecting the yeast to hungrily eat up the little sugar and ferment out to dry. Why did this not happen? It was first time I have ever used only half the yeast (as instructed) instead of full sachet. Maybe the cold weather affected the fermentation. I did notice that there was not the usual scuzz on top of the liquid and on sides on tub, but there was a fair bit of sediment in bottom so something happened. Have added a couple of carbonation drops to each bottle as is my usual process. Will that raise alc vol?


-I only got 4 500ml bottles from this

It was a 1 gallon brew so I expected to get about 8. I had an issue with getting all the liquid into the bottling tub as (manual) siphon stopped and I could not seem to get it flowing again. Also, there was at least one bottle in bottom of bottling tub below tap which I just couldn't get at even at angle. Was thinking I could have just poured this into a measuring jug and transferred to bottle - but would that have added too much oxygen? Maybe I should have tried as it was just thrown away. Marbles is another option.


Kind regards,


Ross

 

[Pkrd]

-Pre-boil SG was only 1.022 (should have been 1.060)

Observation: Need to crush grain more. Also, temp kept dropping below 75 during steeping. Someone suggested I should put pot in oven on low during this phase. Will also have some extract on stand-by during this phase next time, so raise SG if needed.

For all grain you aren't steeping you're mashing. This needs to be around 66°C. 75°C is way too hot and probably why you're getting a low OG.

 

[FatDragon]

75 degrees? Celsius? That's way too high, you denatured the enzymes shortly after mashing in, which explains your low OG and high FG.

Next time, mash at 64-70 - the low end of that range will promote a dry beer and the high end will tend to be sweeter and fuller bodied. It is indeed hard to maintain mash temps with a small volume, but you'll have much better results if you at least target a workable mash temp.

 

[Rosshedley]

Sorry guys I meant I let it steep at 66 degrees Celsius not 75. But useful to know I should try and keep temp below that.

This was recipe:
https://www.beercraftr.com/1-gallon-session-ipa-recipe/

 

[ProblemChild]

Trying to frame this up a little better

1) Mash - what temp and for how long
2) Steep - what did you steep and wat part of the process did the steeping occur?
3) Grain crush - you said it needed to be crushed more. describe what the kernel looked like - how many pieces was it broken into?
4) Pre-boil volume and post boil volume if known.
5) Temperature for pitching yeast - what was the temp of the wort?

 

[Rosshedley]

1) Mash - what temp and for how long

2) Steep - what did you steep and wat part of the process did the steeping occur?


When water reached 69 degrees c I turned off heat, add grain in bag, and let 'steep' (terminology in recipe) at 66 for 75 mins (although temp dropped often so had to keep rising back up to 66 every 15 mins)


'Mashed out' at 76 degrees c for 7 mins.


3) Grain crush - you said it needed to be crushed more. describe what the kernel looked like - how many pieces was it broken into?


Standards pre-crushed grain. Maybe 2-3 pieces.


4) Pre-boil volume and post boil volume if known.

Pre-2 gallons

Post-1.3 gallons


5) Temperature for pitching yeast - what was the temp of the wort?

Between 18-21 degrees c

 

[VirginiaHops1]

Also, there was at least one bottle in bottom of bottling tub below tap which I just couldn't get at even at angle. Was thinking I could have just poured this into a measuring jug and transferred to bottle - but would that have added too much oxygen? Maybe I should have tried as it was just thrown away. Marbles is another option.

This isn't ideal at all and will oxidize the beer, but at the very least you could use this as your first bottle to open to test carbonation. If you're opening/drinking within 1-2 weeks oxidation may not have set in too much. One time when I was bottling my bottling wand clogged, and I had to pull it off and fill the bottles by opening and closing the spigot. Much messier transfer and I was worried about oxidation so I set those 3-4 bottles aside to open first. Still better than wasting it

I do BIAB and I use the oven method to hold my mash temp and it works well. Preheat to 170 and turn it off when I put in the kettle.

 

[EnglishAndy]

Did you adjust your pre-boil gravity for temperature? If not then you might be off by less than you think.

 

[FatDragon]

When water reached 69 degrees c I turned off heat, add grain in bag, and let 'steep' (terminology in recipe) at 66 for 75 mins (although temp dropped often so had to keep rising back up to 66 every 15 mins)

He says 'steep' in the same way that I would tell my neighbor that I 'steep' grain to make beer. It's a non-specialized word that most people will understand. What you're actually doing in all-grain is mashing. The term 'steep' is used in extract brewing when brewers steep grains for flavor and color contributions but not for any significant fermentable sugar like you get from mashing, so it's generally a no-no among brewers to say 'steeping' when you're actually mashing, since it causes confusion.

Did you take your pre-boil gravity sample at the proper temperature? If you really did try to keep your mash around 66C the whole time and you never went significantly over that until the end, you should absolutely have gotten more than 1.022 for your OG. A hydrometer in warm or hot wort will report a significantly lower gravity than it should, so maybe that's your issue.

With one gallon batches, I would probably avoid a bottling bucket with a tap on the side - too much wasted beer in such a small batch. If you get a 4-5 liter water jug, you can drill a hole in the lid, put a little grommet and mount a bottling wand in there (so that the wand stands straight up when the jug is sitting normally on its base), then add your priming sugar to the jug, rack the finished beer on the sugar, put on the lid with the bottling wand, gently turn it upside-down, and then lift the jug from bottle to bottle to fill.

 

[Rosshedley]

Cheers for the information on correct terminology re 'steep' and the tip re oven.

Yes I corrected gravity readings for higher temp so this is confusing indeed.

Will brew again in couple weeks, take notes and report back.

 

[Rosshedley]

FatDragon,

Can you send me a photo of that bottling set up please? It sounds cool but I don't quite follow the description.
Ta!
Ross

 

[balrog]

I agree, that whole bring the mountain to mohamed mounting wand on jug idea is very interesting

 

[ProblemChild]

I would be inclined to believe that the Pre-boil gravity was likely wrong as well - very easy for the sugar and the water to stratify - with the sugar settling at the bottom.

 

[Gnomebrewer]

Congratulations on your first all-grain drink (I won't lie and call it beer)

Regarding the boil, you should easily be able to maintain a boil with that small volume on a stove hot plate. Don't boil with the lid completely on - you might get DMS in your beer (tastes like cooked corn or cabbage; it needs to be driven off with the steam). You can partially put the lid on if it helps, but make sure steam can easily escape.

Also, have you calibrated your thermometer? A dud thermometer has ruined many a brew day.

 

[Rosshedley]

Congratulations on your first all-grain drink (I won't lie and call it beer)

Regarding the boil, you should easily be able to maintain a boil with that small volume on a stove hot plate. Don't boil with the lid completely on - you might get DMS in your beer (tastes like cooked corn or cabbage; it needs to be driven off with the steam). You can partially put the lid on if it helps, but make sure steam can easily escape.

Also, have you calibrated your thermometer? A dud thermometer has ruined many a brew day.

Hmm....freshly boiled water from kettle poured into cup appears as 75 degrees c...that can't be right can it?

 

[FatDragon]

I don't have a picture because I don't actually have a setup like this (I do larger batches), but it would just be a regular plastic water jug with a bottling wand extending out from the lid.