There are multiple ways to brew All grain beer and numerous types of equipment set up. Different systems and brewing methods will vary in the outcome of the calculations for water used. This is a guide to the simple system I use. To get accurate measurement and calculations for a different set ups then adjustments need to be made to volumes and temperatures.
I know this method works and my water is suitable for brewing and gives good results. In the interest of the KISS method. (Keep It Simple Stupid) I don't do the calculations for every brew unless I am doing a really high gravity brew. I don't test for starch conversion or treat my water. I aslo do not test for the gravity of my runnings because I know from experience that for a beer of around 5% to 6% my sparge runnings do not fall below 6%. For your first one or two brews you may wish to do some of these things.
Contents
Equipment used
- HLT: A plastic pail with a domestic immersion heater
- MLT: A converted cooler with a copper manifold and ball valve spigot
- Kettle: A converted keg
- Heat source : A 30,000 BTU propane burner.
Recipe
- Hobgoblin Clone
- 4.80 kg Maris Otter Pale (2 Row) UK
- 0.25 kg Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L
- 0.20 kg Cara-Pils/Dextrine
- 0.15 kg Chocolate Malt
- 45.00 gm Styrian Goldings
- 45.00 gm Fuggles
- Danstar Nottingham Dry Yeast (1 pack)
Method
Preparations
Pre Boil a kettle of water and leave to cool. (For yeast hydration)
Calculations
You need to know several things before brewing. These can be calculated with brewing software, a spread sheet or by hand. You need to know how much water you will need for mashing and sparging. The get this figure I need to know that for a 60 minute boil I will loose wort due to evaporation, hop absorption and kettle dead space. To get 23L in the fermenter I need to start with 30L of wort
For this recipe you have a total grain bill of 5.40kg and with a recommended mash ratio of 2.6l/kg then 14L of mash water will be required. With my system the grain will absorb water and there is some dead space in the mash tun, this comes to around 9L. So the first runnings from my mash will be around 6L. This means I need to sparge with an additional 24L
Set up the brewing equipment
Set up you HLT, MLT and Kettle.
Heat the sparge water
heat 14L of water to 77°C this take me around 30 minutes and gives time to prepare my grain and hops.
Weigh the ingredients
If you weigh and lay out all you ingredients then it's less likely that you will forget a step in the brewing process.
Mashing
Mashing at 68°C for 60 minutes will give the correct temperature and time for the enzymes in the malt to convert the starch to sugar.
- Make sure the manifold is secured correctly
- Make sure the tap is closed
- Make sure the mash water is at the correct temp
- Add the grain to the mash tun
- Add the water to the mash tun and stir to make sure all the grain is wetted, don't forget the corners
- Check the temperature to make sure it is 68°C
- Close the lid and leave for 60 minutes
The time the mash takes can be used to mix a container of sanitiser and rehydrate the yeast
Rehydrate the yeast
Sanitise a glass, add the preboiled water, sprinkle on the yeast, cover with plastic wrap and leave in a warm place until required)
Heat your Sparge water
Heat 24L of water to 77°C Start to heat your sparge water around 30 minutes before the end of the mash.
First runnings
Use a jug to drain off some wort from the mash, return the first few jugfuls back to the mash until the runnings start to come out clearer. Drain all the first runnings into a pail and add to the kettle. In the interest of speeding up your brew day, you may wish to start heating the kettle at this point. If you do then be careful not to heat to vigorously or you'll caramelise the wort
Batch sparging
Depending on the size of you mash tun you will need to add your sparge water in one, two or even three parts. Add the water and stir to mix. leave for 5 to ten minutes, mix again then drain, returning the first few jugfuls to the mash until running clearer. Add to the kettle and repeat.
For your first one or two brews to may want to check that the runnings do not drop to a gravity of less the 1006. This can cause the extraction of tannins from the grain and cause and harsh/astringent off flavour. If the gravity does drop 2 low then stop sparging. You can top the kettle up to the required volume with water or just live with th3 smaller volume.
Boiling
Boiling is done for several reasons.
- To reduce the volume of the wort and concentrate it's sugar contents
- To allow for the addition of bittering and flavouring hops
- To drive of unwanted volatile compounds
- To sanitise the wort.
- To cause proteins to coagulate and improve clarity
