Am I on the right track with my All grain settings?

    I finally got the equipment to do all grain brewing. I'm using a 70qt Coleman cooler with a SS braid and ball valve to go along with my 42qt brew pot and propane burner (I'll be doing dishes for a month for SWMBO).

I'm wanting to run my settings by you guys to make sure I'm on the right track.

Equipment Settings
30qt turkey fryer with 48qt cooler mash tun ( I renamed it, 10gal brew pot - 70qt cooler )
Mash Tun Volume - 17.50 gal    Mash Tun Weight - 11 lbs   
Mash Tun Material - Plastic

Boil Volume - 8 gal    Evaporation rate - 11%   
Lost to Trub/Chiller - .50 gal    Top up Water 0.00
Final Volume - 5.50 gal

Boil Time - 60 min    Boil Off - 0.77 gal
Cooling Loss Pct - 4.%    Cooling Loss Vol - 0.23 gal

Lautering Tun Deadspace - 0.13 (2 cups)    Top up Water- 0.00

MASH PROFILES (I'm going to brew an IPA)
Single Infusion, Light Body, Batch Sparge

Grain Weight - 13.50 lbs    Grain Temp - 65.  Mash Temp - 65.
Mash IN - Add 12.5 qt water at 166.7    Step Temp - 151.0, 75 min

Mash PH - 5.4    Sparge Water Temp - 168.0

Brewhouse Efficiency
Estimated OG - 1.066   
Planned Boil Volume - 8.0 gal    Est OG into Boiler - 1.050 SG
Planned Volume - 5.5 gal

How does this look, am I missing any steps.
Thanks in advance
stevemwazup 

Those are almost exactly my numbers when brewing an IPA, and they all turn out outstanding!
For a great IPA don't forget lotsa late addition hops. I usually add another 1oz of (insert hop name here ....I love chinook and simcoe) at 30, 20, 10, 15, 10, 5, and 1 minute to flame out. Another 2oz usually in the secondary 5 days before kegging.  Doesn't add much in the way of AA, but sure impacts the flavor and nose! Try some simcoe..... oooh baby.

I'm gonna brew a Pliny the Elder this week. Found some real CTZ hops while in Boise recently.

    Thanks for the reply. The IPA that I'm going to do is called Sister Star of the Sun, made with Hugh Baird pale malt and alot of chinook hops.
Here's the recipe if you want to check it out.Sister Star of the Sun IPA 
English IPA


Type: All Grain
Date: 12/5/2009
Batch Size: 5.50 gal
Brewer: steve 
Boil Size: 8.00 gal Asst Brewer: 
Boil Time: 60 min  Equipment: Steve's 10 gallon pot and 70 qt cooler 
Taste Rating(out of 50): 35.0  Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00
Taste Notes: 
 
Ingredients

Amount Item Type % or IBU
13.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) UK (3.0 SRM) Grain 96.30 %
0.25 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt -120L (120.0 SRM) Grain 1.85 %
0.25 lb Wheat Malt, Ger (2.0 SRM) Grain 1.85 %
3.00 oz Chinook [13.00 %] (60 min) Hops 122.6 IBU
2.00 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] (15 min) Hops 15.6 IBU
2.00 oz Fuggles [4.50 %] (0 min) Hops - 
1.00 tsp Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) (Mash 60.0 min) Misc 
1.00 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 30.0 min) Misc 
1 Pkgs London Ale (Wyeast Labs #1028) [Starter 125 ml] Yeast-Ale 


 
Beer Profile

Est Original Gravity: 1.066 SG
Measured Original Gravity: 1.066 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.016 SG Measured Final Gravity: 1.005 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 6.57 %  Actual Alcohol by Vol: 7.97 %
Bitterness: 138.2 IBU Calories: 291 cal/pint
Est Color: 8.5 SRM Color: Color 

 
Mash Profile

Mash Name: Single Infusion, Light Body, Batch Sparge( Steve's ) Total Grain Weight: 13.50 lb
Sparge Water: 6.75 gal Grain Temperature: 65.0 F
Sparge Temperature: 168.0 F TunTemperature: 65.0 F
Adjust Temp for Equipment: FALSE Mash PH: 5.4 PH
 
Single Infusion, Light Body, Batch Sparge( Steve's ) Step Time Name Description Step Temp
75 min Mash In Add 12.50 qt of water at 166.7 F 150.0 F


 
Mash Notes: Simple single infusion mash for use with most modern well modified grains (about 95% of the time).
Carbonation and Storage

Carbonation Type: Corn Sugar Volumes of CO2: 2.4
Pressure/Weight: 4.2 oz Carbonation Used: -
Keg/Bottling Temperature: 60.0 F Age for: 28.0 days
Storage Temperature: 52.0 F 
 
Notes


Created with BeerSmith

Fuggle and goldings at the end with chinook as the AA hop....... interesting. I may try a small batch of this.

As far as the gypsum and moss, I wouldn't need those, my water is deep artesian, and ever since using a homemade counterflow wort chiller I have never had any haze or need for settling agents since I keg.

Happy brewing!

I assume you actually took the dead space readings and tested your boil off rate.

Once you get your system in place and dialed in you may want to set up three for light, medium and full bodied beers.  Then choose them according to the style you are brewing.

    After I installed the ball valve and SS braid, I checked for leaks while letting the water drain as far as it would go. When it stopped draining, I poured the remaining water, measuring 2 cups.

I generally turn my burner up and go for a really full boil ( to drive off DMS ) so I get a lot of evaporation loss.

I think you have a great suggestion with brewing differant styles.
I have very soft water, which lends itself to the IPA. I'm still a little nervous with adjusting PH levels and mineral adjusting that go with other styles like stouts and maybe Lagers, but that's what this forum is for.
Thanks guys
stevemwazup

stevemwazup said:

     After I installed the ball valve and SS braid, I checked for leaks while letting the water drain as far as it would go. When it stopped draining, I poured the remaining water, measuring 2 cups.

I generally turn my burner up and go for a really full boil ( to drive off DMS ) so I get a lot of evaporation loss.

I think you have a great suggestion with brewing differant styles.
I have very soft water, which lends itself to the IPA. I'm still a little nervous with adjusting PH levels and mineral adjusting that go with other styles like stouts and maybe Lagers, but that's what this forum is for.
Thanks guys
stevemwazup

Click to expand...

And for the reasons you state, 5.2 PH Stabilizer was invented. I use it all the time.  I started using it as a new brewer that simply had so much to learn and keep track of that I thought I can hand this PH thing over to the stabilizer.  I figured later on I would begin to learn water chemistry and how to change it.  But ya know what?  There is a reason I only lasted two weeks in a high school chemistry class.

5.2 has become a very good friend.

I use that white teflon tape on every connection to prevent leaks.

Do you have anything to screen out the seven ounces of hops and keep them in the boiler?  Using hop bags or a bazooka screen or something? 

Recipe looks sound.  5.5 gals of 1.066 wort is the upper limit for a Wye smack pack.  Recommend a starter to ensure a good ferm. 

    In my boil kettle I have heavy duty bazooka screen that has worked really well in the past.
+1 on the Teflon tape.
+1 on the starter.

I'm going to be using 13.5 lbs of grain with a ratio of 1.25qt of water per pound of grain, so BeerSmith is saying to use 4.22gallons of water for mash in then 5.33 for the rest of the batch sparge water. I would like to know if I inputted this correctly
stevemwazup