So all in all things went sorta OK and its been an exciting process. Here's what I did and I'll ask a question or two and hope to hear some helpful comments on my process.
This was basically an attempt at this single infusion mash:
http://www.glutenfreehomebrewing.org/all_grain_brewing_tutorial.php
This is a 1 gal test version of an IPA here:
http://www.glutenfreehomebrewing.org/showrecipe.php?recipeid=141
I omitted the buckwheat.
Same grain bill, total was 2.9 lbs of grains (omitted the buckwheat) as described in recipe + 1 lb of rice hulls. I heated 1 gal water to strike temp, lined the pot with a biab bag, and stirred in half the grains, then the 2nd half. Maybe I made a mistake here but there simply wasn't enough water . I probably need to factor in the rice hulls as "grain" for water calculation. I heated 1/2 gal more water and stirred that in and the water amount looked good based on biab videos I've seen. After about 2 hours in the kettle mashing, I drained the first runnings (squeezed bag) and got a 1.053 sg. I then sparged with about 0.5 gals of 170F water and that running was 1.023. I thought about not adding the second runnings to the first knowing it will reduce my OG but I did anyway and I now have a combined OG of 1.041 and about 1.5g of wort.
I'm now in *session* Pale Ale territory but I'm not too unhappy. The first runinging we're 1.053 which I was jazzed about. I don;t think I will do a sparge next time, doesn't seem worth it.
Another mistake I made was that I forgot to add in amylase until after I added the strike water, so I had to a quick fix: I raised the bag, stirred in the amylase (as well as my gypsum and ph stabilizer). I guess I got focused in too much on the grains.
So the wort tastes really nice. Its sweet but I don't think I got a full conversion as it may be starchy. I'm going to run out to the LHBS and get some iodophor and do a starch test. If it fails, I'm going to raise the temp to a range that is ideal for the amylase and let it sit for an hour and re-test. I don't know if I bungled the conversion due to the amylase not being well stirred into the strike water but I'm hoping I can fix this with a second "mash" step (without the grains).
Later tonight, I'll hopefully continue with the boil and hops additions.
If anyone has any hints or comments, fire away! I am really stoked to have finally done an AG batch and I am really glad that I did a test batch as I would have burned through a lot of grain on this experiment. Now I can to this 2-3 times more and practice and experiment with things!
I'm thinking that should I add some fermentable (candi, turbinado, BRS, etc?) to bump my OG up to the 1.050-1.060 range. I don't want to use sorghum though because I want to taste the millet. I'm thinking turbinado sugar. Anyone have a though on that? Target OG was 1.059.
This was basically an attempt at this single infusion mash:
http://www.glutenfreehomebrewing.org/all_grain_brewing_tutorial.php
This is a 1 gal test version of an IPA here:
http://www.glutenfreehomebrewing.org/showrecipe.php?recipeid=141
I omitted the buckwheat.
Same grain bill, total was 2.9 lbs of grains (omitted the buckwheat) as described in recipe + 1 lb of rice hulls. I heated 1 gal water to strike temp, lined the pot with a biab bag, and stirred in half the grains, then the 2nd half. Maybe I made a mistake here but there simply wasn't enough water . I probably need to factor in the rice hulls as "grain" for water calculation. I heated 1/2 gal more water and stirred that in and the water amount looked good based on biab videos I've seen. After about 2 hours in the kettle mashing, I drained the first runnings (squeezed bag) and got a 1.053 sg. I then sparged with about 0.5 gals of 170F water and that running was 1.023. I thought about not adding the second runnings to the first knowing it will reduce my OG but I did anyway and I now have a combined OG of 1.041 and about 1.5g of wort.
I'm now in *session* Pale Ale territory but I'm not too unhappy. The first runinging we're 1.053 which I was jazzed about. I don;t think I will do a sparge next time, doesn't seem worth it.
Another mistake I made was that I forgot to add in amylase until after I added the strike water, so I had to a quick fix: I raised the bag, stirred in the amylase (as well as my gypsum and ph stabilizer). I guess I got focused in too much on the grains.
So the wort tastes really nice. Its sweet but I don't think I got a full conversion as it may be starchy. I'm going to run out to the LHBS and get some iodophor and do a starch test. If it fails, I'm going to raise the temp to a range that is ideal for the amylase and let it sit for an hour and re-test. I don't know if I bungled the conversion due to the amylase not being well stirred into the strike water but I'm hoping I can fix this with a second "mash" step (without the grains).
Later tonight, I'll hopefully continue with the boil and hops additions.
If anyone has any hints or comments, fire away! I am really stoked to have finally done an AG batch and I am really glad that I did a test batch as I would have burned through a lot of grain on this experiment. Now I can to this 2-3 times more and practice and experiment with things!
I'm thinking that should I add some fermentable (candi, turbinado, BRS, etc?) to bump my OG up to the 1.050-1.060 range. I don't want to use sorghum though because I want to taste the millet. I'm thinking turbinado sugar. Anyone have a though on that? Target OG was 1.059.