I just did my first all grain beer and I couldn't have done it without you! You do just an excellent job explaining the complete all grain brewing process. Your instructions are clear, concise and extremely well communicated. Thanks to your video, my first brew came out excellent!! Well done my man, well done!!!
@@CityscapeBrewing I have two ques that I hope you can answer. My first ever full grain brew - a Blue Moon Clone was supposed to produce 5 gal but only finished at 4.5 gals w/ ABV of 5.9. My second brew of the same recipe only produced 4 gals w/ABV of 3.94. I seem to be falling short of the final volume in both and in the second batch my ABV fell to 3.9 and wouldn't fully ferment out by only finishing at SG of 1.025. Both beers started at 1.055 SG. On both recipes I watched the sparge SG and stopped both at approx. 1.010 as I batch sparged. Where am I going wrong? Thanks so much for your excellent vids and all of the great info you provide to subscribers - EXCELLENT JOB AND MANY THANKS!
@b_sig The first Brew I think you just had a higher boiloff rate which means you can start with more water or even add back water at the end to get to your 5 gallon mark. For the second one it seems like you're efficiency was way off, grains may not have been crushed the same? Stuck fermentation can be a pain but you can get it to kick back in sometimes by adding yeast Energizer. It's a little bit different than yeast nutrient, but it's meant for stuck fermentations. You can generally rouse the yeast up by swirling the fermenter as well.
@@CityscapeBrewing Thanks for the feedback. I bought both as kits online and the grains were pre crushed so the quality or fineness of the crush could have been a possibility. I did notice that the yeast that was sent with the second kit was a different dry yeast than the first so maybe that had an impact on reaching full fermentation. Rather than buying ingredients on line I may try to buy them fresh locally and crush myself. A bigger investment but probably worth it for quality control. Sure do appreciate your input and advice. You are a great asset to us all trying to brew better beers!!
Thank you so much. I just started my brewing journey and almost all the videos I’ve come across on YT didn’t go through step by step and i found it really hard to follow. I’m so happy that your video appeared on my feed.
Thanks! That is the whole reason I started this channel. I felt the same way when I started and then also when I switched to all grain brewing years ago. I had to piece everything together myself. Happy to help and let me know if you have any questions! Cheers🍻
I watched a ton of videos before I saw yours. By a mile, one of the best instructional videos I have seen on the full process. Thanks man. You cleared up a bunch for me.
I paired your detailed video instructions with a bunch of reading and it made my first Brew Day a breeze, thanks so much for taking the time to produce this video!
Thank you for the video. Most others I saw were summaries and didn’t show the steps of the process. This was super helpful and tied it all together for me. Now I’m ready!
You're welcome! That's exactly why I put the together the video! I have a ton more and glad to help whenever I can. Let me know if you have any questions! 🍻
This is the best step by step all grain video I’ve found. I’m brewing my first all grain as I type this, and you made an extremely helpful video. Thank you!
That fermentor is a great idea! I used to cover the carboy with an electric heating blanket hooked up to a digital temperature controller. I'd just put the temperature probe under the electric blanket against the glass carboy and keep it around 72°.
I did my first homebrew in August last year. I started with liquid malt extract and steeping grains. I then graduated to large partial mash (7-9 lbs malted grain) plus about 2.25 to 4 lbs LME, depending on the recipe. My 5 gallon kettle fits inside my oven, so I preheat the oven to 170 degrees, fill the kettle with hot water and the crushed grains, and mash inside my oven using Brew in a Bag for an hour. About half way thru, I take the kettle out, stir the grains, put it back in the oven and turn on the electric element for about 1 minute. The oven holds temp very well. I was told that the stove top on most stoves lacks the oomph to boil an all grain batch. I questioned that wisdom and bought an eight gallon Megapot (no ball valve) from Northern Brewer and began doing all grain boils (about 6.65 gallons to a little more) on my stove top last January. The stove top is stout enough to do more than a gallon boil off per hour. Mashing in a 5 gallon kettle long term has its limits. So, I did what you show here and bought a 10 gallon RubberMaid water cooler, put in a stainless steel ball valve, and do Brew in a Bag inside it. I can either do no rinse, traditional BIAB with about 7.5 to 8 gallons of hot water, or I can put in about half the water and rinse with about the same amount. The ball valve will accept either a torpedo screen or a false bottom, but I have only done BIAB inside it. I bought extra large (31" by 31") BIAB bags on Amazon (2 for 12.99). That size is perfect for the water cooler. It is big enough to fit over the two large, fixed in place handles. I then secure it with a 24" and an 13" bungee cord and that works just fine as well. The lid on the water cooler will screw closed with the bag in place. I mash for an hour at 152 and the temp may drop to 151 after an hour, if that. The 10 gallon cooler is great for mashing! All sorts of head room, draining thru the ball valve instead of lifting out the bag gets rid of most of the mess and saves my back. Your videos have helped me as a novice brewer. Thanks.
Awesome! I never thought about using a brew in the bag instead a false bottom in the cooler... But if it's working for you, then keep doing it! I like to do a batch sparge so it rinses the grains a bit more, but that really only affects efficiency, not the end product. Glad my videos are helping out! Let me know if you ever want me to do a video on a specific topic. Happy to help! Cheers🍺
Yes thank you I did learn some things I needed to know I understand sparging what it is and does but looked at the calculator you were talking about and really confused on that
Nothing wrong with brew in a bag, but you need a much larger kettle to do the same volume , most likely a 12 to 15 gallon to still do 5 and 1/2 gallon batches at the end of the day, and you do lose some efficiency. Had a homebrew scale, that's not a big deal, But there are some trade-offs. I also like just being able to rinse out the mash tun and not clean out a bag.
Okay, at the 4 and a half gallons of 170 degree water that I'd have to lift to sparge using this method has made me decide that the BIAB method is for me. The lift would cost me less than the additional cooler and I wouldn't have to lift anything. Watching this again I picked up stuff I missed the first time I watched it. So much good stuff here!
Actually brewing a bag is very different. You have a mash process where you actually let the grains soak at 145° to 155° or so for an hour. That is different than what you do in the extract kit when you are just steeping a small amount of grains to get the color. In the extract kit, you don't get many sugars from the steeping for only 20 minutes. All of the sugars come from the LME and DME.
You're welcome! That's exactly why I made it that way... Everything you need to know in one video! When I got started I had to piece it all together myself and it wasn't easy. Cheers! 🍻
@@CityscapeBrewing I do. Did you weigh out the grain prior to grinding then mashing? It appears you were just eyeballing as you dumped the grains into the hopper.
Absolutely. You must weigh out the grain and order to hit your mash temperatures and gravity. I weigh my grains out in advance and put it in a bucket or bag.
@@CityscapeBrewing I kind of figured they were pre-weighed, but wasn't sure. I've decided to try my hand at this and made the first step by buying a book. My brother in law has done it in the past and we are teaming up to give it a go. This video helped incredibly. Thanks again.
No problem! If you have questions along the way let me know. That's what this page is all about, to help people get started in the hobby! Hope it goes well!
Thanks for the video. I want to go to all grain soon. Have a few questions. 1- what size boil kettle do you use for five gallon recipes? 2- I bought a mesh bag specifically made for 10 gallon Rubbermaid cooler mash tun ( that was given to me without a false bottom) Advertised as takes place of a false bottom and makes for easier cleaning of mash tun). Do you see any negatives of using this rather than a false bottom? 3- every thing I see about sparge water is to make it rain over the grain bed. I see you dumped all the 170 degree water in at once and stirred and let sit for 20 minutes). What is the difference? Why would some do it this way as opposed to how you did?
Great questions and happy to help answer them! 1) My boil kettle is 10 gallons, this allows me to do 5-6 gallon recipes which have a starting volume around 7 gallons. The boil kettle I use is very inexpensive but works great and you can find that on my amazon shop here: www.amazon.com/shop/cityscapebrewing 2) You can use the bag in place of a false bottom or screen, but then you have to clean the bag out, which is a pain too. I use a bazooka screen, which is easier and cheaper than a false bottom, and I just spray it out with a hose after. You can see in my equipment video here: th-cam.com/video/9TZLoP8cfAg/w-d-xo.html and I have that in my amazon shop as well. 3) The process I use is called batch sparging. This replaces the need to fly sparge, which is "trickling water" through the grains. Both processes are essentially rinsing the sugars off the grains to get as much efficiency (higher starting gravity) as possible so you don't have to use as much grain. Batch sparging is MUCH easier and I don't need a separate vessel to do it, that is why I continue to batch sparge. Those are great questions, and happy to answer any others you have as you get into the process more. BTW, you don't pay any more to get things from my amazon shop, but they do give me a small percentage, so helps my channel out :) Cheers!
Sounds like it could be one of two things... Either your final volume is too high or low, or your grains may not be cracked fine enough if your original gravity is too low.
To all others like me - "Step by step" can't get any better than this right here my friends. Thankyou. I still have a question - How much watts ceramic heater is present in the chamber? Did you had any over heating issues with it 'cause from what I've learned they can reach higher temperatures pretty fast. Maybe a CPU fan of some sort would be beneficial? It's falls here and I am searching for the right way to ferment my Kveik beer. I want to take it to 33 degrees Celsius. Would ceramic bulb help me achieve that temperature without heating too quickly to start burning things up? I am concerned about this. Thanks again.
It does not get hot enough to start melting things, especially in a chest freezer with metal walls. I always tell people to put the temperature probe on the outside of the fermenter, not in the beer so it doesn't have to get very hot before the temperature is stable.. This will work fine to heat for kviek yeast temps.
It's not just temperature, it's also the UV light can make your beer have off of flavors or even be skunky after packaging. That's why most beer bottles are amber color, to keep our more UV light.
I use a Whirlfloc Tablet (or Irish moss) during the boil to clarify. After kegging the beer, if it is still not clear, you can add gelatin to clarify. I have a video that shows you how to do that here th-cam.com/video/6QvErXiG9CE/w-d-xo.html
I am going to be doing different methods this year in different videos.. That's on the list of to do things. It's essentially the same as what I'm doing, but you're putting all the water in the same vessel to start.
@bryanjenkins6112 I'm thinking of doing one in like a grandfather, or some similar all-in-one system, which is basically brew in a bag. I know a lot of people use those electric systems too, so hit two birds at one stone.
Half way through this video and I had to stop and subscribe. I'm a complete newbie, my first kit beer is fermenting now. But I want to progress and I like how you think. :-D
Loved the vid. Was able to grasp the procedure and lingo at the same time. Please advise what is the main cause of Homebrew Tang? Cheers from Melbourne Australia.
Great question. The homebrew tang is usually an off flavor from either not having the correct temperature control, AKA fermentation temperature, oxidation from letting your beer splash around or exposing it to air too long, or not the correct pH of your water during the mash. I would focus on fermentation temperature control (Absolutely number one), then oxidation, then start talking water. Doing a whole video very shortly on water chemistry and pH. Stay tuned! Cheers 🍻
They are not sprouted. They are roasted or malted. I've heard of people using sprouted grains, even roasting them too, but there is risk of contamination and other gluten material in there.
I dunno if erring on the hot side of things with your strike water is a good idea. If you get the mash too hot, you end up with unfermentable dextrin sugars, which can result in a stuck fermentation, as I found out with my last brew. . .
The point is it's easier to cool down with a few ice cubes than it is to heat up. If you're short... You can cool it down relatively quickly with a handful of ice cubes
Thanks! Glad you liked it. That's what it's all about... Making better beer! Let me know if you have questions about a specific topic that you want covered a bit more. Happy to take suggestions. Cheers!
I live in Texas and it’s 95 to 98 every day this time of year . So I was wondering, do I even need a heater in my fermentation chamber as it is on the covered back porch? What you think
Not necessarily for the summer but definitely in the winter, if night time temps go below your target fermentation temps. Heaters in the summer also help keep the beer from getting too cold as the freezer shuts off, but shouldn't have too many swings.
It is good to see your approach. Thanks for sharing! Also I wonder if you know that there is usually a correction factor to be applied to the refractometer. You need to find the correction factor of your refractometer by comparing with a hydrometer. The correction factor is usually somewhere between 0.9 and 1.1.
I have tested my hydrometer against my refractometer and they're very close at about 60-80 degrees Fahrenheit. There is some correction needed if your wort is hotter or colder. I'm sure many refractometers are different and that is important to know. Refractometers also need a calculation when alcohol is present. I always use a hydrometer after fermentation, but during brew day a refractometer is way easier and lets me know I'm in the ballpark either way. Thanks for watching!
Hi Denis, Im´s thinking on becoming a Homebrewer. Great channel, just subscribed. You dont have views and subscribers you deserve, but keep the good work!
Do you have a video something in the line of matching yeast with the type of beer you are making. I’m a little foggy in this area considering how many yeast and types of beer there are.
No, but that's a good idea for a future video. There are definitely yeasts for specific beer types, like a marzen Oktoberfest for instance, but there are a TON for just a clean IPA or pale ale that all have different flavor profiles. I like to switch it up and try new ones and find which ones I like. Smash beers are great for trying new yeasts too!
The temperature at which you ferment is that directly related to the yeast you are using , like the recommended temp for pitching. Will I use these temps are something in the middle. Guess what I’m trying to say is how do I know what the correct temp is for fermentation? Thank you in advance
Each yeast has a recommended temperature from the manufacturer. For instance safale US-05 says between 53.6 and 77° f., ideally 59 to 71.6° f. Says that right on the package. If you're unsure, you can also look it up on the yeast manufacturers website. Lager yeasts will be much cooler, and Kveik yeast will be much warmer. If you go out of those ranges, you will get off -flavors and esters in your beer... Most of the time undesirable flavors.
I'm curious about how quickly the harvested yeast took to really start working in the fermenter. Was active fermentation visible the next day? I used to recycle/harvest yeast, I think I'll start again after watching your method of harvesting commercial yeast. Thanks, great videos.
Starts in the first 12 hours if you ramp up the harvested yeast starter like I did in the other video. I typically do about 3-6 bottles of yeast in about a cup of wort for three days, then ramp up to a 1 liter starter after that for another 3 days or until it fully ferments and drops out. I've done that about 10 different times and each one turned out great. Let me know if you have any other questions. 🍻
Nice job explaining everything stop by step! It will help a lot with my first all grain this weekend. So I noticed you have your boat registered in SC midway through the video. I would have never thought you were from SC lol. You have to be a transplant because your missing that southern twang lol
What size bung and tube diameter would I need to create a blowoff tube? I have a bung with a smaller inner hole for a regular airlock. Using a 6.5gal Big Mouth Bubbler glass.
The easiest way to do it is find a vinyl tube big enough to fit over the interior tube that's already in a three-piece airlock (usually that is a 1/2 inch ID). That way you don't need any other equipment. The main component of the airlock fits in the bung and then the tube fits over the inside part of that piece and goes into a small jar of sanitizer. Alternatively, you can drill a larger hole in any size bung, But that's kind of hard with the rubbery material. I've done it both ways.
I would search a few places like Brewer's friend and BeerSmith. Both have a huge searchable recipe list. If you can't find it there, sometimes just Google it and you might get lucky!
In my 2nd fermentation I’m just resting to beer and letting it settle right ? It’s not really fermenting, not adding anymore yeast My momma always said only stupid question is the one you didn’t ask lol
This one is similar to the one I have that fits on a bucket. It has two hooks for one side of the bucket and then the handle sits on the other side while you pour things in. Helps catch hop debris and aerates wort. amzn.to/43deHU8
enjoyed your teaching , I have been brewing using extract and want to kick it up a notch with all grain brewing. what size is your brew kettle? I cool my wort by sticking kettle in snow bank. Going down to -36 on Tues with wind chill factor. Fast cooling. I ferment in the room near my Vermont castings woodstove , works great. I also always use a blow off tube. Lots of brewing here in the Maine , western Mtn range. North Woods. Great job on video.
Thanks! Definitely a big difference when you switch to all grain Brewing. My brew pot is 10 gallons. I also have the links to the specific one I use in my equipment video, including an immersion chiller and mash tun which I would highly recommend, especially for summer months when you can't cool outside. Reasonably priced stuff. I'm also going to make a video on how to make a mash tun next week! Stay tuned and check out the equipment in that video!
Excellent video! On the chiller - my lhbs rep suggested putting the chiller right in the boiling wort because the copper is a micronutrient for the yeast. Also - two suggestions on your volume levels. 1) get a body mic. Your own mic level is extremely inconsistent depending on where you're standing, and 2) if you must add sound effects (like the air horn) make them at the same dB rating as the main video. That blast was painful and I very nearly did NOT watch your excellent and very informative video as a result of that shock in the first few seconds.
Thanks for the feedback. That was one of my first videos. I have since upgraded my mic and my video editing skills. Haha. The only thing I would recommend for the wort chiller is to make sure you use high heat silicone tubing if you put it in your boil, I've seen others melt regular tubing from the heat. In reality, it's in the hot wort long enough just through regular chilling to kill any nasty bacteria on it, even without letting it sit in there 10-15 mins, but no harm as long as you use the right tubing.
I totally enjoyed your video, thank you. 1 question though, unless I missed it, did u add more plain water to your recipe after cooling and before adding the yeast? The recipes I use always seem to have me do that. Maybe it’s because I do it from an extract kit, not an all grain recipe. Would that be the difference? Thanks again.
Most kit instructions assume you're doing it on a smaller kettle inside of your house. You can do extract kits and all grain brewing with full boils in a larger pot. I used to do that when I did extract brewing. I started out with 6 gallons of spring water. I steeped my grains and added DME same as the instructions. You just don't have to add water at the end. It helps infuse the flavors in all of the water during the boil process. Essentially you're going from 6 gallons and boiling down to the appropriate amount. In your kits, you're doing more condensed version and adding water afterwards to get to the same amount. I would highly recommend getting a larger kettle and propane burner and doing full boils. That way the transition to all grain is easier as well.
@@CityscapeBrewing Thanks a lot for the clarification. Makes a lot of sense, I will definitely try doing your way and see if I can taste a difference in the end product.
I have 50 lbs whole grain pilsen and some Munich light malt. Would like to make a lite beer on next batch . What yeast and hops would you recommend. Have cascade on hand. Maybe a smash with just the pilsen . On fermentables they list several different pilsners ie pilsner uk, Pilsner ca, pilsen de. Not sure which to pick. Any ideals would be appreciated. Thanks
It shouldn't really matter that much, but if you know the brand you can put it there. The main difference is the lovibond number, which determines color(SRM). Most Pilsen malt will be very similar, like 1.2L so for the recipe, if doesn't matter really which one you pick, it should come out very similar no matter what. Cascade and Pilsen smash would be great.
Oh, if you are actually trying to go for a pilsner style then you need to use just some bittering hops, typically saaz or hallertaur hops, at the beginning and have the ability to lager at about 58° Fahrenheit. I would suggest looking up at pilsner recipe with good reviews to see an example and then try and use similar ingredients and stay in the same ABV and bitterness range. You won't need much. Hops.
Thanks a lot!! A false bottom is the device at the bottom of the mash tun that helps screen the liquid wort as you are draining it to your kettle. In my video I showed a different device that does the same thing called a bazooka screen. Either option works fine! Let me know if you have any other questions!
I assume you mean after you mash and collect your wort into your kettle? You don't want to leave your mash that long in the mash tun, but once you pull it out, it's essentially just sugar water. I have never left it for an entire night, but I imagine you could as long as it was covered so nothing really got in it. It. Not so worried about bacteria necessarily, because you will be boiling it, but if you left it long enough, it can start getting sour from natural bacteria. In short, in a pinch you could do the mash one day, collect the wort in the kettle, cover it and boil the next morning. I wouldn't advise doing that often though.
Yep. That doesn't matter, they are going in the same place. The only thing I leave out is flaked oats, flaked barley and flaked maize. They don't need to be crushed and they gum up the mill.
Brewing in a bag seems like less hassle than using a mash tun but what do I know I've never brewed just been watching a lot of videos before I dive in.
It is less hassle. The only difference is getting better clarity because you can recirculate/vorlauf and set the grain bed a bit better. You'll also get more efficiency (better starch to sugar conversion) with a mash tun so you need a little bit less grain. But on a homebrew scale it's not that big of a difference. I find it's also easier to clean out my mash tun by spraying it out with a hose instead of having to get all the grains out of a bag. It is just personal preference, lots of people use brew in a bag and make great beers. 🍻
I usually do, but you can let it air dry before you put it in or try it off with something sanitized like a paper towel. In the future, You should try and find a little bit bigger bung if it is that loose though, to prevent it sliding out
Hi William, the recipe is shown at the 20 second mark in the video and I have a link to download that same recipe sheet from Bell's website in the video description. To make it easier, I actually typed out the full recipe for you, along with all of the expected numbers in the video description as well. Click the "show more" button under the video to see the entire description. Let me know if you have any other questions. cheers!
That's a good question. Happy to help, that's what this channel is all about, helping people become better brewers. Shirt answer is you can use a kettle if you want to, the issue is having consistent temperature over 60 minutes. It is difficult to maintain a constant temperature for 60 minutes without having hot spots on the bottom where you're heating it. To prevent that you'll need constant recirculation which is what some all-in-one electric models do. The reason I use a rubbermaid container is because it will hold the temperature without needing to recirculate or move around the liquid/grains for the entire 60 minutes. For proper starch to sugar mash conversion, You want an exact mash temperature (depending on beer style) to be consistent throughout the entire mashtun and for the entire 60 minute mash rest. Hope that helps! 🍻
AWESOME BREW DAY!!!! The video is GREAT!!! The only issue that occurred on the brew day was that the recipe produced moonshiners beer. It appears, that whoever wrote the recipe is familiar with the way that moonshiners beer is made, which was popular during Prohibition. Homebrewers didn't use the brewing method, unless, they were moonshiners because they used malt syrup available in markets, with herbs and spices for flavoring because hops were difficult to obtain. It's where specialty beer and winter warmers came from. The single temperature infusion method is used in grain distillation, where glucose is only needed. The brewing method skips three steps that are required for producing ale and lager, conversion, dextrinization, and gelatinization. Single temperature infusion, chemically and enzymatically, cannot produce ale, due to the way that enzymes function, and chemical precipitation. You have starch, and the way that enzymes work with starch, a little confused. Starch is a poly-saccharide. There are two types of starch in malt, simple and complex, and neither one, converts to sugar. In brewing, the correct term is mash conversion. Conversion has nothing to do with starch, it has to do with simple sugar, glucose. Alpha deals with starch, Beta deals with glucose. This is the way it works during mashing. Alpha is responsible for liquefaction. When Alpha liquefies simple starch, amylose, it does it at a 1-4 link in the starch chain, and when that happens, two chains form, and the name changes. The one chain is called the reducing end, and the other chain is called the nonreducing end. The reducing end contains 1-4 links and after Alpha liquefies all of the links, sweet tasting, nonfermenting, types of sugar, remain. The nonreducing end is simple sugar, glucose. Glucose is responsible for primary fermentation and ABV. The higher the rest temperature, the quicker Alpha denatures, and sweeter tasting, low ABV beer is produced. The rest temperature recommended in the recipe is used by moonshiners because at 150F, Alpha releases the highest volume of glucose, as possible, from amylose, within one hour. The more glucose, the more alcohol. The high temperature denatures low temperature activated enzymes that are needed for making ale and lager, Beta in particular, which makes strike and target temperature, useless. Beta is purposely denatured in moonshining because the enzyme gets in the way by slowing down the process. Beta is responsible for conversion, which occurs at 140 to 145F. During conversion, Beta turns the glucose that Alpha releases during liquefaction, into fermentable, complex, types of sugar, maltose and maltotriose, which are the types of sugar that produces ale and lager. When conversion occurs, secondary fermentation takes place, due to maltose. Maltotriose is responsible for natural carbonation. Beer doesn't need priming sugar, or CO2 injection to carbonate, when conversion occurs. When Alpha liquefies complex starch, called amylopectin, dextrinization and gelatinization takes place. Dextrinization and gelatinization are responsible for body and mouthfeel in beer. Amylopectin is hard, heat resistant, complex starch that makes up the tips of malt and it is the richest starch in malt. Contained in amylopectin are A and B limit dextrin, which are tasteless, nonfermenting, types of sugar, and pectin. A and B limit dextrin, pectin, and a type of albuminus, protein, provides the body and mouthfeel in beer. In homebrewing, amylopectin, is thrown away with the spent mash because the temperatures are not high enough to burst the heat resistant, starch, where it would enter into the mash liquid, before Alpha denatures. When the starch is thrown away, beer overly, dries and thins during fermentation and conditioning. It is one of the reasons why homebrew is artificially carbonated, and drank, green, from boiler to belly in three or four weeks. To take advantage of amylopectin, the Hochkurz and triple decoction brewing methods are used. When the boiling decoctions are added back into the main mash, Alpha liquefies amylopectin, and dextrinization and gelatinization occurs. The only time dextrinization occurs in the infusion method happens when amylose contains a 1-6 link in the starch chain, which is extremely, rare. In homebrewing, it is made to appear that dextrinization occurs when mash is rested at a high temperature, which isn't the case. To place the brew cart behind the horse, every bag of malt comes with a malt spec sheet, which is used in brewing for determining the quality of malt, before the malt is purchased. Listed on a malt spec sheet are a bunch of chemical acronyms and numbers that a brewer uses to find out if the malt is better for making whiskey with, or more suitable, for producing ale and lager. It is not a bad idea to become familiar with the data on a malt spec sheet. Malt spec sheets are online from each malthouse. For a recipe to be accurate, the malthouse that produces the base malt has to be identified in order to obtain the malt spec sheet. The recipe recommended 2 row malt, which is similar to asking a person to buy a 2 door car without offering any specs. The recipe recommended a rest temperature that's used in grain distillation, where high modified, to over modified, malt is used. Marris Otter, Halcyon and Golden Promise are examples of high quality, distillers malt. Weyermann's floor malt is under modified, low protein, malt. Gladfield's base malts are under modified. Under modified, malt is richer in enzyme content than high modified, malt, and low protein, malt contains more sugar. Malt, 40 Kolbach and lower is under modified. Malt should contain less than 10 percent protein. The higher, the Kolbach number and the higher, the protein content in malt, the less suitable the malt is for making ale and lager. Both numbers are listed on a malt spec sheet. Try not to slop hot water into mash, you want to reduce the risk of oxidation, not increase it. Iodine only determines if starch is present, it cannot determine when conversion occurs. Depending on the type of sugar that's in the sample, the colors of Iodine will vary from yellow-orange to deep red-mahogany. It's probably better to crush a tablet, the guy that makes the stuff, recommends it. A dye is first used, to determine if yeast is worth saving. It would be better to forget about harvesting yeast because sooner or later you will ruin a batch of beer. Yeast becomes senile. To learn how to make ale and lager start out with DeClerks books.
Question, so you heat your sparge to around 175? I have been hearing to almost boil and adding into a warm cooler. Do you think that is too high? I have had good results at that temp but haven’t tried lower.
There's no need to go over 180°. You're just rinsing the sugars off of the grains essentially. You're not doing any more starch conversion. I don't know the benefit of doing any hotter, but you could end up melting your cooler or other plastics potentially. Most breweries fly sparge at 170° And that slowly trickles out and even cools off some as it goes into the mash tun.
So many great tips Dennis! Thank you mate! One question though,have you ever tried to conserve water whilst cooling the wort or using the water again instead of letting the excess run down your driveway? Here in Australia water is precious,so we try to re-use as much water as possible.
I sometimes fill up some buckets to water my garden and potted plants with, but not everytime. I've seen others run the line to their wash machine and almost fills it up for a load to reuse the water. Probably a good idea to conserve as much as we can. Thanks for the advice.
It's a good one for a fraction of most brew kettles. I've had a lot of people ask me about equipment, so I link my exact stuff in the video description so people can save some money. Cheers🍻
@@CityscapeBrewing It is an excellent kettle especially for the price. It has a raised area around the bottom if you wish to use a false bottom. I use a hop spyder and a bazooka strainer personally but as we all know there is no one right way to do this home brew thing. I like the vids I have watched of yours. Always like to see new perspectives on our style of all grain home brewing. Cheers to all.
Reason I ask abt water additions is on my last Brew everything was going according to plan and working perfectly. All temps were right on the money until I did my OG. Suppose to be 1.058 but was 1.043. I used gypsum, calcium carbonate, and 5 star ph. Seems to be fermenting ok at 67. Not sure how it will turn out but had fun it anyway lol
No water additions would not do that. That sounds like too much water, not boiling rapidly enough, or not a great crush on your grains. Did you have the correct volume at the end of your boil? What are you using for your recipe OG, a kit or a recipe online?
Actually it was a recipe you gave me with the grains I had 10 lbs pale ale malt and .5 lbs Munich malt . Safale 05 . I think a little of all the above . I noticed a lot of whole grain in the left overs that I’m giving to my chickens and yes I had abt 3/4 gal more water at boil . Was going to let it keep boiling past 60 min mark but only let it boil a extra 10 min in hindsight should have just let it keep boiling. Also when I put in info on brewfr app I think it may have been defaulted to extract instead of mash idk. Good lessons learned
Boiling longer isn't always good because it will get more bitter the longer you boil the hops. You want to make sure your water is the correct volumes when you start. A bit over isn't bad but you don't want to boil for another half an hour. I use brewer's friend too but make sure that you're putting in the right quantities and systems because that really makes a big difference. Sometimes it can take over 24 hours to get fermentation started. So I wouldn't be too worried about that
Nice video. Basically the same procedure I use, except I don't have a spider, I use reusable hop bags clipped to the sides of the kettle with clothes pins. (Just make sure you don't let the strings fall down or you'll burn them off LOL) I also go nuts with my vourlaufing. I use two kitchen pots and pour back through a spaghetti colander so as not to disturb the grain bed. It kinda "rains" down gently. I'll alternate filling and pouring the pots at medium drain speed about 20-30 times until the wort is really clear. I know, I'm anal. Hehe. I take first runnings gravity, sparge gravity, and pre-boil gravity readings with a refractometer, and after chilling, an original gravity reading with both refrac and hydrometer. Cheers!
That wasn't the intent. This was literally my second video ever made and was very new at editing and didn't probably sound that loud at the time. I've gotten better lol.
The multiple times you drain off some wort so you don’t get a bunch of grain in your next container seems like a problem that could just be solved with a sieve
That's a good question, and although you can do that(like brew in a bag would do) It's really doing two things, setting the grain bed to act as a strainer, and also "rinsing" the grains to pull out more sugars. Recirculation, even with the same wort, helps increase efficiency.
Do you mean too hot with the mash? If so, Absolutely. You want to make sure you are within a few degrees of the target, mash temperature. Mash temperature determines the mouth feel and amount of fermentable sugars that will end up in your beer.
@@CityscapeBrewing sorry I should have asked a better question. What I meant is what's the harm if you start way hotter and then let it cool down on iymts own. And I think you already answered it, the mouth feel change?
Most of the starch conversion actually happens in the first 15 minutes. I would try to get the temperature as close as possible from the start and if it drops below, most of the conversion will be already done. How are you mashing? Do you have a cooler mash tun like mine or a kettle?
Yeah they get spendy fast.... I actually like the mash tun in a cooler process mainly because I can have bigger mashes(more grains). The electric systems are good and all, but have some limitations depending on the size kettle. I have a friend that has one and sometimes has to add water at the end to bring up to the correct volume.
![[MV] A leap of faith...ความเชื่อใจครั้งสุดท้าย (From "Petrichor the series")](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/U1piZH2CNXA/mqdefault.jpg)
I just did my first all grain beer and I couldn't have done it without you! You do just an excellent job explaining the complete all grain brewing process. Your instructions are clear, concise and extremely well communicated. Thanks to your video, my first brew came out excellent!! Well done my man, well done!!!
Awesome! Glad to help! Many more in the future!! Cheers! 🤘🍻
@@CityscapeBrewing I have two ques that I hope you can answer. My first ever full grain brew - a Blue Moon Clone was supposed to produce 5 gal but only finished at 4.5 gals w/ ABV of 5.9. My second brew of the same recipe only produced 4 gals w/ABV of 3.94. I seem to be falling short of the final volume in both and in the second batch my ABV fell to 3.9 and wouldn't fully ferment out by only finishing at SG of 1.025. Both beers started at 1.055 SG. On both recipes I watched the sparge SG and stopped both at approx. 1.010 as I batch sparged. Where am I going wrong? Thanks so much for your excellent vids and all of the great info you provide to subscribers - EXCELLENT JOB AND MANY THANKS!
@b_sig The first Brew I think you just had a higher boiloff rate which means you can start with more water or even add back water at the end to get to your 5 gallon mark. For the second one it seems like you're efficiency was way off, grains may not have been crushed the same? Stuck fermentation can be a pain but you can get it to kick back in sometimes by adding yeast Energizer. It's a little bit different than yeast nutrient, but it's meant for stuck fermentations. You can generally rouse the yeast up by swirling the fermenter as well.
@@CityscapeBrewing Thanks for the feedback. I bought both as kits online and the grains were pre crushed so the quality or fineness of the crush could have been a possibility. I did notice that the yeast that was sent with the second kit was a different dry yeast than the first so maybe that had an impact on reaching full fermentation. Rather than buying ingredients on line I may try to buy them fresh locally and crush myself. A bigger investment but probably worth it for quality control. Sure do appreciate your input and advice. You are a great asset to us all trying to brew better beers!!
@b_sig always happy to help. Definitely worth buying local if you can! 🤘🍻
Thank you so much. I just started my brewing journey and almost all the videos I’ve come across on YT didn’t go through step by step and i found it really hard to follow. I’m so happy that your video appeared on my feed.
Thanks! That is the whole reason I started this channel. I felt the same way when I started and then also when I switched to all grain brewing years ago. I had to piece everything together myself. Happy to help and let me know if you have any questions! Cheers🍻
I watched a ton of videos before I saw yours. By a mile, one of the best instructional videos I have seen on the full process. Thanks man. You cleared up a bunch for me.
Thank you! Glad to help. Let me know if you have any questions or would like me to cover anything specific in future videos or live streams!
I paired your detailed video instructions with a bunch of reading and it made my first Brew Day a breeze, thanks so much for taking the time to produce this video!
Awesome! Glad to hear it! Let me know how it turns out!!! 🍻
Extremely helpful in detail and much appreciated
Awesome. Let me know if you have any questions, that's what the channel is all about! 🍻
Thank you for the video. Most others I saw were summaries and didn’t show the steps of the process. This was super helpful and tied it all together for me. Now I’m ready!
You're welcome! That's exactly why I put the together the video! I have a ton more and glad to help whenever I can. Let me know if you have any questions! 🍻
This is the best step by step all grain video I’ve found. I’m brewing my first all grain as I type this, and you made an extremely helpful video. Thank you!
Awesome! Glad it helped you and thanks! Let me know how it turns out! 🍺
That fermentor is a great idea! I used to cover the carboy with an electric heating blanket hooked up to a digital temperature controller. I'd just put the temperature probe under the electric blanket against the glass carboy and keep it around 72°.
Nice. Whatever works!! Temp control is super important. I'd actually shoot for temps at 65-67 or more ale yeasts.
I did my first homebrew in August last year. I started with liquid malt extract and steeping grains. I then graduated to large partial mash (7-9 lbs malted grain) plus about 2.25 to 4 lbs LME, depending on the recipe. My 5 gallon kettle fits inside my oven, so I preheat the oven to 170 degrees, fill the kettle with hot water and the crushed grains, and mash inside my oven using Brew in a Bag for an hour. About half way thru, I take the kettle out, stir the grains, put it back in the oven and turn on the electric element for about 1 minute. The oven holds temp very well. I was told that the stove top on most stoves lacks the oomph to boil an all grain batch. I questioned that wisdom and bought an eight gallon Megapot (no ball valve) from Northern Brewer and began doing all grain boils (about 6.65 gallons to a little more) on my stove top last January. The stove top is stout enough to do more than a gallon boil off per hour. Mashing in a 5 gallon kettle long term has its limits. So, I did what you show here and bought a 10 gallon RubberMaid water cooler, put in a stainless steel ball valve, and do Brew in a Bag inside it. I can either do no rinse, traditional BIAB with about 7.5 to 8 gallons of hot water, or I can put in about half the water and rinse with about the same amount. The ball valve will accept either a torpedo screen or a false bottom, but I have only done BIAB inside it. I bought extra large (31" by 31") BIAB bags on Amazon (2 for 12.99). That size is perfect for the water cooler. It is big enough to fit over the two large, fixed in place handles. I then secure it with a 24" and an 13" bungee cord and that works just fine as well. The lid on the water cooler will screw closed with the bag in place. I mash for an hour at 152 and the temp may drop to 151 after an hour, if that. The 10 gallon cooler is great for mashing! All sorts of head room, draining thru the ball valve instead of lifting out the bag gets rid of most of the mess and saves my back. Your videos have helped me as a novice brewer. Thanks.
Awesome! I never thought about using a brew in the bag instead a false bottom in the cooler... But if it's working for you, then keep doing it! I like to do a batch sparge so it rinses the grains a bit more, but that really only affects efficiency, not the end product. Glad my videos are helping out! Let me know if you ever want me to do a video on a specific topic. Happy to help! Cheers🍺
Yes thank you I did learn some things I needed to know I understand sparging what it is and does but looked at the calculator you were talking about and really confused on that
I actually did a deep dive into just that! Check out this video here: th-cam.com/video/HBXHWbb88Z8/w-d-xo.html
Try brew in a bag. Saves all those transfers. Ans, you can do it all in your boil kettle.
Nothing wrong with brew in a bag, but you need a much larger kettle to do the same volume , most likely a 12 to 15 gallon to still do 5 and 1/2 gallon batches at the end of the day, and you do lose some efficiency. Had a homebrew scale, that's not a big deal, But there are some trade-offs. I also like just being able to rinse out the mash tun and not clean out a bag.
Finally a video that shows the process lol thank you.. time to brew
Glad to help! Let me know if you have any questions! 🍻
Nicely explained for a newbie all-grainer like me, thanks mate.
That's what it's all about! Let me know if you have any questions, happy to help!🍺
Okay, at the 4 and a half gallons of 170 degree water that I'd have to lift to sparge using this method has made me decide that the BIAB method is for me. The lift would cost me less than the additional cooler and I wouldn't have to lift anything. Watching this again I picked up stuff I missed the first time I watched it. So much good stuff here!
Actually brewing a bag is very different. You have a mash process where you actually let the grains soak at 145° to 155° or so for an hour. That is different than what you do in the extract kit when you are just steeping a small amount of grains to get the color. In the extract kit, you don't get many sugars from the steeping for only 20 minutes. All of the sugars come from the LME and DME.
Great video. Just bought an all in one system from Delta brewing systems, can’t wait to use it. Cheers.
Awesome! Let me know how you like it! 🍻
That iodine tip is a great one!
This helped so much! A detailed, step-by-step and chronological video that’s well made. Thank you!
You're welcome! That's exactly why I made it that way... Everything you need to know in one video! When I got started I had to piece it all together myself and it wasn't easy. Cheers! 🍻
Thank you for taking the time to make this video.
You're welcome! Hope it helps and let me know if you have any questions, happy to help. 🍻
@@CityscapeBrewing I do. Did you weigh out the grain prior to grinding then mashing? It appears you were just eyeballing as you dumped the grains into the hopper.
Absolutely. You must weigh out the grain and order to hit your mash temperatures and gravity. I weigh my grains out in advance and put it in a bucket or bag.
@@CityscapeBrewing I kind of figured they were pre-weighed, but wasn't sure. I've decided to try my hand at this and made the first step by buying a book. My brother in law has done it in the past and we are teaming up to give it a go. This video helped incredibly. Thanks again.
No problem! If you have questions along the way let me know. That's what this page is all about, to help people get started in the hobby! Hope it goes well!
Thanks for the video. I want to go to all grain soon. Have a few questions.
1- what size boil kettle do you use for five gallon recipes?
2- I bought a mesh bag specifically made for 10 gallon Rubbermaid cooler mash tun ( that was given to me without a false bottom)
Advertised as takes place of a false bottom and makes for easier cleaning of mash tun).
Do you see any negatives of using this rather than a false bottom?
3- every thing I see about sparge water is to make it rain over the grain bed. I see you dumped all the 170 degree water in at once and stirred and let sit for 20 minutes). What is the difference? Why would some do it this way as opposed to how you did?
Great questions and happy to help answer them!
1) My boil kettle is 10 gallons, this allows me to do 5-6 gallon recipes which have a starting volume around 7 gallons. The boil kettle I use is very inexpensive but works great and you can find that on my amazon shop here: www.amazon.com/shop/cityscapebrewing
2) You can use the bag in place of a false bottom or screen, but then you have to clean the bag out, which is a pain too. I use a bazooka screen, which is easier and cheaper than a false bottom, and I just spray it out with a hose after. You can see in my equipment video here: th-cam.com/video/9TZLoP8cfAg/w-d-xo.html and I have that in my amazon shop as well.
3) The process I use is called batch sparging. This replaces the need to fly sparge, which is "trickling water" through the grains. Both processes are essentially rinsing the sugars off the grains to get as much efficiency (higher starting gravity) as possible so you don't have to use as much grain. Batch sparging is MUCH easier and I don't need a separate vessel to do it, that is why I continue to batch sparge.
Those are great questions, and happy to answer any others you have as you get into the process more.
BTW, you don't pay any more to get things from my amazon shop, but they do give me a small percentage, so helps my channel out :) Cheers!
Great walkthrough! I am zoning in on the recipe but still a way off on the OG. Thanks for this video tutorial.
Sounds like it could be one of two things... Either your final volume is too high or low, or your grains may not be cracked fine enough if your original gravity is too low.
To all others like me - "Step by step" can't get any better than this right here my friends. Thankyou.
I still have a question - How much watts ceramic heater is present in the chamber? Did you had any over heating issues with it 'cause from what I've learned they can reach higher temperatures pretty fast. Maybe a CPU fan of some sort would be beneficial? It's falls here and I am searching for the right way to ferment my Kveik beer. I want to take it to 33 degrees Celsius. Would ceramic bulb help me achieve that temperature without heating too quickly to start burning things up? I am concerned about this.
Thanks again.
It does not get hot enough to start melting things, especially in a chest freezer with metal walls. I always tell people to put the temperature probe on the outside of the fermenter, not in the beer so it doesn't have to get very hot before the temperature is stable.. This will work fine to heat for kviek yeast temps.
And thank you for the nice comments on the video! 🍻🤘
what a great detailed step by step video .Thanks for the info, ready to try first all grain beer.
Thanks! Glad you liked it and please let me know if you have any questions or want to know more about something. Happy to help! 🍻
I’ve always wanted to try this beer! Might as well brew it.
Do it! It doesn't disappoint. Watch my video on how to harvest the yeast... Their house yeast from Bell's is really good and the beer is spot on!
seen your kegorator setup on marketplace today!
Not mine, but if you saw a similar one, you should grab it!! 🤘🍻
learnt a lot, very good vid and lots of info. cheers
💯🍻
Alot of people forget to mention to keep that fermentation out of light or sunlight it's as relevant as maintaining temperature.
It's not just temperature, it's also the UV light can make your beer have off of flavors or even be skunky after packaging. That's why most beer bottles are amber color, to keep our more UV light.
Hi,
Informative video. What did u add to give the clear look pls? I didn't quite the name.
I use a Whirlfloc Tablet (or Irish moss) during the boil to clarify. After kegging the beer, if it is still not clear, you can add gelatin to clarify. I have a video that shows you how to do that here th-cam.com/video/6QvErXiG9CE/w-d-xo.html
Been watching your vids, you need to do a biab vid, that’s my next step into this journey
I am going to be doing different methods this year in different videos.. That's on the list of to do things. It's essentially the same as what I'm doing, but you're putting all the water in the same vessel to start.
Awesome dude, can’t wait.
@bryanjenkins6112 I'm thinking of doing one in like a grandfather, or some similar all-in-one system, which is basically brew in a bag. I know a lot of people use those electric systems too, so hit two birds at one stone.
Half way through this video and I had to stop and subscribe. I'm a complete newbie, my first kit beer is fermenting now. But I want to progress and I like how you think. :-D
There's definately some effort put forth to brew a good beer. But it's a labor of love!
Loved the vid. Was able to grasp the procedure and lingo at the same time. Please advise what is the main cause of Homebrew Tang? Cheers from Melbourne Australia.
Great question. The homebrew tang is usually an off flavor from either not having the correct temperature control, AKA fermentation temperature, oxidation from letting your beer splash around or exposing it to air too long, or not the correct pH of your water during the mash. I would focus on fermentation temperature control (Absolutely number one), then oxidation, then start talking water. Doing a whole video very shortly on water chemistry and pH. Stay tuned! Cheers 🍻
Hi cityscape brewery.Are those grains initially sprouted or unsprouted before crashing?
They are not sprouted. They are roasted or malted. I've heard of people using sprouted grains, even roasting them too, but there is risk of contamination and other gluten material in there.
I dunno if erring on the hot side of things with your strike water is a good idea. If you get the mash too hot, you end up with unfermentable dextrin sugars, which can result in a stuck fermentation, as I found out with my last brew. . .
The point is it's easier to cool down with a few ice cubes than it is to heat up. If you're short... You can cool it down relatively quickly with a handful of ice cubes
Great content Dennis, you walked through that process thoroughly, good learning curve for a new AG brewer, cheers from Oz 🍻🍻
Thanks! Glad you liked it. That's what it's all about... Making better beer! Let me know if you have questions about a specific topic that you want covered a bit more. Happy to take suggestions. Cheers!
I live in Texas and it’s 95 to 98 every day this time of year . So I was wondering, do I even need a heater in my fermentation chamber as it is on the covered back porch? What you think
Not necessarily for the summer but definitely in the winter, if night time temps go below your target fermentation temps. Heaters in the summer also help keep the beer from getting too cold as the freezer shuts off, but shouldn't have too many swings.
It is good to see your approach. Thanks for sharing!
Also I wonder if you know that there is usually a correction factor to be applied to the refractometer. You need to find the correction factor of your refractometer by comparing with a hydrometer. The correction factor is usually somewhere between 0.9 and 1.1.
I have tested my hydrometer against my refractometer and they're very close at about 60-80 degrees Fahrenheit. There is some correction needed if your wort is hotter or colder. I'm sure many refractometers are different and that is important to know. Refractometers also need a calculation when alcohol is present. I always use a hydrometer after fermentation, but during brew day a refractometer is way easier and lets me know I'm in the ballpark either way. Thanks for watching!
Hi Denis, Im´s thinking on becoming a Homebrewer. Great channel, just subscribed. You dont have views and subscribers you deserve, but keep the good work!
Slowly but surely! Thanks for the support! 🍻
Do you have a video something in the line of matching yeast with the type of beer you are making. I’m a little foggy in this area considering how many yeast and types of beer there are.
No, but that's a good idea for a future video. There are definitely yeasts for specific beer types, like a marzen Oktoberfest for instance, but there are a TON for just a clean IPA or pale ale that all have different flavor profiles. I like to switch it up and try new ones and find which ones I like. Smash beers are great for trying new yeasts too!
The temperature at which you ferment is that directly related to the yeast you are using , like the recommended temp for pitching. Will I use these temps are something in the middle. Guess what I’m trying to say is how do I know what the correct temp is for fermentation? Thank you in advance
Each yeast has a recommended temperature from the manufacturer. For instance safale US-05 says between 53.6 and 77° f., ideally 59 to 71.6° f. Says that right on the package. If you're unsure, you can also look it up on the yeast manufacturers website. Lager yeasts will be much cooler, and Kveik yeast will be much warmer. If you go out of those ranges, you will get off -flavors and esters in your beer... Most of the time undesirable flavors.
I'm curious about how quickly the harvested yeast took to really start working in the fermenter. Was active fermentation visible the next day? I used to recycle/harvest yeast, I think I'll start again after watching your method of harvesting commercial yeast. Thanks, great videos.
Starts in the first 12 hours if you ramp up the harvested yeast starter like I did in the other video. I typically do about 3-6 bottles of yeast in about a cup of wort for three days, then ramp up to a 1 liter starter after that for another 3 days or until it fully ferments and drops out. I've done that about 10 different times and each one turned out great. Let me know if you have any other questions. 🍻
@@CityscapeBrewing Thanks for your reply, very helpful.
Nice job explaining everything stop by step! It will help a lot with my first all grain this weekend. So I noticed you have your boat registered in SC midway through the video. I would have never thought you were from SC lol. You have to be a transplant because your missing that southern twang lol
Haha good eye. Glad you liked it. Yes I am originally from Minnesota.
What size bung and tube diameter would I need to create a blowoff tube? I have a bung with a smaller inner hole for a regular airlock. Using a 6.5gal Big Mouth Bubbler glass.
The easiest way to do it is find a vinyl tube big enough to fit over the interior tube that's already in a three-piece airlock (usually that is a 1/2 inch ID). That way you don't need any other equipment. The main component of the airlock fits in the bung and then the tube fits over the inside part of that piece and goes into a small jar of sanitizer. Alternatively, you can drill a larger hole in any size bung, But that's kind of hard with the rubbery material. I've done it both ways.
Thanks!
Thank you for the support!! You rock!! 🍻🤘
Really awesome video! Thanks!
Thanks. Glad you like it. New shorter brew day video going up next week. Brewed a Hazy IPA, stay tuned!!
You're the first person I've seen use a Lowe's water cooler for their mash tun. No idea why Home Depot gets all the love lol
Hahaha. I have thought that too. I just didn't want a giant bright orange one. Blue is way better! 🤣
Do you know of a web site where you can get clone recipes of your favorite beer ? Thanks
I would search a few places like Brewer's friend and BeerSmith. Both have a huge searchable recipe list. If you can't find it there, sometimes just Google it and you might get lucky!
In my 2nd fermentation I’m just resting to beer and letting it settle right ? It’s not really fermenting, not adding anymore yeast
My momma always said only stupid question is the one you didn’t ask lol
That's right. This is just a conditioning/clarifying stage. You don't need to see any movement in the airlock. 🍺
Where can I get a screen for 5 gallon bucket? Thanks
This one is similar to the one I have that fits on a bucket. It has two hooks for one side of the bucket and then the handle sits on the other side while you pour things in. Helps catch hop debris and aerates wort. amzn.to/43deHU8
enjoyed your teaching , I have been brewing using extract and want to kick it up a notch with all grain brewing. what size is your brew kettle? I cool my wort by sticking kettle in snow bank. Going down to -36 on Tues with wind chill factor. Fast cooling.
I ferment in the room near my Vermont castings woodstove , works great. I also always use a blow off tube. Lots of brewing here in the Maine , western Mtn range. North Woods. Great job on video.
Thanks! Definitely a big difference when you switch to all grain Brewing. My brew pot is 10 gallons. I also have the links to the specific one I use in my equipment video, including an immersion chiller and mash tun which I would highly recommend, especially for summer months when you can't cool outside. Reasonably priced stuff. I'm also going to make a video on how to make a mash tun next week! Stay tuned and check out the equipment in that video!
Here's the link to that one. Check the description. th-cam.com/video/9TZLoP8cfAg/w-d-xo.html
Excellent video!
On the chiller - my lhbs rep suggested putting the chiller right in the boiling wort because the copper is a micronutrient for the yeast.
Also - two suggestions on your volume levels. 1) get a body mic. Your own mic level is extremely inconsistent depending on where you're standing, and 2) if you must add sound effects (like the air horn) make them at the same dB rating as the main video. That blast was painful and I very nearly did NOT watch your excellent and very informative video as a result of that shock in the first few seconds.
Thanks for the feedback. That was one of my first videos. I have since upgraded my mic and my video editing skills. Haha. The only thing I would recommend for the wort chiller is to make sure you use high heat silicone tubing if you put it in your boil, I've seen others melt regular tubing from the heat. In reality, it's in the hot wort long enough just through regular chilling to kill any nasty bacteria on it, even without letting it sit in there 10-15 mins, but no harm as long as you use the right tubing.
I love All Grain BIAB ! 🍻🍻 #CHEERS
Cheers! 🍺
Slow play hat, red white and brew shirt… Rock Hill, SC !!
Yep! Great brewery too! 🍻
One of my favs!
I totally enjoyed your video, thank you. 1 question though, unless I missed it, did u add more plain water to your recipe after cooling and before adding the yeast? The recipes I use always seem to have me do that. Maybe it’s because I do it from an extract kit, not an all grain recipe. Would that be the difference? Thanks again.
Most kit instructions assume you're doing it on a smaller kettle inside of your house. You can do extract kits and all grain brewing with full boils in a larger pot. I used to do that when I did extract brewing. I started out with 6 gallons of spring water. I steeped my grains and added DME same as the instructions. You just don't have to add water at the end. It helps infuse the flavors in all of the water during the boil process. Essentially you're going from 6 gallons and boiling down to the appropriate amount. In your kits, you're doing more condensed version and adding water afterwards to get to the same amount. I would highly recommend getting a larger kettle and propane burner and doing full boils. That way the transition to all grain is easier as well.
Let me know if you have any other questions, happy to help!
@@CityscapeBrewing
Thanks a lot for the clarification. Makes a lot of sense, I will definitely try doing your way and see if I can taste a difference in the end product.
You're welcome! Happy to help.
I have 50 lbs whole grain pilsen and some Munich light malt. Would like to make a lite beer on next batch . What yeast and hops would you recommend. Have cascade on hand. Maybe a smash with just the pilsen . On fermentables they list several different pilsners ie pilsner uk, Pilsner ca, pilsen de. Not sure which to pick. Any ideals would be appreciated. Thanks
It shouldn't really matter that much, but if you know the brand you can put it there. The main difference is the lovibond number, which determines color(SRM). Most Pilsen malt will be very similar, like 1.2L so for the recipe, if doesn't matter really which one you pick, it should come out very similar no matter what. Cascade and Pilsen smash would be great.
So any Pilsner yeast be ok . As far as fermentation temp just whatever range is on pkg
Oh, if you are actually trying to go for a pilsner style then you need to use just some bittering hops, typically saaz or hallertaur hops, at the beginning and have the ability to lager at about 58° Fahrenheit. I would suggest looking up at pilsner recipe with good reviews to see an example and then try and use similar ingredients and stay in the same ABV and bitterness range. You won't need much. Hops.
Cool that helps
Can I find some good recipes on brewers friend ?
Awesome video. Thank you
You're welcome!
This is awesome. Keep up the good work!
Great Job Dennis!
1of the best videos on grain brewing. 1 question thou, where does 1 use a false bottom?
Thanks a lot!! A false bottom is the device at the bottom of the mash tun that helps screen the liquid wort as you are draining it to your kettle. In my video I showed a different device that does the same thing called a bazooka screen. Either option works fine! Let me know if you have any other questions!
Can you leave the mash tun to cool down over night and boil it in the morning?
I assume you mean after you mash and collect your wort into your kettle? You don't want to leave your mash that long in the mash tun, but once you pull it out, it's essentially just sugar water. I have never left it for an entire night, but I imagine you could as long as it was covered so nothing really got in it. It. Not so worried about bacteria necessarily, because you will be boiling it, but if you left it long enough, it can start getting sour from natural bacteria. In short, in a pinch you could do the mash one day, collect the wort in the kettle, cover it and boil the next morning. I wouldn't advise doing that often though.
So your base malt and specialty malt were all crushed together?
Yep. That doesn't matter, they are going in the same place. The only thing I leave out is flaked oats, flaked barley and flaked maize. They don't need to be crushed and they gum up the mill.
@@CityscapeBrewing thanks that’s what I thought. About to do first all grain batch.
Awesome. Let me know how it goes!
Brewing in a bag seems like less hassle than using a mash tun but what do I know I've never brewed just been watching a lot of videos before I dive in.
It is less hassle. The only difference is getting better clarity because you can recirculate/vorlauf and set the grain bed a bit better. You'll also get more efficiency (better starch to sugar conversion) with a mash tun so you need a little bit less grain. But on a homebrew scale it's not that big of a difference. I find it's also easier to clean out my mash tun by spraying it out with a hose instead of having to get all the grains out of a bag. It is just personal preference, lots of people use brew in a bag and make great beers. 🍻
Do you spray your bung with sanitizer? I was using a Carboy and the bung and the Carboy were slick so the bung was sliding up.
I usually do, but you can let it air dry before you put it in or try it off with something sanitized like a paper towel. In the future, You should try and find a little bit bigger bung if it is that loose though, to prevent it sliding out
What was your recipe and grain bill. That was never stated. Thank you
Hi William, the recipe is shown at the 20 second mark in the video and I have a link to download that same recipe sheet from Bell's website in the video description. To make it easier, I actually typed out the full recipe for you, along with all of the expected numbers in the video description as well. Click the "show more" button under the video to see the entire description. Let me know if you have any other questions. cheers!
Thank you!
You're welcome!!
Hello everyone, I am new to brewing, question, why can’t you you the mash in the kettle, why a mash tun ?
That's a good question. Happy to help, that's what this channel is all about, helping people become better brewers. Shirt answer is you can use a kettle if you want to, the issue is having consistent temperature over 60 minutes. It is difficult to maintain a constant temperature for 60 minutes without having hot spots on the bottom where you're heating it. To prevent that you'll need constant recirculation which is what some all-in-one electric models do. The reason I use a rubbermaid container is because it will hold the temperature without needing to recirculate or move around the liquid/grains for the entire 60 minutes. For proper starch to sugar mash conversion, You want an exact mash temperature (depending on beer style) to be consistent throughout the entire mashtun and for the entire 60 minute mash rest. Hope that helps! 🍻
AWESOME BREW DAY!!!! The video is GREAT!!! The only issue that occurred on the brew day was that the recipe produced moonshiners beer. It appears, that whoever wrote the recipe is familiar with the way that moonshiners beer is made, which was popular during Prohibition. Homebrewers didn't use the brewing method, unless, they were moonshiners because they used malt syrup available in markets, with herbs and spices for flavoring because hops were difficult to obtain. It's where specialty beer and winter warmers came from.
The single temperature infusion method is used in grain distillation, where glucose is only needed. The brewing method skips three steps that are required for producing ale and lager, conversion, dextrinization, and gelatinization. Single temperature infusion, chemically and enzymatically, cannot produce ale, due to the way that enzymes function, and chemical precipitation.
You have starch, and the way that enzymes work with starch, a little confused. Starch is a poly-saccharide. There are two types of starch in malt, simple and complex, and neither one, converts to sugar. In brewing, the correct term is mash conversion. Conversion has nothing to do with starch, it has to do with simple sugar, glucose. Alpha deals with starch, Beta deals with glucose.
This is the way it works during mashing. Alpha is responsible for liquefaction. When Alpha liquefies simple starch, amylose, it does it at a 1-4 link in the starch chain, and when that happens, two chains form, and the name changes. The one chain is called the reducing end, and the other chain is called the nonreducing end. The reducing end contains 1-4 links and after Alpha liquefies all of the links, sweet tasting, nonfermenting, types of sugar, remain. The nonreducing end is simple sugar, glucose. Glucose is responsible for primary fermentation and ABV. The higher the rest temperature, the quicker Alpha denatures, and sweeter tasting, low ABV beer is produced.
The rest temperature recommended in the recipe is used by moonshiners because at 150F, Alpha releases the highest volume of glucose, as possible, from amylose, within one hour. The more glucose, the more alcohol. The high temperature denatures low temperature activated enzymes that are needed for making ale and lager, Beta in particular, which makes strike and target temperature, useless. Beta is purposely denatured in moonshining because the enzyme gets in the way by slowing down the process.
Beta is responsible for conversion, which occurs at 140 to 145F. During conversion, Beta turns the glucose that Alpha releases during liquefaction, into fermentable, complex, types of sugar, maltose and maltotriose, which are the types of sugar that produces ale and lager. When conversion occurs, secondary fermentation takes place, due to maltose. Maltotriose is responsible for natural carbonation. Beer doesn't need priming sugar, or CO2 injection to carbonate, when conversion occurs.
When Alpha liquefies complex starch, called amylopectin, dextrinization and gelatinization takes place. Dextrinization and gelatinization are responsible for body and mouthfeel in beer. Amylopectin is hard, heat resistant, complex starch that makes up the tips of malt and it is the richest starch in malt. Contained in amylopectin are A and B limit dextrin, which are tasteless, nonfermenting, types of sugar, and pectin. A and B limit dextrin, pectin, and a type of albuminus, protein, provides the body and mouthfeel in beer. In homebrewing, amylopectin, is thrown away with the spent mash because the temperatures are not high enough to burst the heat resistant, starch, where it would enter into the mash liquid, before Alpha denatures. When the starch is thrown away, beer overly, dries and thins during fermentation and conditioning. It is one of the reasons why homebrew is artificially carbonated, and drank, green, from boiler to belly in three or four weeks. To take advantage of amylopectin, the Hochkurz and triple decoction brewing methods are used. When the boiling decoctions are added back into the main mash, Alpha liquefies amylopectin, and dextrinization and gelatinization occurs. The only time dextrinization occurs in the infusion method happens when amylose contains a 1-6 link in the starch chain, which is extremely, rare. In homebrewing, it is made to appear that dextrinization occurs when mash is rested at a high temperature, which isn't the case.
To place the brew cart behind the horse, every bag of malt comes with a malt spec sheet, which is used in brewing for determining the quality of malt, before the malt is purchased. Listed on a malt spec sheet are a bunch of chemical acronyms and numbers that a brewer uses to find out if the malt is better for making whiskey with, or more suitable, for producing ale and lager. It is not a bad idea to become familiar with the data on a malt spec sheet. Malt spec sheets are online from each malthouse.
For a recipe to be accurate, the malthouse that produces the base malt has to be identified in order to obtain the malt spec sheet. The recipe recommended 2 row malt, which is similar to asking a person to buy a 2 door car without offering any specs. The recipe recommended a rest temperature that's used in grain distillation, where high modified, to over modified, malt is used. Marris Otter, Halcyon and Golden Promise are examples of high quality, distillers malt.
Weyermann's floor malt is under modified, low protein, malt. Gladfield's base malts are under modified. Under modified, malt is richer in enzyme content than high modified, malt, and low protein, malt contains more sugar. Malt, 40 Kolbach and lower is under modified. Malt should contain less than 10 percent protein. The higher, the Kolbach number and the higher, the protein content in malt, the less suitable the malt is for making ale and lager. Both numbers are listed on a malt spec sheet.
Try not to slop hot water into mash, you want to reduce the risk of oxidation, not increase it.
Iodine only determines if starch is present, it cannot determine when conversion occurs. Depending on the type of sugar that's in the sample, the colors of Iodine will vary from yellow-orange to deep red-mahogany.
It's probably better to crush a tablet, the guy that makes the stuff, recommends it.
A dye is first used, to determine if yeast is worth saving. It would be better to forget about harvesting yeast because sooner or later you will ruin a batch of beer. Yeast becomes senile.
To learn how to make ale and lager start out with DeClerks books.
Thanks
You should read the directions on the ferm cap. Definately not a teaspoon.
I didn't mean a teaspoon literally.... A few drops basically.
@@CityscapeBrewing I've heard 1 drop per gallon of wort
Question, so you heat your sparge to around 175? I have been hearing to almost boil and adding into a warm cooler. Do you think that is too high? I have had good results at that temp but haven’t tried lower.
There's no need to go over 180°. You're just rinsing the sugars off of the grains essentially. You're not doing any more starch conversion. I don't know the benefit of doing any hotter, but you could end up melting your cooler or other plastics potentially. Most breweries fly sparge at 170° And that slowly trickles out and even cools off some as it goes into the mash tun.
@@CityscapeBrewing thank you for the advice and for the great video!
Welcome 🍻
So many great tips Dennis! Thank you mate!
One question though,have you ever tried to conserve water whilst cooling the wort or using the water again instead of letting the excess run down your driveway?
Here in Australia water is precious,so we try to re-use as much water as possible.
I sometimes fill up some buckets to water my garden and potted plants with, but not everytime. I've seen others run the line to their wash machine and almost fills it up for a load to reuse the water. Probably a good idea to conserve as much as we can. Thanks for the advice.
@@CityscapeBrewing
I mainly do No Chill cubing.Maybe you could check this out to see if it works for you too!🍻
Will do. Thanks
I have that same kettle
It's a good one for a fraction of most brew kettles. I've had a lot of people ask me about equipment, so I link my exact stuff in the video description so people can save some money. Cheers🍻
@@CityscapeBrewing It is an excellent kettle especially for the price. It has a raised area around the bottom if you wish to use a false bottom. I use a hop spyder and a bazooka strainer personally but as we all know there is no one right way to do this home brew thing. I like the vids I have watched of yours. Always like to see new perspectives on our style of all grain home brewing. Cheers to all.
Thanks. I got a bunch more brew day vids coming in the next few weeks. One is an Oktoberfest I brewed today! 🍻
What KIND OF thermometer Is THAT
It's a flip open version. You can see that and all the exact equipment I use here: www.amazon.com/shop/cityscapebrewing
Can the wrong amount or combination of water additions affect OG/FG ?
Reason I ask abt water additions is on my last Brew everything was going according to plan and working perfectly. All temps were right on the money until I did my OG. Suppose to be 1.058 but was 1.043. I used gypsum, calcium carbonate, and 5 star ph. Seems to be fermenting ok at 67. Not sure how it will turn out but had fun it anyway lol
No water additions would not do that. That sounds like too much water, not boiling rapidly enough, or not a great crush on your grains. Did you have the correct volume at the end of your boil? What are you using for your recipe OG, a kit or a recipe online?
Actually it was a recipe you gave me with the grains I had 10 lbs pale ale malt and .5 lbs Munich malt . Safale 05 . I think a little of all the above . I noticed a lot of whole grain in the left overs that I’m giving to my chickens and yes I had abt 3/4 gal more water at boil . Was going to let it keep boiling past 60 min mark but only let it boil a extra 10 min in hindsight should have just let it keep boiling. Also when I put in info on brewfr app I think it may have been defaulted to extract instead of mash idk. Good lessons learned
Also fermentation after abt 16 hours seems a little slow at 67 degrees but may not be giving it enough time
Boiling longer isn't always good because it will get more bitter the longer you boil the hops. You want to make sure your water is the correct volumes when you start. A bit over isn't bad but you don't want to boil for another half an hour. I use brewer's friend too but make sure that you're putting in the right quantities and systems because that really makes a big difference. Sometimes it can take over 24 hours to get fermentation started. So I wouldn't be too worried about that
Can you do it in India? Can you setup a course in India.
Sorry man. Im in the U.S.A. but I'm sure there are brewing clubs or people who do this all over the world.
@@CityscapeBrewing do you have links in the industry who can do it ?
Nice video. Basically the same procedure I use, except I don't have a spider, I use reusable hop bags clipped to the sides of the kettle with clothes pins. (Just make sure you don't let the strings fall down or you'll burn them off LOL) I also go nuts with my vourlaufing. I use two kitchen pots and pour back through a spaghetti colander so as not to disturb the grain bed. It kinda "rains" down gently. I'll alternate filling and pouring the pots at medium drain speed about 20-30 times until the wort is really clear. I know, I'm anal. Hehe. I take first runnings gravity, sparge gravity, and pre-boil gravity readings with a refractometer, and after chilling, an original gravity reading with both refrac and hydrometer. Cheers!
Thanks! Yeah either way helps reduce hop partials in your wort. Thanks for watching!
Very loud noise suddenly came out‼️
Protein break
Quiet voice audio + super loud bullhorn at 0:08 was just mean.
That wasn't the intent. This was literally my second video ever made and was very new at editing and didn't probably sound that loud at the time. I've gotten better lol.
@@CityscapeBrewing No worries man, glad you've stuck with it!
The multiple times you drain off some wort so you don’t get a bunch of grain in your next container seems like a problem that could just be solved with a sieve
That's a good question, and although you can do that(like brew in a bag would do) It's really doing two things, setting the grain bed to act as a strainer, and also "rinsing" the grains to pull out more sugars. Recirculation, even with the same wort, helps increase efficiency.
Can you go too hot
Do you mean too hot with the mash? If so, Absolutely. You want to make sure you are within a few degrees of the target, mash temperature. Mash temperature determines the mouth feel and amount of fermentable sugars that will end up in your beer.
@@CityscapeBrewing sorry I should have asked a better question. What I meant is what's the harm if you start way hotter and then let it cool down on iymts own. And I think you already answered it, the mouth feel change?
Most of the starch conversion actually happens in the first 15 minutes. I would try to get the temperature as close as possible from the start and if it drops below, most of the conversion will be already done. How are you mashing? Do you have a cooler mash tun like mine or a kettle?
@Cityscape Brewing I have a igloo but I'm looking for an electric all in one the clawhamer system is looking pretty good but it's 1000 bucks
Yeah they get spendy fast.... I actually like the mash tun in a cooler process mainly because I can have bigger mashes(more grains). The electric systems are good and all, but have some limitations depending on the size kettle. I have a friend that has one and sometimes has to add water at the end to bring up to the correct volume.
Great video! Really helpful!
Thanks! 🍻