Newbie beginning All-Grain! Help? Ideas? Suggestions?

[flyguy0313]

Ok guys, first time poster and have only ever brewed one kit extract batch and was disappointed at the limited options and the higher price. So I am jumping in and starting AG! I will be using the following:
10 gallon Home Depot cooler for the MT with a false bottom from Amazon. and a second for the HLT.
-spike brewing 15 gal brew kettle
-220,000 BTU burner
- Duda diesel 30 plate wort chiller
- pond pump for recirculating through the chiller
- ATC refractometer
- BeerSmith 2.0 (though some of the fields are very confusing!)
I plan on kegging and have also purchased the necessary equipment for that as well.
I like a good hoppy IPA, wheats, and some fruit beers.

I'm looking for what would be an easy to start AG recipe. And any suggestions based off of my equipment. I've watched so many YouTube videos and somewhat exhausted by all the options and somewhat overwhelmed! Help!

 

[TasunkaWitko]

My suggestion would be to start with a simple pale ale, American or otherwise. A couple of grains, a simple hops schedule, get the fundamentals down, and go from there.

And if something goes "wrong," don't fret over it too much. In my experience, it is very difficult to out-right ruin a beer. You might not get exactly what you had planned in your head, but you will nearly always get something drinkable - and you will ALWAYS learn something from the experience.

Also, my most heart-felt advice would be to put the engineering books away and simply make some beer. We've been doing this for nearly 10,000 years. Housewives have done it, illiterate farmers have done it, and done it well. Enjoy the process as well as the results.

Some observations from Montana....

Ron

 

[flyguy0313]

Hey Ron! I appreciate the quick reply and advice. I am the type of person that's somewhat OCD and have to plan our everything to the nth degree! But I just have to tell myself to relax and have some fun with it and not take it so seriously! Thanks again! I'll be sure to update y'all with my progress once I assemble everything.

 

[rockymtnbrewer]

I suggest you start with several SMASH (single malt and single hop) recipes. It will give you a chance to get to know your new equipment without complicating things too much.

 

[flyguy0313]

Awesome, thanks rockymtnbrewer. What's a good hop schedule? Should I try dry hopping? What's everyone's take on racking to a secondary?

 

[rockymtnbrewer]

I don't secondary, even when dry hopping.

 

[rockymtnbrewer]

Try a basic 60, 30, 15 hop schedule and see if you like the results. Use your new brew software to get to a desired flavor.

 

[flyguy0313]

Gotcha. In having not done this before I'm unaware of some of the losses such as boil off, empty space at the bottom of the MT, and loss to trub. Any "generic" numbers I could throw in there or historical averages based off of my equipment? I just want to do it right and get a good tasting beer!

 

[EMH5]

My advice is to keep it simple. Mash at 148-150 for 60 min (I heat about 2 gal of water and pour it in to the mash tun so the wall get heated and the MT doesn't lose temp. Then discard the water).

IPAs are very easy to make... it's only more hops. I do a bitter hop, 5/10 min hop, flameout hop and dry hop. That is the schedule that works for me...

@60 1 oz
@5/10 1-2 oz
@ Flameout and hold @170 4 oz

Dry hop in the keg.

Just maintain a steady temp in fermentation and the beer will be great.

 

[kev211]

I second the SMaSH and no to secondary. Unless you're aging over fruit or other its just another way to oxidize or infect your beer. I tend to get about 1 gal of boil off (depending on how vigorous my boil is, could be more) and I find that number tends to be pretty common

 

[rockymtnbrewer]

I use brewersfriend.com. They have several calculators. Boil off typically is about 1/2 - 1 gallon per hour. My trub loss is minimal because I throw everything in the fermenter.

 

[buzd]

Gotcha. In having not done this before I'm unaware of some of the losses such as boil off, empty space at the bottom of the MT, and loss to trub. Any "generic" numbers I could throw in there or historical averages based off of my equipment? I just want to do it right and get a good tasting beer!

I'm in the same boat as you, having just received my mashtun and new kettle. I'm also planning on a few smash runs to see how things go (I like pale ales/IPAs mostly) beersmith seems pretty good at telling you IBU values. I will probably overshoot a bit, as my water is a little alkaline.

For the losses (boil off and empty space), I'm going to do a dry run with just water to get those measurements. Trub loss, figure maybe half a gallon. I know the mash will soak up some water, but I think beersmith takes that into account.

Good luck!