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Having ummed and erred, fitted and started, defferred and put off all graining for the last three years or so, I finally got up the pluck to make the attempt.

One of the main things that was putting me off was the 23L boil, as I dont have a pot that big, and my electric stove is really not up to the task. In the end the solution was simple - the 11L batch.

First attempt was a Pilsner, recipe as follows:

2Kg Pilsner Malt 3EBC/1.7Lov
28gm Saaz 60 Mins
14gm Saaz 45 mins
14gm Saaz 30 mins
14gm Saaz 15 mins
14gm Saaz Steeped

Saflager W34/70

I Mashed for about 25 mins at 40C and then for a little over an hour at about 65C.

Used a big sheet of Muslin for a manifold and did a sort of batch sparge.

OG 1038 FG 1006. Down 15/10/05, Bottled 28/10/05.

Tasted first one this arvo.

First impression was fairly noticeable chill haze. May have to work on the wort cooling. (Maybe 2 bags of ice in the sink.) Apart from that I was quite pleased with my effort.

If you want to give the All Grain caper a go, don't be afraid have a bash. Truly the hardest part of the process is to leave the mash alone and let it mash away.

Cheers,
Greg.

That is a very large bag of hops for a low gravity half-batch. Did you calculate the IBU?

Nope.

It occured to me later that the hopping rates I had taken were for a partial boil / extract recipe. I also made the mistake of not leaving enough room in the little hop bags I had for the plug to expand right out. So the two mistakes sort of cancel each other out. It certainly didn't taste over hopped.

We brew and learn.

Cheers,
Greg

gregb wrote:
We brew and learn.

Cheers,
Greg

and brew again!

Dry hop that bastard with some Saaz!

Dont worry, the only time when there are too many hops is when the wort wont absorb any more alpha acids.

thehipone wrote:Dont worry, the only time when there are too many hops is when the wort wont absorb any more alpha acids.

good call

top job Greg,

you won't look back! I much prefer the AG's now, do the odd kit brew when I'm in a hurry!

Going to tackle a 40L batch soon, try to get plenty of summer beer on hand, not sure what receipe to use, but will look for/make up a light summer ale. Plenty of wheat might be the go!

grab

congrats Greg, any problems with the muslin as manifold or did it work a treat?

NICK

Hrundi V Bakshi wrote:That is a very large bag of hops for a low gravity half-batch. Did you calculate the IBU?

So I take it that if I were to try that recipe, all of the above hop weights should be halved ?

thanks
yardglass

Probably. I got away with it beacuse my hop bags were too tight and I don't think I got especially good utilisation. If you're using hop pelets I'd say halve, plugs or whole hops maybe 2/3 and use a good size hop bag.

The recipe also used 6 hop plugs - exactly the number that came in the packet.

Of course, as a style Pilsner can't really be too hoppy. The saaz I used was only 4% aa too.

Cheers,
Greg