Welcome to the EGGhead Forum - a great place to visit and packed with tips and EGGspert advice! You can also join the conversation and get more information and amazing kamado recipes by following Big Green Egg to Experience our World of Flavor™ at:
Facebook  |  Twitter  |  Instagram  |  Pinterest  |  Youtube  |  Vimeo
Share your photos by tagging us and using the hashtag #BigGreenEgg.

Want to see how the EGG is made? Click to Watch

OT First all grain:)

Wish I could say i'm not nervous but id be lying.Doing my first all grain this w/e and hoping all goes well.
Doing a "bee cave haus pale ale" that's supposed to be awesome (recipie from homebrewtalk.com)

I just hope I don't screw it up!!

Seemed fitting as a hobby because what compliments egging more than beer right:)

Jamie.



Hows ya gettin' on, me ol ****



Kippens.Newfoundland and Labrador. (Canada).
«1

Comments

  • Eggcelsior
    Eggcelsior Posts: 14,414
    Your yard looks so weird in something other than white.
  • Skiddymarker
    Skiddymarker Posts: 8,522
    Looks like the weather is cooperating for you. Have you tried that burner with a wok? Once you do, you will quit wasting lump - although the downside is there is not much time to consume that fine brew you will have, no beverage time while waiting for the lump to get going. 
    Delta B.C. - Whiskey and steak, because no good story ever started with someone having a salad!
  • gmac
    gmac Posts: 1,814
    It will be fine. Take your time, check temperatures and sanitize like crazy (I'm sure you know all that anyway). I'm doing an Irish Red today. No idea how many batches I've done but there is no reason to worry about anything. Make sure you break up any grain balls. Don't worry about water or mash pH on this one, those things will come layer when you get your process buttoned down. Have fun.
    Mt Elgin Ontario - just a Large.
  • CANMAN1976
    CANMAN1976 Posts: 1,593
    Your yard looks so weird in something other than white.
    I forgot what my yard looked like other than ugly snow white....still a few patches of snow around.
    Figure in a few weeks things will start to green up!! Gotta stain the damn deck too:( 
    But i'm not complaining bout that:)

    Just got the burner Skiddy on crappy tire money never thought about the wok idea ...thanks will give that a try sometime:)
    Hows ya gettin' on, me ol ****



    Kippens.Newfoundland and Labrador. (Canada).
  • CANMAN1976
    CANMAN1976 Posts: 1,593
    gmac said:
    It will be fine. Take your time, check temperatures and sanitize like crazy (I'm sure you know all that anyway). I'm doing an Irish Red today. No idea how many batches I've done but there is no reason to worry about anything. Make sure you break up any grain balls. Don't worry about water or mash pH on this one, those things will come layer when you get your process buttoned down. Have fun.
    Good to hear that gmac.... I was a little concerned with my water being so alkaline and adding gypsum,cacl and some citric acid to bring down the ph but maybe that can all wait like you said.

    Just need to get the starches converted so I hope my ph is good enough to accomplish that much??
    Hows ya gettin' on, me ol ****



    Kippens.Newfoundland and Labrador. (Canada).
  • Griffin
    Griffin Posts: 8,200

    best of luck to ya. I'm sure you will knock it out of the park. I have yet to do a full grain, don't feel like I have reached that level yet. I did do the Northern Brewer's Bourbon Barrel Porter partial extract kit and it is unbelievable. I would have to check my notes, but I think it came out at 9.7%.

    @gmac - I've got an Irish Red that came out wonderful, although we knicknamed it a Texas Redneck. pretty tasty, but it wasn't as red as I wanted and wasn't as clear even with adding some Irish Moss to it. Came out around 4.7% and it would be a nice all day drinker. Gonna have to brew more. Would love to hear your recipe.

    Rowlett, Texas

    Griffin's Grub or you can find me on Facebook

    The Supreme Potentate, Sovereign Commander and Sultan of Wings

     

  • gmac
    gmac Posts: 1,814
    Do you have any way to measure your pH now? I have fairly alkaline water and I don't mess with it much. I do add a bit (5 ml or so) of food grade Phosphoric acid if doing a very light beer. I don't know your recipe but as it says Pale Ale, I would just start with 100 percent tap water. Yes, gypsum can bring out the hops but if you don't know your water test, how do you know what to add? I believe less is better than more when starting out so you don't get overly mineral tasting beers (I'm also a beer judge and you can tell when someone screws around with their water too much).
    Mt Elgin Ontario - just a Large.
  • Griffin
    Griffin Posts: 8,200
    You should be able to get a report on your city's water by either looking it up online or contacting them. The last batch I did, I used bottled water, even though I know our water is fine. Just wanted to see if it made any difference.

    Rowlett, Texas

    Griffin's Grub or you can find me on Facebook

    The Supreme Potentate, Sovereign Commander and Sultan of Wings

     

  • gmac
    gmac Posts: 1,814
    My recipe for a 10 gal batch is: 18 lbs Maris Otter 8 oz C45 8 oz C120 12 oz Roasted barley White labs 004 Irish Ale Irish moss Ferment at 65 to 68 F Mash at 150 for 60 Try cold crashing and then adding gelatin if you want it clearer. Irish Moss is a good start but sometimes it needs some help. Best improvement anyone can make in my opinion is pitching the right amount of yeast and having temp control for fermentation. Yeastcalc or Mr Malty.com are good for yeast rates.
    Mt Elgin Ontario - just a Large.
  • gmac
    gmac Posts: 1,814
    @Griffin‌ if you want red, add more black malt. Not a lot, it just takes a bit of fine tuning. Black makes red.
    Mt Elgin Ontario - just a Large.
  • chays99
    chays99 Posts: 41
    Edwort's Pale Ale is a pretty legendary recipe.  I'm pretty sure it was my very first all grain attempt a few years ago.

    I brewed a rye IPA last weekend and experienced my first stuck sparge.  It was a pain in the butt.  I ended up salvaging it.
  • CANMAN1976
    CANMAN1976 Posts: 1,593
    I do have a water report from the town and from what I can recall (at work now) my Ph is 8.1 and my alkalinity is 160 mg/l. I do have the supporter version of bru n water and it said the gypsum, cacl  and acid additions would help get my mash ph to around 5.4 or so.I was planning on diluting it 50/50 with RO water also.

    Also just noticed some residue inside my glass carboy after soaking it in clori clean all night any ideas on how to get this crap out of the carboy?? Its hard to physically get at the inside of a glass carboy....maybe oxyclean and hot water will remove it if I agitate it enough?


    Hows ya gettin' on, me ol ****



    Kippens.Newfoundland and Labrador. (Canada).
  • gmac
    gmac Posts: 1,814
    edited May 2014
    Depends on what the residue is. If its from hard water, you may find vinegar gets it out. I use PBW for my cleaning which is mostly a souped up version of oxyclean. Go with Bru'n water recs since you have a report. Martin has put a lot of work into his program and it works well. I know my beer could be better if I played around with the water more but I have several gold medals that tell me it's good enough for now. I use a hand held pH meter to check a new grain bill. I'm sure it will turn out great.
    Mt Elgin Ontario - just a Large.
  • CANMAN1976
    CANMAN1976 Posts: 1,593
    gmac said:
    Depends on what the residue is. If its from hard water, you may find vinegar gets it out. I use PBW for my cleaning which is mostly a souped up version of oxyclean. Go with Bru'n water recs since you have a report. Martin has put a lot of work into his program and it works well. I know my beer could be better if I played around with the water more but I have several gold medals that tell me it's good enough for now. I use a hand held pH meter to check a new grain bill. I'm sure it will turn out great.
    Thank's gmac I will let you know how it turns out.Gold medals hey... that's awesome!!I I hope you don't mind if I fire some brewing questions at a fellow egger from time to time?

    Jamie.
    Hows ya gettin' on, me ol ****



    Kippens.Newfoundland and Labrador. (Canada).
  • gmac
    gmac Posts: 1,814
    gmac said:
    Depends on what the residue is. If its from hard water, you may find vinegar gets it out. I use PBW for my cleaning which is mostly a souped up version of oxyclean. Go with Bru'n water recs since you have a report. Martin has put a lot of work into his program and it works well. I know my beer could be better if I played around with the water more but I have several gold medals that tell me it's good enough for now. I use a hand held pH meter to check a new grain bill. I'm sure it will turn out great.
    Thank's gmac I will let you know how it turns out.Gold medals hey... that's awesome!!I I hope you don't mind if I fire some brewing questions at a fellow egger from time to time?

    Jamie.

    Anytime. If you get it done in enough time, the Great Canadian Homebrew Comp is this month. Entries need to be in by the 22nd so it would be pretty tight but its a great way to get honest feedback.
    Mt Elgin Ontario - just a Large.
  • bodski
    bodski Posts: 463
    For what it's worth, there is a new book out that's supposedly very good for someone going from extract to all grain brewing. It's called Home Brew - Beyond the Basics by Mike Karnowski from Man Brewery in Asheville. Ordered it, but haven't read it yet, but it has great reviews.

    Cincinnati

    LBGE, Weber Kettle

  • BREWnQ
    BREWnQ Posts: 219
    I remember finishing my first AG and thinking wow that was really simple I can't believe I was so afraid of making the jump. Did it turn out to be easier then you thought?
    Brewer, BBQer, Softballer, RCer, Father, HomeTheaterer, and trouble maker.
    Orange, CA
  • BREWnQ
    BREWnQ Posts: 219
    Racked my Stone IPA into secondary this evening.
    Brewer, BBQer, Softballer, RCer, Father, HomeTheaterer, and trouble maker.
    Orange, CA
  • CANMAN1976
    CANMAN1976 Posts: 1,593
    BREWnQ said:

    I remember finishing my first AG and thinking wow that was really simple I can't believe I was so afraid of making the jump. Did it turn out to be easier then you thought?

    Will let you know brewnq doing it today .

    Hows ya gettin' on, me ol ****



    Kippens.Newfoundland and Labrador. (Canada).
  • MaskedMarvel
    MaskedMarvel Posts: 3,136
    Could that be Green Man in Asheville?  Delicious.

    Mini mash is where it's at.  Great extraction...  Cheap and very easy.
    B-)
    Large BGE and Medium BGE
    36" Blackstone - Greensboro!


  • horseflesh
    horseflesh Posts: 206
    The extra work required for AG really isn't bad. What can be a chore is the calculations required to find all the right water volumes for the various steps. 

    I have also had a hard time hitting my OG numbers as precisely as I would want. I think the way my LHBS crushes the grain is not optimum. 

    Still, it's easy to make great beer, and at the end of the day who cares if the gravity is off by a couple of points? 

    I find that the end product really does taste better than extract, too, especially in some styles. 

  • CANMAN1976
    CANMAN1976 Posts: 1,593
    In the middle of it now just vorlofing and getting ready for the boil ,smells awesome)
    Hows ya gettin' on, me ol ****



    Kippens.Newfoundland and Labrador. (Canada).
  • CANMAN1976
    CANMAN1976 Posts: 1,593
    All is going well however my pre boil gravity is only 1.030 or so will it increase after the boil? This is lite beer to so I'll check the gravity again before I pitch:)
    Hows ya gettin' on, me ol ****



    Kippens.Newfoundland and Labrador. (Canada).
  • gmac
    gmac Posts: 1,814
    It will increase depends on how rapid your boil is, evaporation rate etc to determine but likely 3 to 5 points at least.  If it's not what you wanted, you can either add DMS (I should have mentioned to have some handy for this eventuality), or boil until you hit your gravity and live with the volume of wort you've got.  

    What yeast are you using?  I'm guessing the chico strait (US-05, WLP001 or WY1056).  It attenuate pretty well so if you don't start at 1.035 or so it's gonna be a pretty lite beer.

    What was the grain bill?

    Best of luck, have fun and RDWHAHB!!!
    Mt Elgin Ontario - just a Large.
  • CANMAN1976
    CANMAN1976 Posts: 1,593
    edited May 2014
    Glad to hear from u Gmac just added my first hop addition to the boil.the grains were 7 lb 2 row,2lb Vienna and 0.5 lb crystal 10. It's supposed to be a light beer in at around 4% I believe.using notingham ale yeast no starter or hydration according to recipie.
    Hows ya gettin' on, me ol ****



    Kippens.Newfoundland and Labrador. (Canada).
  • CANMAN1976
    CANMAN1976 Posts: 1,593
    Love the 15g pot no worries if boil overs:)
    Hows ya gettin' on, me ol ****



    Kippens.Newfoundland and Labrador. (Canada).
  • CANMAN1976
    CANMAN1976 Posts: 1,593
    Started with 6.5 g of wort.
    Hows ya gettin' on, me ol ****



    Kippens.Newfoundland and Labrador. (Canada).
  • CANMAN1976
    CANMAN1976 Posts: 1,593
    Rdwhahb is hard to do on first batch so I hope a store bought will do;)
    Hows ya gettin' on, me ol ****



    Kippens.Newfoundland and Labrador. (Canada).
  • CANMAN1976
    CANMAN1976 Posts: 1,593
    Actually 8 lbs 2 row not. 7 will get post boil gravity soon supposed to be 1.051. It's all a learning experience I guess I'll know to have some dme on hand next time.
    Hows ya gettin' on, me ol ****



    Kippens.Newfoundland and Labrador. (Canada).
  • Little Steven
    Little Steven Posts: 28,817
    Stock it up Cockey in case you have another winter like last. Still in the thirties here.

    Steve 

    Caledon, ON