These instructions are meant as a rough guide for the homebrewer who is either just starting out in all-grain brewing, and/or for the beginner all-grain brewer who needs a reminder on the basics. These instructions will help you brew your first few all-grain batches, and outline the basic principles of all-grain brewing. These instructions DO NOT go into into every single detail of all-grain brewing. Entire books are written on how to all-grain brew, and, indeed it takes a whole book to really get a total understanding of the chemistry that is involved. So if you want to get your feet wet and take away any fear or hesitation you may have about all-grain brewing, these instructions will allow you to actually brew an all grain batch of homebrew on a nice, simple level. If you'd like to learn more about all-grain brewing, we highly recommend the book "How To Brew" by John Palmer. It provides excellent information on almost every aspect of all grain brewing. Step 1) "Mise En Place" The first step in all-grain homebrewing is very similar to extract homebrewing in that you want to make sure that you have all of your equipment in place before you actually begin the brewing process. You will be using all of the same equipment that you use when you extract brew plus a few extra pieces of new equipment... So, first review your basic brewing equipment; if you need a check list to remind you what that is, quickly go to the extract brewing instructions - step 1. Once you're sure you have all of your basic brewing equipment, then it's time to review your new all-grain equipment. Here's a list of the extra equipment you'll need: A mash/lauter tun. This is the vessel where you will mash your grains. There are many different types of mash tuns, but for these instructions, we suggest using the most popular type, an igloo cooler mash tun (5 or 10 gallon) with false bottom and spigot. A large, heat resistant spoon or mash paddle. You'll want this implement to be at least 20" long so that you can stir the mash deep down. Heat resistant tubing. For when you drain the wort out of your mash tun. You DO NOT want to use normal, clear vinyl tubing for this procedure! A 30 quart brew pot (or larger). When you all grain brew, you HAVE TO brew the entire volume of beer all at once, plus an extra gallon or so per 5 gallon batch. If your pot is any smaller than 30 quarts (7.5 gallons), you will have to get a larger pot. A 1/2 gallon or 1 gallon pitcher. Used in the sparging process. Equipment that's not absolutely necessary but helpful: A hot liquor tank. A vessel that holds your mash water and sparge water. This vessel is usually the same type of vessel as your mash tun (in this case, for these instructions, an igloo cooler). An extra brew pot or stock pot. If you're not using a hot liquor tank, an extra brew pot can also make things a lot easier. A floating or mash thermometer. While you can use the thermometer from your brew pot, you will get much better temperature readings from a thermometer that can go deeper into the grain bed. Once you have reviewed all of your equipment, there are few more things to prepare. If you are unsure of any equipment you have, or what you'll need, as always, you are welcome to call us directly at the store! a) Double check your recipe kit. Make sure that you have all of the ingredients that are listed on your recipe printout. If you think something is missing, call us before you brew! If this is your first time all-grain brewing, you may feel like something is missing , and there is... no malt extract! Now you're brewing somewhat like a commercial brewer does, just using water, malt grain, hops, and yeast. One last note here: Make sure that you have your grains crushed and mixed together by the store that you buy them from. b) Before you begin to brew, you'll need to figure out how you are going to produce the water for your mash and sparge. As we said in the check list above, ideally you would want to use a hot liquor tank. If you are using one, you can proceed to step 2 below. If you don't have a hot liquor tank, you will need to figure out a system that will make it as easy as possible for you to get enough of the proper temperature water to your mash tun both for the mash and the sparge. You can use your brew pot for the purpose, but this can be a little challenging when you get to the sparge and you're draining the wort into your brew pot. If you have an extra pot that's at least 16 quarts, it will make life easier for you during sparging. Step 2) Heating The Mash Water a) In order to mash your grains, you are going to need a specific amount of filtered water that is heated to a specific temperature (this is referred to as the "strike temperature"). Notice that we said filtered water and not distilled or spring water; the reason for this is that your grain will rely on certain minerals to help make the mash happen properly... distilled water is devoid of any minerals and spring water is unpredictable with its mineral content, whereas your tap water is consistent... all you need to do is filter it through a good charcoal filter (such as a Brita). b) To figure out how much water you'll need to add, you can do a simple equation. Most experts agree that homebrewers should use somewhere between 1 and 1.5 quarts of water per pound of grain that is in your recipe. We recommend that you go with 1.5 quarts, as this will make it easier to stir the mash and to sparge it later on. So, for example lets say that your first all-grain batch uses 10lbs. of pale malt, 1 lb. of crystal 90L, and .5 lb. of wheat... that would be a total of 11.5 lbs. of grain. Get a calculator and times 11.5 by 1.5... the sum is 17.25... so you now know that you'll need 17.25 quarts of water. Now, to make that easier to understand, we want to turn that number into gallons, so just devide the total quarts by 4... the sum is 4.31. So now we know, for this example, that we need 4.33 gallons of water. Done! Not too hard. c) Figuring out your strike water temperature is a little bit harder. Every style of beer has an ideal temperature to mash at, and it can be tricky to do the math when you're not used to all-grain brewing. So, we highly recommend that you speak with us when you are picking up your all-grain recipe and we can help you figure out what mash and strike temperatures you'll need for any given batch of beer. If you're computer savvy, you can also get a good homebrewing program such as Beersmith or BeerTools, which have calculators for many different things including mash and strike temperature. Generally speaking, however, the mash range goes from 149° - 158°... as long as you stay within that range, the starches in your grain will be converted to sugar. d) In any event, once you figure out the volume of water you need and the temperature it needs to be at, you then need to actually get that amount of water and heat it. If you have a hot liquor tank, it's as simple as getting your brew pot, filling it with the water and heating to your strike temperature, then just pour the mash water into the hot liquor tank and you're ready to mash. If you don't have a hot liquor tank, you'll still need to get your water into a pot and heat it up... but you'll want to use it quickly after you get it to temperature... as the pot is not insulated. Now it's time to mash! Step 3) Mashing a) You have your mash tun in place and your water is at temperature, so it's time to mash! Before you start, make sure that your false bottom is properly connected to the spigot on your mash tun! If you have a hot liquor tank, all you have to do is open the spigot and start pouring the strike water into the mash tun. If you're using a pot of water, you'll have to carefully pour it directly into the mash tun. Either way, next you'll have to start mixing the water and the grain in the mash tun. There are different methods of doing this, and everyone seems to have a preferred method. We suggest that you start by first pouring in 1 gallon of water into the mash tun. When you have about 1 gallon of mash water in the bottom of your tun, you then want to start gradually mixing in the grains. If you have a hot liquor tank, you can leave the spigot on and just guage how much water is coming out, and either increase or decrease the flow so that you have an equal mix of water and grains pouring in the tun at the same time... make sure to stir the grains and water together constantly during this process. If you don't have a hot liquor tank, you'll either need a friend to pour water while you stir, or you'll have to alternate between pouring water, pouring grains, and stirring. Either way, your goal is to pour and blend the water and grains equally, making sure that no dry spots of grain (a.k.a. dough balls) remain in the mash tun. You should do this task calmly, but you should also try not to waste time... if you take too long combining the grains and water, you can loose your target mash temperature. b) Once your grain is evenly mixed with the water, quickly put a thermometer into the mash and close the lid for a minute. After a minute, take the lid off and check your mash temperature. If it is at the temperature (or within 1 degree) of your target mash temperature, then proceed to step 3c below. If your mash is warmer than your target by more than 1 degree, simply leave the top off of the tun and continue to stir the mash until it drops to your target and then close the lid. If your mash is cooler than your target by more than 1 degree, you can add a small amount of boiling water... never add any more than a quart of water when doing this, and make sure to stir thoroughly between additions so that the water can have time to mix in evenly before you take a temperature reading again. Once your temperature is in check, close the lid firmly and proceed to step 3c below. c) Your mashing! For most recipes, 1 to 1.25 hours is enough time for all of the starches to be converted to sugar. So set a timer and take a breath. Every 20 to 30 minutes we suggest that you open the lid to the tun, stir the grain briefly and quickly take the temperature of the mash just to make sure it's within a degree of your target. If it ever falls more than a degree, you should follow the instructions in step 3b for increasing the mash temperature. d) When your mash has about 30 minutes left, you should start to prepare your sparge water. You will need 1.5 to 2 quarts of water per pound of grain (follow the equation given in step 2b). You will usually want to get your sparge water to 200° for most recipes. It's almost time to sparge! Step 4) Sparging a) When your grains are done mashing it's time to prepare youself for sparging. First, make sure that your sparge water is ready and at temperature. Next, make sure that your equipment is lined up properly. You will want to have your brew pot situated below your mash tun, but it shouldn't be in your way as you sparge the mash. Finally, put your heat resistant tubing on to your mash tuns spigot and put the loose end into the brew pot. b) Once you're set up and ready to go, it's time to recirculate. This step is also known as the Vorlauf step. The point of the vorlauf step is to make sure that the wort coming out of the mash tun is running clear and is free from any grain or debris. To start this process, have your pitcher ready to go. Remove the lid to your mash tun and put it to the side. Hold the loose end of the heat resistant tubing so it's aimed inside the pitcher and then very slowly start to open the mash tun spigot. Make sure not to open the spigot all the way. You want to open the spigot just enough so that a steady, gentle stream of wort is coming out. Sweet wort should start to run out of the hose along with little bits of grain. After you have collected about 1 quart of wort you should start to notice that the wort is running clearer. At this point, gently turn off the spigot and very delicately pour the wort in the pitcher back on top of the mash, moving the stream from the pitcher in a circlular motion. When you're pouring liquid into the mash you want to be careful not to disturb the grain bed... you can do this by pouring gently and by moving the stream of the liquid in circular motions. When the pitcher is empty, repeat the vorlauf step one more time to make sure that the wort is running absolutely clear with no bits of grain... collect another quart of wort, and then gently pour it back into the mash again. If the wort is running nice and clear, it's time to sparge. If the wort is still running cloudy and/or if it has bits of grain in it, continue to repeat the vorlauf step until it runs clear (usually the wort shuld be clear after 2 or 3 quarts of wort have been taken... if it's taking you longer than this, review your movements and make sure that you're being delicate and don't use fast or jarring movements). c) You've completed the vorlauf step and your wort started to run clear, so now it's time to sparge your grain. If you have a friend with you, have them hold the loose end of the tubing... If you are brewing solo, put the tubing directly into the pot in a way so that there is no chance of the wort spilling on to the floor. Delicately start to open the spigot so that a slow steady stream of wort is coming out. As the wort comes out of the mash tun the liquid level within the mash will obviously drop... So you will need to add sparge water. If you have a hot liquor tank, open the spigot so that you have a stream of water that about equals the stream of wort coming out of the mash tun... this is your goal, to have water coming in the mash tun as fast or slow as the wort is coming out . You also want to try to keep the level of water above the grain, about an inch is good; this will help prevent the grain bed from being disturbed by the water going into the mash tun. If you don't have a hot liquor tank, you will need to delicately pour the sparge water directly from the pot that you heated it in... or you can fill the pitcher (that you used for vorlaufing) a few times with the heated water, if that makes the pouring process easier for you. You want to do the same process that is described in the paragraph above, although it will be a little bit harder to keep the water flow exactly even to the wort flow. It doesn't have to be perfect though. Just be patient and calm. If your arm gets tired, take a break every minute or so (but make sure to keep the water level about an inch above the grain!). If you sparge too quickly, or if grain somehow compacts too tightly, you may get a "stuck sparge". This is not the most fun thing... but there's no need to panic. The first thing to do is to make sure that you stop pouring sparge water into the mash tun. Then, make sure the spigot is closed. Put the loose end of the tubing into your mouth and put your hand on to the spigot handle. Quickly open the spigot handle all the way and then quickly, and forcefully blow into the tubing... the moment you're done blowing, point the tubing into the pitcher (that you used for the vorlauf step) and see if it starts to flow. If it does, immediately slow down the flow of the wort so that it is going slowly as described previously... you will have to go through the vorlauf process again to make sure that the wort is running clear. This is about the only time it's okay to put your mouth to unfermented wort... it hasn't boiled yet, so there's no concern for the wort getting infected. If the mash still doesn't release the wort after blowing into it, you may have to give it a really good stir... then wait a few minutes and try to blow into the tubing again. If it still doesn't work, you may have a mechanical failure with your false bottom or spigot... It is important to remember that the goal of sparging is to get as much of the sugar (that was produced during the mash) out of the mash tun and into the brew pot... The only way to insure this is to sparge slowly. It should take an absolute minimum of 30 minutes to fill your brew pot with approximately 6 gallons of wort. Ideally, it should take you about 45 - 60 minutes. You can control how long it takes to sparge becuase you can control how slowly the wort comes out of the tun. It can be hard to grasp this during your first all-grain batch, but just remember that slower is always better. If it takes you 1.5 hours to get 6 gallons of wort out, that's better than if it took only 15 - 30 minutes. As your kettle is getting close to filling to the 6 gallon mark, you can stop pouring the sparge water and let the remaining water in the mash do the work. If you think you can get a little more wort out, you can do so, but never go above 6.5 gallons... and realize that you will have to brew the beer a little longer so that it evaporates down to 5 gallons when it's done. Step 4) Brewing Once you gotten 6 gallons of wort into your brew kettle it's time to brew. That's it! You've just completed the all-grain portion of your brew! From here on out the all-grain brewing process is almost identical to the extract brewing process. Just remember that you're doing a full boil... so make sure to boil the wort as hot as possible (without it boiling over) for at least 1 hour. You'll need to boil the wort down to 5 gallons to insure that you hit the proper gravity. Don't forget to add the hops at the specified times! If you need help remembering the basic brewing process, go back with your browser and click the basic extract brewing instructions. Cheers! To learn about late breaking news, future events, contests, new products, and much more, join our monthly online newsletter! It only takes a moment of your time and there's plenty to learn! And we never share your email address with anyone. Join hundreds of Brewer's Apprentice customers and their thirst for a better brew, meet other brewers, learn about new products, and become an all-around cooler person... become a brewer! The Brewer's Apprentice, Inc. ~ 179 South Street, Freehold, NJ 07728 ~ 732-863-9411 Store Hours: Monday, Wednesday - Friday: 1pm - 8pm ~ Saturday & Sunday: 10am - 4pm Copyright © 2010 The Brewer's Apprentice. All rights reserved. Website Created By: Inner Eye Design.