All Grain for beginners

[Classic Brewing Co]

9 minutes ago, Dustin Frothman said:

I'm not trying to convince you of anything, rather just relating a similar circumstance with a slightly different outcome. 

[Malter White]

3 hours ago, Classic Brewing Co said:

I will be bottling my first AG brew tomorrow, an American Pale Ale as I was wondering about the 2l Growler I bought in the Hills last Friday. Has anyone ever used them for home brew & how much sugar did you use for priming ?

I re-call @MUZZYposted a photo of one a little while ago, just curious to hear comments on the success. 50% of the Internet says it's OK & 50% say you can't as they build up pressure.

The Lobethal Bierhaus sell them for $39.95 new & you take the empty back & get it re-filled for $22.00 so I am imagining it should be OK. They are quite heavy glass with a strong swing clip.

Cheers.

 

Philthy Phil, I reused mine as a home brew bottle. I primed it with 4 x CSR sugar cubes which equates to 9g per litre. If I was to do it again I'd reduce the priming rate a bit because the lid blew off like a champagne cork when I opened it. 

[Classic Brewing Co]

1 hour ago, MUZZY said:

Philthy Phil, I reused mine as a home brew bottle. I primed it with 4 x CSR sugar cubes which equates to 9g per litre. If I was to do it again I'd reduce the priming rate a bit because the lid blew off like a champagne cork when I opened it. 

OK thanks the MUZZ, I will adjust my thoughts on this as I don't want a 2l bomb. 

[Pezzza]

@Classic Brewing Co and festive @MUZZY Muzzler - Brewers I certainly agree - that is a champion good sized bottling unit - but yeah as Muzzy points out haha.... prime with care 

I have a few of these beeeeyoooodiful 40 pounder Canadian Ale fellas - see below - a mate got from Canuck-land many years ago full of some fine Ale @ChristinaS1 Christina might recognise them from that land - tho whether they still are a thing these days over there who knows - but I went the extra mile and cleaned them right up - they had been sitting in his shed for like 20+ years and the labels had been well eaten by the East Coast Sydney Cockroaches haha.... anyway tidied them up and adorned them with new clip-seal-cappers I just swapped off some Aldi Flensburger baby bottles - they fit just fine - and off yer go... they have been great when bottling w sealing nicely - and now I do use them if I have a few spare mls in the bottom of the FV I cannot bear to throw out after keg-on-up....  and yeah to date for sure - they carb up just fine. 

Mine are 1125s I believe - like a 40 pounder rum bottle - I use 3 Coopers Carb Lollies in them... and they work out a treat.  It probably was a sort of three pints thing - or three lots of something - 750mls two of 375 - and another?   

Anyway I took a lovely AG Stout up North to a friend at Christmas time and chilled down for a few days in stable fridge up there  -- after taking it up as cold and still as possible also - and it worked out really well - pour pretty much two clean pints with frothy top - with a bit of juice left for the yeast at the bottom...   

Wow look at that - 16.8 deg on the Aldi Pool Thermometer - perfect Secondary Fermentation Temp haha! 

Perfect working Brewery Temp - be great if it was that all year round : )

 

Here we go - evidence of the Big Bottle use - straight out of the IPB Archives - in the good ol' days of AG Bottling - look at that lovely frothy creamy top!?!

And a nice "Parakeet" Hi-Viz Shirt (caught in the reflection) ....while I still had a job 

 

[stquinto]

On 4/8/2022 at 12:53 PM, Shamus O'Sean said:

One suggestion: Start early

I'll add "and sober"

[stquinto]

On 4/9/2022 at 11:52 PM, Classic Brewing Co said:

I have seen posts from some members showing various methods of storing grain & was wondering what else some of you might be using,

I use these blue tubs Phil - not much use to you where you are but you might find something similar. They close up pretty well with the circular metal clasp round the lid.

[Classic Brewing Co]

6 hours ago, stquinto said:

I use these blue tubs Phil - not much use to you where you are but you might find something similar. They close up pretty well with the circular metal clasp round the lid.

They look good, there are similar around, I have a few mates in the hospitality trade & the food grade tubs they get ingredients delivered in are quite often up for grabs, all in various sizes - I may try for some of those for future brewing.

[Shamus O'Sean]

14 hours ago, Classic Brewing Co said:

Has anyone ever used them for home brew & how much sugar did you use for priming ?

Hi Phil, I have not used these, but I do use 1.5 litre Grolsch bottles.  I prime these with 3 teaspoons of sugar and they go well.  For your 2 litre bottle, I would add 4 teaspoons.

The worse case scenario with the growler is that it may not hold pressure.  In that case, you could just re-bottle and re-prime them in smaller bottles.

Worth the experiment in my opinion.

[Classic Brewing Co]

6 hours ago, stquinto said:

I'll add "and sober"

That's a good point Stquinta but I don't start early usually 

[Classic Brewing Co]

9 minutes ago, Shamus O'Sean said:

Hi Phil, I have not used these, but I do use 1.5 litre Grolsch bottles.  I prime these with 3 teaspoons of sugar and they go well.  For your 2 litre bottle, I would add 4 teaspoons.

The worse case scenario with the growler is that it may not hold pressure.  In that case, you could just re-bottle and re-prime them in smaller bottles.

Worth the experiment in my opinion.

Hi Shamus, I appreciate your input, I rang the Brewery yesterday, & spoke to the brewer, he said when they first got the bottles they were tested with different levels of priming sugar & even the ones that were over primed pulled through. Apparently the rubber seal allows oxygen to escape if need be. I have been using both the original 500ml & the new 450ml Grolsch bottles for years & prime them at the rate of 1 x full scoop of the sugar measure (6gms) as I do 750ml Coopers Longnecks, but at times in some brews it needs to be cut back. I will use 4 teaspoons in the 2l Growler & box  & tape it separately to the others & see what happens, Should be no 

[Classic Brewing Co]

Another delivery from Keg Land, man these guys are spot on with delivery, this was ordered Tuesday & I love their prices. The other thing that stands out is there very small/fair freight charges. I will be giving these guys a lot more of my business instead of paying through the nose at some of the LHBS.

[stquinto]

11 hours ago, Classic Brewing Co said:

That's a good point Stquinta but I don't start early usually 

Ahhh.... but it wasn't an "early start" per se - I thought I'd be clever and mill the grain the night before. So I started at 11PM, came across a few "issues", and the rest is a foggy memory 

[Classic Brewing Co]

1 minute ago, stquinto said:

Ahhh.... but it wasn't an "early start" per se - I thought I'd be clever and mill the grain the night before. So I started at 11PM, came across a few "issues", and the rest is a foggy memory 

Mate you are a Hiss Pot it seems, I think some counselling is in order or maybe you are just drinking them too fast 

[stquinto]

4 minutes ago, Classic Brewing Co said:

Mate you are a Hiss Pot it seems, I think some counselling is in order or maybe you are just drinking them too fast 

Sounds like my missus...

Jokes apart, I agree with Shamus in that en early start is best. I've had problems milling: initially I milled whilst waiting for the water to heat to mash temperature, but then everything got messed up when I had to re-mill several times. For the likes of us newcomers to AG I don't think it's a easy to take such problems into our stride so easily. Sor for me, milling the grain the night before and an early start, so you're finished for lunchtime.

With a few brews under my belt it is getting easier and the brew day runs more smoothly.

I would also recommend yeast starters, I'm getting the hang of those now after a few false starts. Especially as I often make high-voltage Belgian brews and they are necessary. My latest Duvel clone used a WLP 570 starter and it went off like the clappers, even only at 16 - 17°C. I've moved to FV to the boiler room at about 23° after a week and it's still going strong.

I'll invest in one of those yeast stir plates, but have to calm down a bit on buying all of this kit. For a hobby meant to be saving you money it sure costs a lot in kit !

 

[Aussiekraut]

38 minutes ago, stquinto said:

Ahhh.... but it wasn't an "early start" per se - I thought I'd be clever and mill the grain the night before. So I started at 11PM, came across a few "issues", and the rest is a foggy memory 

Nothing unusual   

When doing double brews, I start at 6am, so when I am done, I still have a bit of arvo left to enjoy a few cold ones. Because I don't want to wake up the neighbours that early on a Sunday (they'll have enough to cope with when I start playing Black or Death metal when brewing), I mill my grain the day before and also get the brewery fixed up and the kettle filled with my mash water on Saturday. Now rumour has it, that I did all this but woke up in absolute horror at 5am on the Sunday,  thinking I didn't set up the brewery and mill the grains.  So I get up, run outside, just to find a full kettle and a bucket or two full of milled grain. Maybe when filling kegs, cleaning other kegs, sanitising kegs, cleaning fermenters, thoroughly cleaning all equipment and preparing for brew day, I should just skip every other beer  

[Classic Brewing Co]

10 minutes ago, stquinto said:

Sounds like my missus...

Jokes apart, I agree with Shamus in that en early start is best. I've had problems milling: initially I milled whilst waiting for the water to heat to mash temperature, but then everything got messed up when I had to re-mill several times. For the likes of us newcomers to AG I don't think it's a easy to take such problems into our stride so easily. Sor for me, milling the grain the night before and an early start, so you're finished for lunchtime.

With a few brews under my belt it is getting easier and the brew day runs more smoothly.

I would also recommend yeast starters, I'm getting the hang of those now after a few false starts. Especially as I often make high-voltage Belgian brews and they are necessary. My latest Duvel clone used a WLP 570 starter and it went off like the clappers, even only at 16 - 17°C. I've moved to FV to the boiler room at about 23° after a week and it's still going strong.

I'll invest in one of those yeast stir plates, but have to calm down a bit on buying all of this kit. For a hobby meant to be saving you money it sure costs a lot in kit !

 

Yeah mate I understand, I keep putting of AG brew day #2 because I want to get it right this time & keep re-thinking stuff like the best place to brew, equipment I should have etc, even today I received a hop spider, siphon pump, an extra No Chill Cube/tap in a cap.

It will happen this weekend, I need to stop buying stuff & get down to basics & make beer, I know what you mean about a hobby being expensive, the thing is you could just keep going buying stuff but I know it won't improve your beer.

I have tried to make starters & ended up chucking them, I don't even know what a stir plate is or does but I have seen them, After a few brews & as you say things should run smoother, Cheers.

[Classic Brewing Co]

27 minutes ago, Aussiekraut said:

Nothing unusual   

When doing double brews, I start at 6am, so when I am done, I still have a bit of arvo left to enjoy a few cold ones. Because I don't want to wake up the neighbours that early on a Sunday (they'll have enough to cope with when I start playing Black or Death metal when brewing), I mill my grain the day before and also get the brewery fixed up and the kettle filled with my mash water on Saturday. Now rumour has it, that I did all this but woke up in absolute horror at 5am on the Sunday,  thinking I didn't set up the brewery and mill the grains.  So I get up, run outside, just to find a full kettle and a bucket or two full of milled grain. Maybe when filling kegs, cleaning other kegs, sanitising kegs, cleaning fermenters, thoroughly cleaning all equipment and preparing for brew day, I should just skip every other beer  

H'mm... I am thinking as I know you have a Kegerator you don't have a white marker next to it so you can mark down your tally as you go, I don't keg but upon emptying & rinsing extensively I line the bottles up on the sink to give me an idea of consumption, trouble is after you gest sick of looking at them you put them outside & start again.  I knew if I kegged I would have the same problem. 

[stquinto]

1 hour ago, Aussiekraut said:

So I get up, run outside, just to find a full kettle and a bucket or two full of milled grain. Maybe when filling kegs, cleaning other kegs, sanitising kegs, cleaning fermenters, thoroughly cleaning all equipment and preparing for brew day, I should just skip every other beer 

I can imagine that happening to me. I actualy dream about the stuff. I know, I should get out more...

1 hour ago, Classic Brewing Co said:

I line the bottles up on the sink to give me an idea of consumption, trouble is after you gest sick of looking at them you put them outside & start again.  I knew if I kegged I would have the same problem. 

That is one of the problems with kegging - you don't get to see the Butcher's Bill. I got stuck into one of my first kegs of a Strong Belgian Golden (about 8.5°) whilst cooking dinner, I think I had about 3 pints, but couldn't look back at the empties. I was pretty sh*tfaced sitting down for dinner, which went down a treat

 

[Tricky Micky]

On 4/13/2022 at 10:56 PM, Itinerant Peasant said:

Here we go - evidence of the Big Bottle use - straight out of the IPB Archives - in the good ol' days of AG Bottling - look at that lovely frothy creamy top!?!

And a nice "Parakeet" Hi-Viz Shirt (caught in the reflection) ....while I still had a job 

Stop it - hold it right there IP, @Itinerant Peasant, me ol' salt. The Post returns with super sized vessels - That's just filth - beer porn should be banned! Nice shirt by the way IP.

Edited April 14, 2022 by Mickep

[mrchino73]

On 3/29/2022 at 11:49 PM, ozdevil said:

the reason i say dont mash in at 75°c    is you will extract unwanted tanins   in to your brew

Is it really necessary the mash out? Did dome batches withiut it AND with great results....

[ozdevil]

6 hours ago, mrchino73 said:

Is it really necessary the mash out? Did dome batches withiut it AND with great results....

its not necessary    some like doing it some prefer not to worry about it.  you still make beer

[Classic Brewing Co]

Finally AG Brew Day #2 Coopers Sparkling Ale:  por favor @Itinerant Peasant

Just sanitising all equipment, getting sparge water ready, just about to fire up the BrewZilla.

The vessel is slightly high but it's on wheels but I have improvised a step up to the lift the malt pipe & I am 6'2" 

 

[DavidM]

Go Phil, hope it all runs smoothly 

[Tricky Micky]

 

[Classic Brewing Co]

1 hour ago, DavidM said:

Go Phil, hope it all runs smoothly 

Cheers David I just started the boil sneaking a calming Pale Ale in