How to brew your own beer - The All Grain method

Oooh, yeah, would be great to have you back in this thread Ahleckz. You'd be proud of us, we just bottled an all grain Dark Cascadian/Dark IPA. We used a load of chinook, simcoe and cascade. Still probably not as hoppy as you'd go for, but at 6.1% one of the stronger brews we've done.
Hoping to brew a wit at the weekend, but think I'll get a liquid yeast in for that, but they're so expensive compared to dry. I know I could do a small brew to culture up a few starters to re-use the yeast, but to be honest we'd only really do one wit a year for the summer.
 
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OK, so we've just bottled two all grain brews. After quality control sampling each :D we've ended up with 38 bottles of Mysterios Serra Nevada clone at about 6.2%, and 40 bottles of a wit beer. We didn't get hydrometer readings of the wit. Used a liquid wit yeast for this one, and so far pleased with the results. Looking forward to it carbonating, and having a nice cold wit. Yum.
All our fermenters are empty, so need to get another kit or two on the go to barrel. With MrsSeabioscuit recently starting a new job, we're doing intersting all-grain to bottle, and kits for general consumption/barrelling.
 
seabiscuit said:
OK, so we've just bottled two all grain brews. After quality control sampling each :D we've ended up with 38 bottles of Mysterios Sierra Nevada clone at about 6.2%, and 40 bottles of a wit beer. We didn't get hydrometer readings of the wit. WE Used a liquid wit yeast for this one, and so far pleased with the results. Looking forward to it carbonating, and having a nice cold wit. Yum.
All our fermenters are empty, so need to get another kit or two on the go INTO barrel. With Mrs Seabiscuit recently starting a new job, we're doing interesting all-grain to bottle, and kits for general consumption/barrelling.
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Corrected for your convenience :mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:
 
Here is a couple of useful things i ran into recently that i thought might be useful to add to the thread.

Those using Buffalo boilers, or similar, might want to read this as it might be the solution to preventing crud build up on the hidden element area during the boil; this might not just solve for cut out issues but could mean that high gravity beers become much easier and remove any need for using a stainless steel scrubber to keep the area clean during the boil.

Also the for those using or thinking about a fermentation fridge, the STC1000+ project (enables a bunch of new features, including programmable ramp programs) has tracked down the original source of the STC1000's; no more buying a random unit to see if that batch came with a compatible clone or paying massively over the odds for a guaranteed compatible board.
There is a link to the original manufacturer in the hardware section of the main Github page and they are very competitively priced (just make sure you order the correct voltage one).

:D
 
f00b4r said:
Also the for those using or thinking about a fermentation fridge, the STC1000+ project (enables a bunch of new features, including programmable ramp programs) has tracked down the original source of the STC1000's; no more buying a random unit to see if that batch came with a compatible clone or paying massively over the odds for a guaranteed compatible board.
There is a link to the original manufacturer in the hardware section of the main Github page and they are very competitively priced (just make sure you order the correct voltage one).

:D
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Thank's that's really handy.
 
Some good news on the shiny front :D

One of the forums i frequent is thehomebrewforum.co.uk, who have recently being reaching out to those in the home brew industry and running a load of giveaways, none of which I won, however they also managed to setup Grainfather trials. Long story short but they are sending one this Friday and as soon as i empty my fermentation fridge I will be putting it through its paces for a couple of weeks.
I am really looking forward to seeing what it can do and if it ends up being worth the move from a Buffalo.
 
So how did you find it to brew in F00bar? Does the convenience justify the cost? Does it take much control away from you, or does it give you more control?


We'll probably be resurrecting this thread over the next few weeks as got a few brews planned. We've just come back from a short holliday in Cornwall, where we went to St Austells brewery in St Austell (not sure how they came up with the name). While we were on the tour, Nick Orton the brilliant tour guide asked if anyone did any home brewing, and when we said we did he suggested we came back later or the next day with a couple of thermos flasks which he arranged with the brewing staff to fill with their yeast. So we've got to do a couple of brews to make that up, and then in a week or two we should be at the time to harvest our Cascade hops to do another green hopped beer or two. So be forewarned of us spamming this thread ;) :D
 
seabiscuit said:
So how did you find it to brew in F00bar? Does the convenience justify the cost? Does it take much control away from you, or does it give you more control?


We'll probably be resurrecting this thread over the next few weeks as got a few brews planned. We've just come back from a short holliday in Cornwall, where we went to St Austells brewery in St Austell (not sure how they came up with the name). While we were on the tour, Nick Orton the brilliant tour guide asked if anyone did any home brewing, and when we said we did he suggested we came back later or the next day with a couple of thermos flasks which he arranged with the brewing staff to fill with their yeast. So we've got to do a couple of brews to make that up, and then in a week or two we should be at the time to harvest our Cascade hops to do another green hopped beer or two. So be forewarned of us spamming this thread ;) :D
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I have heard the St Austell's tour is really good and great they give your yeast, although it is meant to be pretty neutral.
I did really like the Grainfather and you can see my feedback on it here. I would definitely get one if I hadn't just sorted out my BIAB setup but I want to go back and brew a couple more brews BIAB and see if it really makes much of a difference.
To be honest I have no issues with automating some of the process to allow me to concentrate on other parts but the Grainfather does not seem to go anywhere near what the Braumeister does (am looking to trial this as well :D ) and it does require you to manually intervene at all the steps.
I think you would notice a lot more difference if going from 3 vessel and it is pretty easy on the clean up.
The counterflow chiller when mixed with the recirculation is awesome though :D

I think I am going to see what the Braumeister is like then decide whether to change my setup, the Grainfather is not that expensive, especially as i should recover some money from my BIAB setup if I change it.
I like the idea of being able to do the much higher gravity beers without worrying it may cut out but then again I think that I can still mash in my Buffalo and boil on the stovetop in 1 or 2 pots if necessary for those rare times and use the money to get a kegerator up and running (I like bottles but am beginning to see kegging as more attractive for time and convenience). Either way I will probably end up spending money :p

Got some nice beers fermenting/conditioning at the moment (Son Of Punkie IPA / Old Bernard bitter / Brulosopher's Munich Helles) with grain for another 4 batches lined up so will probably join in any bottle swap if it keeps going).

One thing I would say about the Grainfather though is it is insanely efficient, my first brew ended up being 1.060 rather than 1.050 because I used the Grainfather's own online calculator, which seems to assume a lot lower efficiency than you really get.
 
So we bottled one beer last night that we'd made with the St Austells yeast. Inspired by Theakstons Rivers Answer, although not as smokey as that, we used Lapsang Suchong tea to give a hint of smoke to the brew. While they use oranges, we used Amarillo to give a citrus orange hint to it. So basically kind of a diet version of their brew, but as there's can be a bit of a shock (or at least it was to us), this is maybe more easy drinking.
 
seabiscuit said:
So we bottled one beer last night that we'd made with the St Austells yeast. Inspired by Theakstons Rivers Answer, although not as smokey as that, we used Lapsang Suchong tea to give a hint of smoke to the brew. While they use oranges, we used Amarillo to give a citrus orange hint to it. So basically kind of a diet version of their brew, but as there's can be a bit of a shock (or at least it was to us), this is maybe more easy drinking.
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That sounds like an interesting beer you have made, might have to get the Theakstons version to see what it is like. I always liked the idea of using smoked malts but when i had a Rauchbier it was so overpowering it put me off them a bit, that said Brew UK have cherry smoked malt that sounds interesting. :D
 
So we bottled 42 bottles of our first batch of green hopped beer yesterday. Very hoppy and fruity taste. Hopefully bottle our second one over the next couple of days. The second one used even more of our green cascade hops.
 
seabiscuit said:
So we bottled 42 bottles of our first batch of green hopped beer yesterday. Very hoppy and fruity taste. Hopefully bottle our second one over the next couple of days. The second one used even more of our green cascade hops.
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How does it compares to using dried hops, is it noticeable different in aroma or taste?

Btw did a side by side taste test with a few people of the Son of Punkie IPA and the Brewdog original and it is as close as dammit and I will definitely be brewing this again, especially as I picked up 500g bags of all but one of the hops dirt cheap from someone who bought and split 5kg bales.
The Munich Heller is pretty good as well, although I screwed up the carbonation a bit, forgot to give it a good stir in the bottling bucket and the sugar solution wasn't mixed properly so it is a bit undercarbonated.
 
UK Cascade are milder than US Cascade, so it's maybe fruitier but not as much bittering. But that might also be that we didn't use them as bittering hops because they're an unknown AA content. This years crop didn't seem to have as much aroma as the last couple of years. Because they're not dried, you need to use a much larger weight of them in comparison to dried hops.
They're a weed, so grow very easily in our garden. :P
They're pretty easy to grow though, and now is the time of year that places sell the rhizomes, so if anyone wants to give it a go, it's dead easy.
 
I have started brewing with someone else and would highly reccomend it, it makes for a much more fun day, two pairs of hands are very useful and means I can brew a lot more beers without killing my liver or having way too many full bottles kicking around.
A few weeks ago we actually brewed six beers in a day (21L of Sarah Hughes Dark Ruby Mild using WLP005 and Brulospohy's Hop Test Bitter that we split 5 ways part way through the boil used 5 different new Slovenian hops in, courtesy of 'Get 'Er Brewed) and this week we brewed both of the Jim's Beer Kit forum brewalong recipes (the JKB ESB and JKB Wee Bee, a sessionable version of Stone's Arrogant *******).
We bottled the Sarah Hughes as well and it already tasted incredible from the fermenter, I can see why it is one of the most popular recipes from the Graham Wheeler book. The five other beers (1 gallon batches) will also get bottled this week, I am hoping it will be a great recipe to test other hops with as you use magnum and willamette until really near the end and then add in the hops you want to test, making it perfect for splitting your wort into 1 gallon batches and finishing on the stove.
The special B and chinook in the JKB Wee Bee made for a really different beer so I am looking forward to seeing how this progresses.
Next up we have a Helles, Vienna lager, Marzen, Galaxy Delight and a double IPA :D
 
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