My all grain journey

[Prawnstarr13]

]Just a quick diary to show/ see where I'm going where I've been and pick up a few hints and tips on the way
Ok so I want to make some scotch !!
I have bought some grain and am having a go!
I put 1.6kgs (3.5lbs of heavily peated malted barley) and 1.6 kgs (3.5lbs) maris otter malt with 3 gallon of water heated to 74c (165f) when added to grain temp dropped to 64c (147f roughly) kept it there for an hour to extract the starch /sugar
stirred it regularly and it tasted quite sweet.

Fermenter with grain

I moved it from my 15 litre (4gall) pan on the stove top to my plastic 25l (6gal) fermenter topped up with water to get it to 30c (86f) then added my

Yeast

alcotec single strain whisky yeast with amyloglucosidase to a jug of the mash cooled to 86f it started pretty quick with large bubbles under a sort of light cap on top with it bubbling away like mad underneath

Starter

Checked the Sg and it was 1.4 a bit low maybe but I thought I'd still run it to see what goes

I mixed it into the 25 l fermenter and put it on the heat pad with an airlock

Fermenting on grain with heat pad

Came down this morning and a thick cap had formed on it

Cap on wash

The airlock was going well this morning https://vimeo.com/115666700and smells really peaty on lifting the lid with a dry looking cap so we have lift off lol
Let's head down the rabbit hole!!
Cheers for looking

[Prawnstarr13]

sorted now

[MitchyBourbon]

Can you crop the photos? Video work well. Got it going like gang busters.

[sltm1]

Pawnstarr, I don't know "Mac", but is there a jpg photo folder somewhere (like documents or photo's), if so those are doable with the, "Upload Attachments" folder down below where you doing your posting.

[Prawnstarr13]

Tried uploading photos it say too large must be less than 1000 pixels but I resized them to 800x600 and no go I'll have another go now

[Prawnstarr13]

Ok got a resizing app sorted now better with pictures

[Prawnstarr13]

Been down to check on it this morning and it's holding 77f steady
Cap still pretty much the same

seems to heal any marks I put into it made a recess for the airlock bung and it's filled back up lol
Airlock still going well too
https://vimeo.com/115702606

[still_stirrin]

And the wait begins.....

Lookin' good Prawnstarr.
ss

[Prawnstarr13]

Cheers matey done plenty of sweet feed but want scotch so it's gotta be done need to get an idea how to raise starting sg to get more alcohol without using sugar

[firewater69]

Try 10lbs of base malt to your 3.5 of peated.

[Prawnstarr13]

Just had a play with the mash efficiency thingymabob and
6 gall x1040 = 240
Divided by amount of malt = 7 lbs = 34.28 ppt which is good conversion so I guess I just have to use more to get higher sg ? Yeah?

[Prawnstarr13]

10lbs of malt and my 3.5 lbs peated ok how much water do I need to mash that will 3 gallon be ok ?

[firewater69]

I use 1.5 qts per pound.

[Prawnstarr13]

Ok so that's 4 gallons of water plus grain in my 4 gallon pot can I get away with less water ? And maybe add extra to make up to 6 gallon in my fermenter?

[firewater69]

Thats actually a little over 5 gal, your grain will soak up some. water. if your gonna use a 4 gal pot to mash in and ferment on the grain, you'll have to split it. i dont ferment on the grain when i use barley, i made a mashtun out of an ice chest & after mashing i drain into my fermenter and top it off with the sparge water. any water left over can be used for the next batch or added to some of the grain and make a sugarhead. Look up some info on building a mashtun.

[ShineonCrazyDiamond]

Thats actually a little over 5 gal, your grain will soak up some. water. if your gonna use a 4 gal pot to mash in and ferment on the grain, you'll have to split it. i dont ferment on the grain when i use barley, i made a mashtun out of an ice chest & after mashing i drain into my fermenter and top it off with the sparge water. any water left over can be used for the next batch or added to some of the grain and make a sugarhead. Look up some info on building a mashtun.

I so want one of these. Sigh, one day. Got other builds to worry about, first.

http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=4767

Anyways, so there are folks that sparge for all grain, rather then squeeze after(for distillation)? Is there a loss in sg or flavor?

[Prawnstarr13]

I have cut the top off a stainless steel half uk keg (5.5 uk gallons) could use that with my broiler I spose, just like doing this on the stove in the house
I am looking out for a cool box in the 12.5 us gallon size to do the job (48)litres as an insulated mash tun but not paying £100 for one so I must wait till I find a cheap one tis the season and all that

[firewater69]

@ SCD, im sure there is a little loss due to sparging, and im sure there is probably a little more gained by fermenting on the grain. i do ferment corn on the grain but i hate squeezin and only do it when i have to. i usually do 2 ferments back to back and use any extra sparge to go in the next mash. my mashtun is just an old cooler with a bazooka tube and a drain valve.

[Prawnstarr13]

I'm fermenting on the grain always do don't see the point of sparging etc just a simple boy! Lol
Ok so how do I work out how much plain grain I can add to the malt and still get a good conversion ?

[firewater69]

There are some good threads on the dp of malts and formulas for figuring malted to unmalted ratios. ya just gotta do a little diggin. you can easily go 50/50 with barley.

[Prawnstarr13]

There are some good threads on the dp of malts and formulas for figuring malted to unmalted ratios. ya just gotta do a little diggin. you can easily go 50/50 with barley.

Yup I know sometimes it's difficult to work out the keywords to find it especially when you don't always know the terminology
So if I go 4lb peated malt and 4lb plain malted and 4lb rolled barley I should be ok yeah? Into 8-10 quarts water and see what goes ?
So I must mash the 4lb rolled barley at 165 f to release the starch then add the malt, drop the temp to 145 or so and keep stirring till it loosens up then drop temp to 86f to add my starter
Anyone been happy with fresh bread yeast as a starter or am I best keeping to a whisky yeast?

[firewater69]

12lbs of grain would be awful thick in only 8-10 qts of water.

[Prawnstarr13]

I can add another 6 or so with the fermenter headroom

[firewater69]

I think your conversion will suffer, i would split it. It's your grain do as you please.

[Prawnstarr13]

Wasn't been funny lol
Just rather cook off in the kitchen than drag my stuff to and from garage (7 miles away) Ok no bother I can do 2 batches no problem then put into the one fermenter yeah?
Starting sg of 1040 is good conversion though ? And by adding more grain from the split mixes it will increase the concentration therefore the sg ? Correct?

[ShineonCrazyDiamond]

Wasn't been funny lol
Just rather cook off in the kitchen than drag my stuff to and from garage (7 miles away) Ok no bother I can do 2 batches no problem then put into the one fermenter yeah?
Starting sg of 1040 is good conversion though ? And by adding more grain from the split mixes it will increase the concentration therefore the sg ? Correct?

http://www.howtobrew.com/intro.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

Amazing read on all grain. Until you read it, you shouldn't be doing what you're trying to do. Trust me, is worth the read.

It's aimed at brewing beer, but after all, that is what we are doing. Minus the hops.

Plus if you read all sections, you WILL know how to make beer as well.

[Prawnstarr13]

Thankyou

[ShineonCrazyDiamond]

Thankyou

Hey, you're welcome. It helped me immensely when I couldn't wrap my head around malts.

Now, when I get to beer brewing, I will be able to skip extract brewing all together - all because of the day our so I set aside to read this in its entirety.

Happy adventures! And happy New year to a prosperous new hobby.

[MichiganCornhusker]

Amazing read on all grain.

+1 It's a great series, so much info on mashing grains for AG recipes.

[Prawnstarr13]

I have been doing sweet feed sugar head for a few months now but just want to sack the sugar off and get the most from my grain and learn.
I do most things to learn and do a good job! I built my still and parrot and brewed my first sweet feed from the recipes on here I love it !,
This mash will run fine I just want to make a good job (efficient) and make a good drop of Islay style malt for my trouble lol