Making first homebrew this weekend...

[twenty02]

Sparging is just rinsing to get all the sugar into the wort. I always thought the BIAB method was just to keep everything in a single pot and you still needed to sparge to get your gravity and volume right. I guess I learned something.

I've done it both ways, as I've said.

@cryano here's what to do next time to get your volume right on, if you want.

Grab a 5g bucket. Heat up a gallon or so of water to 170F. Put your grain bag in the bucket after its finished dripping into your main kettle. Then pour the hot water into the bucket over the grain. Stir the grain around in the water a bit, and let it sit 10 mins.

Then remove grain and add this wort to your main kettle to get your pre-boil volume you want.

 

[cryano]

You'll get stronger beer!

Next time just adjust. I think I typically do 7.5-8G. Haven't done one for a while.....but recall coming up short on volume the first few times.

Good news is all grain is significantly cheaper than extract.

That explains the higher than expected OG...and also why i didnt want to add water for fear of diluting...

I am liking drinking good beers for abt $0.75-$1.00 each over the $12-15 six packs I normally buy. And making them is fun so far too.

 

[hookyIU1990]

That explains the higher than expected OG...and also why i didnt want to add water for fear of diluting...

I am liking drinking good beers for abt $0.75-$1.00 each over the $12-15 six packs I normally buy. And making them is fun so far too.

All grain will cut that cost significantly again.

 

[outside shooter]

I like beer.

 

[cryano]

On a roll right now - have a Imperial Irish Red at 7.7% for St Patricks Day ahead and just over the wknd kegged a 8.4% Wee Heavy, maybe a little late in season for that...

Transferred a dopplebock and a honey brown(the first all grain I made) both abt 5.5% to secondary...ready to drink in 3 weeks...March Madness!

Next purchase will be a chest freezer as I can only hold 2 kegs cold currently

 

[cryano]

So tomorrow(Sunday) I head to the local craft brewery and make my best homebrew on their small batch system.
Pretty cool that my best beer will soon be available to the paying public to decide whether its worth the $5 or not compared to already tested beers.

I don’t get anything out of it - other than a little enjoyment and pride...

The brewery paid for all grains, hops etc...Im intrigued by being a part of the craft brewery process...

 

[cryano]

Or maybe, like, not properly tighten down the OUT post on the keg, and maybe set it to 10-12 PSI for a week and forget it, and maybe after a week try and pull a sample and nothing comes out, and maybe open the keezer to discover your empty keg sitting in 5 gallons of beer....and an empty co2 tank to boot.

Don't do that either.

I think I was too new to understand this - holy shitballs

 

[sglowrider]

I like beer.

I like beer too:

 

[cryano]

Brewed 2 beers last Sat for the first time since spring...

Rye IPA and a typical citrus IPA.

Im not too experienced in tasting or making Rye IPA - but wanted to try a unique taste.

Ive vowed to boycott the $12+ 4 packs for the time being...and instead buying Bells 2Hearted $19/12 pack and my favorite lately has been New Belgium Jucifer, and now their Hop Avenger for $9/6 packs.

I dont mind paying local brewery pint prices, but recently realized $3+ for a canned pint at home is too much...to have that be my norm anyway.

The $68 I spent on brewing these 100 beers will hopefully pay off and be delicious. I also kept them around 6.5% or less purposely...nothing wrong w being able to drink 4-6 beers and still go to work in morning!

 

[cryano]

I've done it both ways, as I've said.

@cryano here's what to do next time to get your volume right on, if you want.

Grab a 5g bucket. Heat up a gallon or so of water to 170F. Put your grain bag in the bucket after its finished dripping into your main kettle. Then pour the hot water into the bucket over the grain. Stir the grain around in the water a bit, and let it sit 10 mins.

Then remove grain and add this wort to your main kettle to get your pre-boil volume you want.

That was a great tip

 

[twenty02]

That was a great tip

Good to hear, I haven't brewed since last winter, but going to do some in the next few weeks.

 

[kkott]

So tomorrow(Sunday) I head to the local craft brewery and make my best homebrew on their small batch system.
Pretty cool that my best beer will soon be available to the paying public to decide whether its worth the $5 or not compared to already tested beers.

I don’t get anything out of it - other than a little enjoyment and pride...

The brewery paid for all grains, hops etc...Im intrigued by being a part of the craft brewery process...

I hadn't seen this originally, and that is pretty cool. Did they let you name it?