Wild Card Ale

[Pantherjon]

Well, I got ambitious today!..LOL..Should have worked on the kegerator, but instead brewed up something to put IN said kegerator!..LMAO..Anyway, I brewed up the 2nd 'mystery' kit I got from Austin Brewing Supply, the Wild Card Ale..No pictures this time around but pretty much the same as for the Magical Mystery Brew, it is an all grain kit, tho this time around there were no DME or other adjuncts to addduring the boil..But, OMG, the grain bill! It was 10lbs of grain!..

So, anyway, basically, heated up my strike water to 170, gradually poured in all 10lbs(at first I didn't think it would all fit in my kettle, but it did), as I stirred to prevent dough balls..Water temp dropped significantly to 150..Which is precisely what the instructions called out for it to be..Then it steeped for 60 minutes..Gave me time to go get a propane tank as I realized that there was no way my stove or induction burner would be able to boil 6 gallons of water(well probably, but I would probably still be at it right now if I had gone that route). So, got the propane tank as I wanted to break in my new BlackStar 2 gas burner!

After steeping for the 60 minutes it was time to drain out the wort..Well, had to do it a little unconventionally as, while my big strainer is big, the 10lbs of grain would overflow, so I drained the grains/wort until the big strainer was pretty full in one kettle and then drained the rest through a smaller strainer into another kettle. I had already pre-heated my sparge water to 175 dgrees and dipping a 1G mixing bowl in that kettle pulled some out and would lauter the grains alternatingly..after the sparge water was gone I let the strainers sit and drain for about 10 minutes to allow as much liquid out as possible then I dumped the grains and cleaned the big strainer..I then took the collected wort in the 2 kettles and ran them through the strainer into my big tall boy kettle and headed outside to fire up the burner..

Surprisingly, after that amount of time the wort was still at 160..Nice..Fired up the burner and waited for the boil..As it was cold and windy out it took a while..A little longer then I thought it would, but then again I am a novice to this burner so had to learn its quirks..But to a boil I did get, and yes, had a boil over..But not much of one..Controlled the heat and dropped it down to a nice rolling boil and then started my 60 minute timer..

 

[Pantherjon]

In the kit were 2 1oz packages of liberty hops..according to the instructions I was to add 1oz @60, 1/2oz@15 and 1/[email protected] later on it says if the kit is all grain to cut the first addition back by .2oz..So that's what I did..I put in .8oz@60, then to use all the hops added .6oz@15 and then .6(actually it was .7 but who's counting? )@5..This go around I placed the hop pellets in muslin bags so I would not have the hop debris in the wort..All the additions went well and the 60 minute boil was then complete..At 15 to go I placed my new wort chiller in to sanitize it in the boiling wort..And it took away the boil..So, amped up the flame a bit and got the boil back fairly quickly...At flame out I opened the faucet and started cooling the wort..

Did a pretty respectable job of it..But it was getting cold out so I brought the kettle inside and put the kettle in an ice bath in the sink..The wort temp was quickly brought down to 80 degrees, and then decided to go get dinner..Made sure kettle cover was on before we left- I know this is a little unconventional as well, we will see if it effected anything - I am thinking probably not..

Came back from dinner and wort temp is down to a nice COOL 60 degrees! Time to pour into fermenter and get the wort nicely aerated! After pouring into fermenter I notice that had hit the 5 gallon mark EXACTLY! Cool! Then it was a pour back and forth between two buckets to get the wort nicely aerated..After about 4 or 5 pours we had a nice frothy wort..Time to pitch the Nottingham yeast, put the lid on and put the airlock in place! Then off it went to my nice 60 degree dark closet to begin fermenting!

I am stoked with this batch..Oh, I failed to mention, my pre-boil OG was at 1.042, pretty dang close to the predicted OG of 1.045! We will see in a few weeks what kind of 'Ale' this is, it looked pretty dark going in the bucket and smelled absolutely wonderful! Keeping my fingers crossed it tastes as well in 4 weeks!

Will keep y'all posted on the progress!..Whee! Another airlock to sniff in the mornings for a while!..LOL

More to come!....

 

[sky4meplease]

After steeping for the 60 minutes it was time to drain out the wort..

I don't think they are steeping grains anymore I think you were mashing.
First all grain?
That's beer!

 

[charliehorse]

First, congratulations on moving to All Grain Brewing! Now, you'll want to do some research on a cooler mash/lauder tun (which is just a cooler with a strainer over the drain). It doesn't have to be fancy (I've seen folks use an stainless undersink connecting tube and cut out the guts) but i'll make your life a lot easier. FWIW, I would recommend at least a 72 quart cooler if you go with a rectangle cooler -- you don't have to use the round one and you can batch sparge (research this too). The whole thing is easier then you think.

That said, now is when you can start using recipes. You'll find brewing is much less expensive with this move. For coming up with your own recipes, I would recommend the book "Designing Great Beer".

One final note that is probably the most important thing you'll hear... resist the temptation to make the Jalapeno Chocolate Rose Pedal Coffee Jelly Bean Lemon Porter. Learn to make a great Porter with a solid recipe so that it is the same every time you brew it, then start making the funky stuff.

 

[sky4meplease]

Just out of curiosity, how many jelly beans go into that?

 

[CJ-3]

I tried a pound of jelly beans in the mash and it was too rich. Then I realized I should gave dry hopped them instead.

 

[Pantherjon]

I don't think they are steeping grains anymore I think you were mashing.
First all grain?
That's beer!

Yeah, I was mashing!..LOL..I sometimes do that, mixing terminology and such...Nope, 2nd ALL grain(1st was a 1G kit), also did a partial(see Magical Mystery Brew)..

 

[Pantherjon]

First, congratulations on moving to All Grain Brewing! Now, you'll want to do some research on a cooler mash/lauder tun (which is just a cooler with a strainer over the drain). It doesn't have to be fancy (I've seen folks use an stainless undersink connecting tube and cut out the guts) but i'll make your life a lot easier. FWIW, I would recommend at least a 72 quart cooler if you go with a rectangle cooler -- you don't have to use the round one and you can batch sparge (research this too). The whole thing is easier then you think.

That said, now is when you can start using recipes. You'll find brewing is much less expensive with this move. For coming up with your own recipes, I would recommend the book "Designing Great Beer".

One final note that is probably the most important thing you'll hear... resist the temptation to make the Jalapeno Chocolate Rose Pedal Coffee Jelly Bean Lemon Porter. Learn to make a great Porter with a solid recipe so that it is the same every time you brew it, then start making the funky stuff.

It Is addicting stuff! The jalepnos, not the jelly beans- I can quit those at any time!LOL..But, am thinking of getting mash/lauter tun..I already have a 75QT wheeled cooler that isn't doing anything that I can modify to suit that purpose- it will just take a pretty thorough cleaning as it has been sitting outside for like 4 months now..LOL Maybe better to just spend the $50(maybe like this one?) and get a brand new one..For the time being tho, I am going to slog through all these 'kits' that I have acquired..Probably make slight mods here and there, but will consult with the sages here to make sure those mods make sense and wont make the beer unpalatable..Thanks for the comments!

 

[Pantherjon]

I tried a pound of jelly beans in the mash and it was too rich. Then I realized I should gave dry hopped them instead.

And here I thought jelly beans were to be forward hopped??

 

[sky4meplease]

I am going to assume the jelly beans shouldn't be put through the grain mill.

 

[charliehorse]

But, am thinking of getting mash/lauter tun..I already have a 75QT wheeled cooler that isn't doing anything that I can modify to suit that purpose- it will just take a pretty thorough cleaning as it has been sitting outside for like 4 months now..LOL Maybe better to just spend the $50(maybe like this one?) and get a brand new one..

That would indeed allow you to make the big beers. Take your time when you're making stuff. For many of us, it's as much the process as it is the end product (which is why we don't mind sharing our beer with non-brewers).

 

[kh54s10]

Another option, and what you really did with this batch, is BIAB. (you had everything except the bag!) If you had the bag you would just pull it out of the wort after the mash was done and let it drain.

Many brewers do this as their normal procedure and never go to a traditional setup including a mash tun.

 

[charliehorse]

BIAB works well but I found it to be a PIA to get the bag up out of the liquid and sparge it.

 

[m00ps]

BIAB works well but I found it to be a PIA to get the bag up out of the liquid and sparge it.

what size batches you doing? Im a measly 150lbs at most and I have no issue sparging and holding the bag if I get a small stepstool for a 5gal batch

 

[charliehorse]

It was a 5 gallon batch but with a single kettle, so the first runnings has to go someplace while we heated water for sparging. It was like juggling cats.

 

[Pantherjon]

Another option, and what you really did with this batch, is BIAB. (you had everything except the bag!) If you had the bag you would just pull it out of the wort after the mash was done and let it drain.

Many brewers do this as their normal procedure and never go to a traditional setup including a mash tun.

I was originally going to do BIAB on this beer, but I 'chickened out' because I didn't think the muslin bag I had would hold up to the 10lbs of grains..However the next day I looked at the bag closer and I am pretty sure it would have handled it..Like I said I chickened out, fearing the bag would rip or something when I went to remove it from the kettle..All in all tho, it turned out pretty well, getting so close to the predicted OG and hitting the 5 gallon mark post boil!