Brew
     
 
 
All Grain 
Partial Mash 
Extract 
Water Analysis 
 
     
 

 

ll Grain
When brewing without malt extract and using all grain you have more versatility and can make any style of beer just like the pros. A 48-qt cooler mash tun is used with stainless steel braid and 7.5-gallon kettle is used as a hot liquor tank for batch sparging. The boil volume is typically 7 gallons in a Sabco Universal Kettle with temperature guage, false bottom, siphon, and drain tube. The King Kooker propane burner from Sabco works great to quickly heat the full boil. A Shirron heat exchanger is used to chill the wort as it's siphoned via a wort wizard from the kettle to primary fermentor.
Watch the All Grain Brewing Video  
 
Procedure
  1. Prepare 1 gallon of sanitizing solution (Bio-San, 1-Step, Star-San, Iodophor) in wallpaper tray.
  2. Soak airlock, drilled stopper, plain stopper, wine thief, hydrometer jar, mix-stir aerator, heat exchanger, and wort wizard in sanitizing solution for 5-10 minutes.
  3. Clean boil ketlle, mash tun, tubing, paddle, hydrometer, thermometer, and Pyrex measuring cup.
  4. Add Irish moss in Pyrex measuring cup with .25 cup of cold water for 30 min.
  5. Pour sanitizing solution in 6.5-gallon carboy, agitate for several minutes, and empty.
  6. Heat 3-5 gallons of strike water to desired temperature (180°), pour into mash tun (48-qt cooler).
  7. Dough in grain and mix well. Let the mash sit at 152° for 1 hour, stirring after 30 minutes.
  8. Heat 3-5 gallons of sparge water to desired temperature (185°) in hot liquor tank (7.5-gallon kettle)
  9. Recirculate 3-4 quarts until the wort runs clear and drain completely into brew pot.
  10. Add batch sparge water and stir well. Recirculate 3-4 quarts until the wort runs clear and drain completely into brew pot.
  11. Measure specific gravity with hydrometer to calculate mash efficiency.
  12. Bring wort to a boil for 60 minutes.
  13. Add bittering hops 60 minutes from the end of boil. (Depending on recipe, time may vary)
  14. Add Irish moss 30 minutes from end of boil.
  15. Add flavoring hops 20 minutes from the end of boil. (Depending on recipe, time may vary)
  16. Add aroma hops 2 minutes from the end of boil. (Depending on recipe, time may vary)
  17. Connect the wort lines of heat exchanger to the boiler and 6.5-gallon carboy. Also connect to a cold water source.
  18. Attach the wort wizard to the waste water outlet and connect to 6.5-gallon carboy.
  19. Start the siphon by turning on cold water and opening kettle valve.
  20. Aerate with a mix-stir aerator for several minutes.
  21. Measure original gravity using wine thief and hydrometer.
  22. Pitch yeast into 6.5-gallon carboy, aerate again, seal with drilled stopper, and affix airlock.
  23. Store 6.5-gallon carboy in dark at 65°-70° for 4-7 days.
  24. Clean mash tun, boil kettle, tubing, paddle, hydrometer, thermometer, wine thief, hydrometer jar, mix-stir aerator, heat exchanger, and wort wizard with cleaning solution (Oxyclean, PBW).
Pictures
           
Equipment Quantity Price  
Brew Pot 7.5 gallons Stainless Steel 1 $30.00
Diet Scale 16 oz 1 $10.00
Hydrometer 1 $5.00
Hydrometer Test Jar 1 $3.00
Igloo 48 Quart Water Cooler 1 $14.00
Mix-Stir Aerator 1 $21.89
Oxyclean Cleaner 3.5lb 1 $7.00
Paddle 18" Plastic 1 $2.49
QuickConnector 3/8" barb 1 $17.95
Sabco Propane Burner 1 $73.00
Sabco Universal Kettle 15 gallons 1 $410.00
Sanitizer Bio-San 8 oz 1 $1.95
Shirron Heat Exchanger 1 $90.00
Spigot For Bottling Bucket 1 $2.59
Thermoplastic Tubing 3/8" ID 12 $10.20
Thrumometer Inline Wort Thermometer 1 $26.90
Tubing 3/8" ID 12 $4.80
VWR Waterproof Digital Thermometer 1 $42.00
Wallpaper Tray 30" 1 $2.49
Wine Thief 1 $4.95
Wort Wizard 1 $23.90
    $790.36
artial Mash
This type of brewing uses a partial mash of base grain plus specialty grains and the addition of light Liquid Malt Extract (LME) available in bulk from my local home brew store. The boil volume is 3.5 gallons in a 4-gallon kettle, which is added to water in the fermenter to achieve a 5 gallon batch size. The mash tun, which has a copper manifold, and hot liquor tank are 3-gallon Rubbermaid coolers modified with bottling bucket spigots. The boil is done on a kitchen stove and chilled using an ice bath in the sink.

Procedure
  1. Prepare 1 gallon of sanitizing solution (Bio-San, 1-Step, Star-San, Iodophor) in wallpaper tray.
  2. Soak airlock, drilled stopper, plain stopper, funnel w/screen, wine thief, and mix-stir aerator in sanitizing solution for 5-10 minutes.
  3. Clean paddle, hydrometer, thermometer, and Pyrex measuring cup.
  4. Add Irish moss in Pyrex measuring cup with .5 cup of cold water for 30 min.
  5. Pour sanitizing solution in 6.5-gallon carboy, agitate for several minutes, and empty.
  6. Funnel pre-boiled water into 6.5-gallon carboy and seal with plain stopper.
  7. Heat 2-3 gallons of strike water to desired temperature (172°), pour into mash tun (3-gallon cooler).
  8. Dough in grain and mix well. Let the mash sit at 152° for 1 hour, stirring after 30 minutes.
  9. Heat 2-3 gallons of sparge water to desired temperature (183°), pour into hot liquor tank (3-gallon cooler)
  10. Recirculate 3-4 quarts until the wort runs clear. Start fly sparge and lauter 3.5 gallons into brew pot.
  11. Measure specific gravity with hydrometer to calculate mash efficiency.
  12. Add Light LME while stirring the wort, and then bring wort to a boil for 60 minutes.
  13. Add bittering hops 60 minutes from the end of boil. (Depending on recipe, time may vary)
  14. Add Irish moss 30 minutes from end of boil.
  15. Add flavoring hops 20 minutes from the end of boil. (Depending on recipe, time may vary)
  16. Add aroma hops 2 minutes from the end of boil. (Depending on recipe, time may vary)
  17. Cool wort to 75°-80° using cold water and 1-2 bags of ice.
  18. Funnel wort through screen into 6.5-gallon carboy, removing some hops and break material.
  19. Aerate with a mix-stir aerator for several minutes.
  20. Measure original gravity using wine thief and hydrometer.
  21. Pitch yeast into 6.5-gallon carboy, aerate again, seal with drilled stopper, and affix airlock.
  22. Store 6.5-gallon carboy in dark at 65°-70° for 4-7 days.
  23. Clean mash tun, boil kettle, paddle, funnel, thermometer, wine thief, and hydrometer with cleaning solution (Oxyclean, PBW).
Pictures
 
Equipment Quantity Price  
Brew Pot 4 Gallon Stainless Steel 1 $19.95
Copper Manifold 1 $3.50
Diet Scale 16 oz 1 $10.00
Funnel 8" w/Screen 1 $5.50
Hydrometer 1 $5.00
Hydrometer Test Jar 1 $3.00
Mix-Stir Aerator 1 $21.89
Oxyclean Cleaner 3.5lb 1 $7.00
Paddle 18" Plastic 1 $2.49
Rubbermaid 3 Gallon Water Cooler 2 $28.00
Sanitizer Bio-San 8 oz 1 $1.95
Spigot For Bottling Bucket 2 $5.18
Thermometer Digital 1 $12.00
Wallpaper Tray 30" 1 $2.49
Wine Thief 1 $4.95
    $116.31
xtract
This is the simplist type of brewing because no grains need to be mashed and most all of the fermentables come from dry or liquid malt extract. Specialty grains can be used in addition to malt extract to improve color, body, and flavor. These types of caramel and roasted malts can be steeped instead of mashed because they have gone through a special kilning process that has already converted the starch to sugars.

Procedure
Use partial mash procedure above and replace steps 7-11 with the following.
  1. Heat 2-3 gallons of steeping water to 160° in brew pot.
  2. Using a large muslin bag, add grain and let sit covered for 30 minutes.
  3. Agitate the bag of grain for several minutes to release more sugars.
  4. Drain and squeeze out all of the liquid in the grain bag into brew pot.
Pictures
       
Equipment Quantity Price  
Brew Pot 4 Gallon Stainless Steel 1 $19.95
Diet Scale 16 oz 1 $10.00
Funnel 8" w/Screen 1 $5.50
Mix-Stir Aerator 1 $21.89
Oxyclean Cleaner 3.5lb 1 $7.00
Paddle 18" Plastic 1 $2.49
Sanitizer Bio-San 8 oz 1 $1.95
Thermometer Floating 1 $5.00
Wallpaper Tray 30" 1 $2.49
    $76.27
ater Analysis
When mashing grain it is sometimes useful to know the chemistry of the water used for brewing. I have not yet experimened with using brewing salts to modify my water. Beginning June 27, 2005 the Blacksburg-Christiansburg-VPI Water Authority changed its method of disinfecting drinking water, from free chlorine to chloramination, a process in which ammonia is added to chlorinated water. I use campden tablets (1 tablet/20 gal) to remove the chloramines from the water prior to brewing.

Blacksburg - Christiansburg - VPI Water Authority
Test Date: January 7, 2003

Download Full Analysis (1.33 MB) 

Parameter Average ppm
Calcium (Ca+2) 8
Magnesium (Mg+2) 3
Bicarbonate (HCO3-1) 45.3
Sulfate (SO4-2) 6.37
Sodium (Na+1) 9.78
Chloride (Cl-1) 18.83
Hardness as CaCO3 67
Alkalinity as CaCO3 37.1

Some of the styles I like to brew are brown ales, porters, and stouts. Using some brewing software I was able to calculate the following additions for 5 gallons to achieve water similar to Dublin, Ireland for brewing stouts.

Brewing Salt Amount (gm)
Gypsum (CaSO4) 1
Epsom Salt (MgSO4) .25
Baking Soda (NaHCO3) .25
Chalk (CaCO3) 4.5