Mash-Where do I begin?

[Bricey]

I want to start making Full and Partial mash beers, but I have one small problem. I dont know what I need, or where to begin learning.

Some of the questions I have are: How much water do you use for a boil? How to you keep the temp constant?

I am kinda getting bored with the old kit brews. Dont get me wrong, the beer is great, but I need to challange myself further.

Any tips on where to go from here?

[Merlin]

Hey Bricey,

There's a great link from this site to a guy in Perths page describing his home-made (natch!) all grain homebrewing setup that may give you some ideas. Check it out: http://users.bigpond.net.au/RBI/About%20Homebrew.htm . His recipes and homebrew log also make for good reading.

Cheers

Merlin

[NRB]

Another great page is Paul Sorenson's.

http://brewiki.org/

Alternatively, point your browser at http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com for a forum that has a lot of AG's on it. The search function on that site will provide you with a mountain of information!

[munkey]

thase links are great but i made the jump from kits to all grain with only a big pan (19leaters) some iodine (starch test), and a towel to rap it in to insulate it when the mash temp is reached. just do a plan i just made a plan of what i needed to do to actualy mash , then i figured out the simplest way of doing it. i will upgrade my kit and fancyfi my prosess to streamline it if i find im comftable mashing, its just a bit more effort but not a lot more if you use your head.

i would say personaly that planning was the key and knowing what your doing when your doing it and why.

[NRB]

I agree with your thoughts Munkey, but have a different approach.

For me it was about building a setup once and once only. To me buying the cheap setup and then replacing later is going backwards. Bite the bullet and do it once.

I originally only wanted to make a maximum of 2 mash/lauter tuns, 1 kettle and one HLT. The reason for possibly having 2 MLTs is I wasn't sure (and still aren't) whether I'd need a MLT capable of increasing temps without infusing more water volume.

Sure a 19L pot is able to prepare a nice partial, but it's not big enough to handle an average AG brew.

Just my 2c!

[munkey]

iv just started doing full mash myself but i can say that i got an sg of 1.040 in 25L from 3kg og grain.

so im happy with th 19L pan setup and it cost a fraction of a proper mash tun.
but i agree it is going backwards but a large pan is always usfull and im in the prosess of making a propper mash bin for doing the full 25L at onse. just testing the water so to speek but i could see how someone could be put off form going all grain by the exspense of the kit, and when the same is achevable by very little extra exspense it seams a shame not to try it out.

i had loads of fun doing everything in the pan and being in control of the whole prosess 100% of the time, quite libarating.. (god im sad) lol.

but yeh same advise as before find out what has to be done when it has to be done and why, and you cart fail.

[thehipone]

Definitely build it right the first time. Consider batch sparging and the stainless steel braid style mash tun. Incredibly easy to build, easier to operate since you don't have to worry about channeling as you would with fly sparging.
And honestly, a copper tubing cooler is an absolute must. A tub of ice water may seem like it works ok, but you will eventually get that magic combinatioin of ingredients that when cooled slowly turn into cooked corn flavors, and it doesnt go away.


On a side note,
No way you got 1.040 in 25L from 3 kg. Thats over 100% efficiency.

[db]

i like the look of this starter kit:

http://www.esbeer.com.au/category32_1.htm

ufortunatly i don't have the space to go AG at the mo

[Dogger Dan]

If anyone can get 1.040 out of 3 kilos of grain over 25 L, may I suggest a trade involving fish and bread and the second coming.

That is some high end malt

Dogger

[munkey]

seriously thats what i wrote in my brewing book. i have no reasen to lie, as its not going to get more alcohol in my brew, its possible i could have miss wayed the ingrideants but im fairly shure,
the recipy was:-
3kg mars otter
150g crystal
150g buicuit
fuggles and goldings

i mashed and then sparged to 19 leters. boiled then cooled to 22degrees.
took the hydrometer reading after id topped up to 25 and it came out at 1.040 seriously.
there could be an explanation for this, if there is i would like to know cos it will obviously through my calculation off a long way.

oh and i forgott to add i had a copper pipe cooler also.

i agree that you should do it all proporly the first time and i will i was just making the other end of the picture clear that you dont need all the fancy gear to do full mash.
and you can get your feet wet for a fraction of the cost.

infact you could probably do a full mash wits stuff you can find in the kitchen and at no extra cost to the equiptment you have for kit brewing.

i think home brew is as exspensive as you make it and equaly its as hard as you want to make it (price usaly goes up as it gets easyer) but i find it a challenge.. ye`oldy brewers of old never had fancy equiptment and they perfected styles that are set in stone and the staple of most, probably all home brewers.

if you are sensible and able to adapt things to suit your needs then anybeer is possible with the minimal af exspense its all down to the brewer in the end..

[munkey]

sorry my mistake .... just realised that the fermenter i used for the fullmash is marked in gallons and not leters like my other ones. so the total volume worked out around 18/19L and not 25L like i said.
i usaly use ones marked in leters but i carnt fit the copper cooler in thease ones so i used this one insted

[Bricey]

Thanks for all the help guys...the websites and advice have been invaluable.

One thing that i have learned so far is that thier so now set way to do it. I can be as individual as I can so long as i follow the principles and the recipe.

Im gunna try a heineken clone at the weekend, I'll let you all know how it turns out.

[NRB]

Good luck Bricey. Let us know how it turns out!

munkey: if you topped up the fermenter, it's possible it wasn't completely mixed and you grabbed a sample that was a little more concentrated than what it would've levelled out at. A mate of mine made up a Cooper's Bavarian Lager using 1kg BE1 and 500g DME. He claimed it had an OG of 1059 and the final product (FG 1009) having 7.5%ABV I still disagree wtih him to this day, claiming it wasn't mixed thoroughly!

[Dogger Dan]

NRB,

I am willing to put dollars against doughnuts that your winger didn't correct the temp to 60 deg F

Dogger

[NRB]

It's possible Dan, but knowing my mate I doubt it. I still vote1 mixing problems.

[Dogger Dan]

Fair Enough

It's always a thought

Dogger