Simple first AG

[dregs]

Hey all brewers.

I'm preparing for my first Ag, I think I have all the equipment needed and now just choosing an easy first beer.

This is the recipe I thought I'd do, it looks simple enough.




There are some things I'm not quite across at this stage, one being what Beersmith is doing and how particular I have to be in its set up.

see here,



Mash Tun Weight! Does that matter and does it mean the weight of the esky?
What about the Lautering? I don't know what that means. Does it need to be completed?
Top up water for kettle. Do I need top up water?
Boil volume. Is this the figure I should have in the Kettle when the mash has finished?

The Mash



So many methods. This is one I chose, is it ok?
Tun Volume. Is this the minimum size of the container?
Mash Boil temp. Not sure what that means.

Mash steps are clear I think. Add 13.05L of water to 5.00kg of grain at 73.6c to reach a temp of 66c for 60 mins?
Batch sparge options. Which ones?

Please excuse my noob questions, but have to start somewhere and you guys have beer knowlege.

Thanks for looking

dregs

[dregs]

ok, I'm just going to suck it and see, do a bit more reading and brew beer.

[drsmurto]

Set loss to trub and chiller to 0 and add that amount to your target volume.

Weight of tun will affect the thermal properties - just estimate.

Lauter tun dead space is how much liquid is left after you drain the mash/lauter tun. I set mine to 0.

Top up water set to 0

Cooling loss to 0

Boil volume will be calculated automatically based on a few things;
1. your boil of rate which you have set to 9%
2. your boil time
3. loss to trub and viller which you should set to 0 as beersmith doesnt adjust the IBU calcualtions when you adjust this number. The bloke who wrote the program knows this is an issue but doesnt plan on fixing it.
4. cooling loss % - also set to 0.

It will take a few goes to adjust the boil off unless you do a test run first.

Have fun!

Cheers
DrSmurto

[dregs]

Hey thanks Dr,

I just need to chill out and stop worrying about the process, I'll be good when I get one in the can.

Cheers again

[Biernut]

For an APA I would up the magnum to 20gr.

cheers

[drsmurto]

Ooops. missed that.

yes, up your IBUs to at least 30. I aim for 40 for most of my APAs, the golden ale bein gth eexception as its more of an english summer ale than an APA.....

[dregs]

For an APA I would up the magnum to 20gr.

cheers

ah yes, more hops