Need help understanding all grain brewing

[luker8t5]

Hi everyone. I'm new to this forum and also new to all grain brewing.

I've made a couple already using the BIAB method and they have turned out okay. But what I really need to understand is the science behind it in layman's terms, I.e as simple as can be explained. The brews I've made have had no real recipe and this is what I need to know to make my brews more unique.

First of all, what does Max usage mean on my bags of grain?

How do I calculate how much grain I need for my batches. I'm currently brewing with an 11 litre pan but I like my brews strong so I would always aim for no less than an 8% beer and more abv if possible.

I understand about mash temps etc. And how a lower mash temp would result in more fermentable sugars etc.. but a bit more information would be essential. Again if you could explain in layman's terms that would be great.

Also, efficiency. How do I work out efficency? And what does it mean exactly?

Any simple explanations would be advantageous to me because I struggle understanding the advanced brewer talk in these forums so thought it be best to sign up and take information from more advanced brewers.

The type of beers I want to brew are those found in say the craft beer world. Imperial stouts, double IPAs. And eventually I want to brew a beer using brettanonmyces.

I hope you all can help me out.

Just to give you an understanding of the beers I've brewed, todays beer was a Belgian pale ale.

I used

1.5kg of belgian pale malt
0.5kg of cara red

That's all I had left so it sure how it will turn out.

Mashed at around 150f for 75 mins

Boiled for one hour adding hops twice.

And my og before yeast was 1.100

I want my beers to be more professional and I can only achieve this by knowing more and making less experiments

 

[Burquebrewer]

Realistically, the science behind all grain brewing and recipe formulation are so much more than one could realistically share with you on this thread. Id suggest getting a copy of Palmer's "How to brew" or Papazian's "Complete Joy of Homebrewing"

These will give you countless hours of reading enjoyment as well as the vast knowledge you seek. Afterward, come back here and continue obsessing!

 

[NSMikeD]

Realistically, the science behind all grain brewing and recipe formulation are so much more than one could realistically share with you on this thread. Id suggest getting a copy of Palmer's "How to brew" or Papazian's "Complete Joy of Homebrewing"

These will give you countless hours of reading enjoyment as well as the vast knowledge you seek. Afterward, come back here and continue obsessing!

+1

There are many blogs (a number from regular posters on this site ) that have excellent answers to your questions. i started by using BIABacus and the process of trying to fill in a recipe helped answer a lot of questions. I moved over to BeerSmith and came across there resource library and i found that very helpful, and

this site comes up time and time again when I plug in a topic or question into google. loved the threads here for information

 

[Scout]

I have a feeling you won't be making fewer experiments, just better educated ones.

 

[SirSpectre]

+2 on How to Brew by John Palmer. Great book.

Also pick up a copy of BeerSmith. That will give you what you need to start playing with recipes and getting your equipment setup.

Also 1.100 for a Pale is WAY too high. You are in Barely wine level there. -- But reading it again... 2kg of grain will never get you that high, unless its like a half gallon batch. How are you measuring? Maybe you mean 1.01?

Edit: Also to make your beers more clean and "professional," you are talking about perfect control of all aspects. Water (ish), mash control, temp control, fermentation temperatures, Yeast pitch rates etc. Start slow, don't barge in. Its very easy to get overwhelmed and quit. Start controlling 1 aspect at a time. Master it and learn what it can do to improve your beer.

Example: I started out just using BeerSmith and throwing stuff in, aiming for a mash temp and not caring about anything else. Then I improved equipment a bit to get better efficiency. Then started better yeast control and pitch rates, then moved on to fermentation temp control. Now I did perfect mash control, and now I am dabbling in water profiles. My most recent batch when I controlled everything was the best I have ever done. I've done this over the course of 2 years. It takes time!

 

[WarEagleBrewer]

If you have made "ok" beers, then you are on the right track. Read the aforementioned books, but more importantly, don't get easily frustrated. It takes a little while to dial in your methods to (perfection?). The two best recommendations I can make are 1 - don't try to develop your own recipes until you have brewed ALOT of other people's successful recipes (or kits). 2 - Fermentation temperature is (in my opinion) the NUMBER 1 variable in brewing that you should pay closest attention to. It is the difference between good and great beer. Sanitization is also key. Make friends with a big bottle of Star-San and a cheap spray bottle. To answer one of your questions, efficiency is simply the amount of sugar you were able to extract from a given amount of grain. The more sugar you can extract/lb, the better your efficiency. GET BEERSMITH! It is worth every penny and will be your friend for a long, long time!

 

[meridianomrebel]

Lots of questions. I agree that reading Palmer's book would be very helpful to ya. But, to try to answer some of your questions:

Efficiency:
An easy way to think about efficiency is that it is how much fermentables you were able to extract from your grains and convert into sugar into your wort. So, going by the grain bill you listed (and assuming you're going for a 1 gallon batch since you said you're aiming for a OG of 1.10), you'd look at somewhere around a 1.115 OG with a 72% efficiency. With a 60% efficiency, your OG will move to 1.096, and a 80% efficiency will give you 1.128.

Calculating Recipes:
Like others have mentioned, Beersmith is a great tool for building your own recipes. However, I would recommend you starting off using some 1 gallon kits to start off, and get several batches under your belt so you're more comfortable with the process before you start to build your own recipes.

Mash Temperatures:
Instead of typing up a poorly worded explanation, I think reading this would be more helpful to ya: http://beersmith.com/blog/2012/12/20/mash-temperature-and-beer-body-in-all-grain-brewing/

Calculating Efficiency:
There are quite a few online efficiency calculators available, as well as using applications such as Beersmith. A really good online tool that I would recommend for you would be this here:https://pricelessbrewing.github.io/BiabCalc/

Again, I recommend starting off by using kits already available. This will allow you to get experience with some great kits, as well as to help you understand and recognize any issues with your current process. Also, reading Palmer's book would be highly educational and help explain what is happening during each step in brewing.

Prost!

 

[electrolight]

I'll take a stab...

"Hi everyone. I'm new to this forum and also new to all grain brewing.

I've made a couple already using the BIAB method and they have turned out okay. But what I really need to understand is the science behind it in layman's terms, I.e as simple as can be explained. The brews I've made have had no real recipe and this is what I need to know to make my brews more unique.

First of all, what does Max usage mean on my bags of grain?"

- No idea what you are refering to.

"How do I calculate how much grain I need for my batches. I'm currently brewing with an 11 litre pan but I like my brews strong so I would always aim for no less than an 8% beer and more abv if possible."

- This depends on the recipe but it scales linearly. A 5 gallon batch needs 10 lbs of grain? Then a 1 gallon batch needs 2 lbs of grain. etc.

"I understand about mash temps etc. And how a lower mash temp would result in more fermentable sugars etc.. but a bit more information would be essential. Again if you could explain in layman's terms that would be great."

- The ideal mash temperatures vary from grain to grain. But it's not something I would stress about. You are trying to get sugars out of the crushed grain when you mash. Yeast loves sugar.

"Also, efficiency. How do I work out efficency? And what does it mean exactly?"

- Efficiency is calculated by knowing exactly how much sugar a certain grain variety holds. Then you can estimate under ideal perfect conditions where you mash with lab grade equipment that you will achieve 100%. So if a 10lbs of grain gives you 5 gallons of grain at 1.080 and that's 100%. But with the same 10lbs of grain you only hit 1.065... then you are at 75% efficiency. Easiest fix? Buy more grain. Best fix? Learn more about the brewing process and your equipment and see what tweaks can get you that much more.

"Any simple explanations would be advantageous to me because I struggle understanding the advanced brewer talk in these forums so thought it be best to sign up and take information from more advanced brewers."

- Yeah, the advanced brewer talk can be frustrating. Simplest way is to have two tabs open. The one you're reading and another for searching a new term you come accross. It's slow and tedious but you'll get there.

"The type of beers I want to brew are those found in say the craft beer world. Imperial stouts, double IPAs. And eventually I want to brew a beer using brettanonmyces."

- Craft beer is an annoying term. There have always been "craft" beers roaming around. People are just attracted to beer again since the 90's. I guess we're coming to our senses again... But thinking about the US's election... maybe not...

"I hope you all can help me out."

- Hoped this helped a bit.

"Just to give you an understanding of the beers I've brewed, todays beer was a Belgian pale ale.

I used

1.5kg of belgian pale malt
0.5kg of cara red

That's all I had left so it sure how it will turn out.

Mashed at around 150f for 75 mins

Boiled for one hour adding hops twice.

And my og before yeast was 1.100

I want my beers to be more professional and I can only achieve this by knowing more and making less experiments"

- That's not a pale ale! lol. But if it makes you happy. In my experience a beer hitting numbers like this will benefit alot from pitching lots of "awake" yeast and fermenting for months. So be patient.