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All Grain Brew Day Checklist

seanthanna

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Nov 28, 2016
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I've done a few extract and partial mashes and have enjoyed the beers I've made but something feels like cheating and quite frankly partial mash (BIAB technique) seems like more hassle than it's worth.  With all that in mind, I used the holiday wish list to upgrade my gear for all grain. 

I like to have a plan and usually write out checklists to keep things in order so I can get toasty throughout and not worry I'm completely missing something. 

I was hoping for some feedback on my first draft on my AG Brew Day Checklist. I apologize that the formatting is a little wonky pasting from Word. 

Thanks!

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Prior to brew day
o Purchase grain bill, hops, yeast, and any other ingredients needed for recipe. 
o Double check the following are on hand
o Starsan/PBW
o Irish Moss or Whirlfloc
o Iodine
o Plan out Mash Schedule http://www.brewersfriend.com/mash/
o Make yeast starter if needed http://www.brewersfriend.com/yeast-pitch-rate-and-starter-calculator/

Brew Day

Ingredients Needed
o Grains
o Hops
o Yeast
o Irish Moss/Whirlfloc Tablets
o Other recipe ingredients

Equipment Needed For Mash
o Stove or Induction Cooktop
o 2ft  hi-temp tubing x2
o Camlocks
o MLT
o HLT
o Spare Pot
o Blankets
o Pitcher
o Mash Paddle
o Drill
o Thermapen
o Wine Thief
o Hydrometer
o Iodine
o Brew Kettle
o Dip Tube
o Thermometer
o Ball Valve
o Whirlpool Arm
o Propane Burner and Tank

Mash
o Clean Hot Liquor Tank (HLT) and begin heating strike water. 
o Clean Brew Kettle and all hardware thoroughly and heat another gallon of water to boiling for temp adjustments. 
o Fill pitcher with cold water for temperature adjustments
o Clean Mash/Lauter Tun (MLT), a pitcher, all hardware, thermapen, and mash paddle thoroughly
o Assemble hardware on MLT and Brew Kettle and perform leak test
o Ensure valves are closed on MLT and kettle and ensure Big Dipper tube is positioned towards the outter rim of kettle.
o Once strike water is up to temp, record temp and pour into MLT
o Connect mash paddle to drill
o Add grains to MLT and stir moderately with drill long enough to wet all grains making sure not to splash
o Take and record temperature with thermapen. 
o Stir in cold/hot water as needed to reach target mash temperature. 
o Secure top and cover with insulating blankets
o Hold temp for 60-90 minutes stirring a couple times throughout.
o While waiting, heat sparge water and take yeast out of fridge at this point to bring down to room temp.  Begin cleaning equipment for the boil (paddle, pump, rack tubing, thief, hydrometer, etc)
o After 60 minutes, perform an iodine test on a sample of the wort.  If it turns black continue mashing.  If clear, begin sparging.

Batch Sparge
o Attach hi-temp hose to camlock and place kettle below MLT, place pitcher in kettle, and recirculate the mash into the pitcher until clear.
o Once running clear, drain first runnings into Brew Kettle
o Start the propane burner and move Brew Kettle to burner
o Add half the sparge water to Mash, stir, and take and record temp of grain bed.
o Hold for 20 minutes
o Recirculate the mash until clear
o Drain second runnings into spare pot and dump into kettle
o Repeat steps 18-21 until you reach pre-boil volume
o Take a gravity reading and record the results (pre-boil gravity and volume)

Equipment Needed For Boil
o Propane Burner
o Propane Tank
o Brew Kettle
o Camlocks
o Boil Paddle
o Wort Chiller
o Garden Hose 2 2ft  hi-temp tubing
o Whirlpool Arm
o Chugger Pump
o 3 ft racking tubing
o Siphon Spray Attachment
o Spray Bottle with StarSan
o Sanitizing Bucket Carboy
o Carboy Hauler
o Stopper
o Airlock
o Wine Thief
o Hydrometer


Boil
o 24. Bring brew kettle up to boil
o 25. Stir well as hot break occurs to avoid boil over. Start timer for 60 minutes when boil starts.
o 26. Add boil ingredients per recipe schedule
o 27. Clean Mash equipment during the boil
o 28. Connect garden hose to Wort Chiller
o 29. With 10 minutes left, submerge Wort Chiller
o 30. Add Irish Moss with 10 minutes left in boil or Whirlfloc with 5 minutes left

Final Steps
o 31. Sanitize Kettle lid and stirring spoon again
o 32. Flame out and take a gravity reading and record the results (post-boil gravity and volume)
o 33. Connect Kettle Valve to Chugger pump and then to Whirlpool arm via tubing and ensure pump is below valve.
o 34. Recirculate wort, replace lid on kettle, and activate wort chiller
o 35. While wort is chilling, sanitize fermenter, stopper, airlock, kettle valve, siphon sprayer, and tubing
o 36. Set Carboy in carboy hauler
o 37. When wort reaches pitching temp, remove wort chiller and add whirlpool hop additions with whirlpool active for 20-40 minutes.
o 38. After 20-40 minutes, stop pump and close kettle valve to stop recirculation and allow trub to settle.
o 39. Once whirlpool has stopped, attach aerating racking tube to kettle valve and attach siphon sprayer to end of tubing.  Ensure the tubing is near the top of the carboy to maximize splashing then transferring wort.
o 40. Open Kettle Valve to drain wort into carboy.
o 41. Aerate wort by shaking/rocking/stirring the wort.  If stirring be sure the paddle is sanitized.
o 42. Take gravity reading and record results (Brewhouse efficiency gravity and volume)
o 43. Pitch yeast
o 44. Fit with vodka or Starsan-filled airlock (or blow-off tube for high-gravity beers)
o 45. Move carboy to temperature stable area protected from light.
o 46. Measure the volume of wort remaining in kettle and record (trub loss)
o 47. Clean up equipment
 
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