The Equipment
This is the best part you might have everything you need
right now to start All Grain Brewing and not know it.
Boil Pot
You need a pot big enough to hold the amount of beer you want
plus the boil off plus at least a couple of inches of head space. If you have
to buy one get a stainless steel pot at least a gallon bigger than the size
you want to ferment. More on this later.
HLT
You need a pot big enough to hold about ½ of the size of
the boil pot…
Folding Steam Basket
 
You need a large folding steam basket.
I found mine at K-Mart.
Mesh Bag
You need a polyester mesh bag like a laundry bag or a
nylon grain bag.
The Brewmaster large filter bag from NB works good in a
6.5g bottling bucket.
Fermenter
 This
can be any vessel that can be fitted with an air lock. The primary fermenter
needs to be 1/3 bigger than the batch of beer. The secondary can be just a
little bigger if you use one. A 3 gallon carboy works good for 2 gallon
batches. I have
split 2 gallon batches and used 4L wine jugs to ferment
in.
The Preparation or Figuring it all out
Check your boil off Rate
You need to know
your boil off rate in gallons per hour so you know how much wort to
start out with.
Carefully measure out 1 gallon of water into your boil
pot. Cover and put on the biggest burner and let er rip. When it starts to
boil remove the cover and start a 30 minute timer. When 30 minutes is up
cover and place pot into a sink of cold water. After the water is warm drain
and refill. The contents of the pot should be cool in less than 30 minutes.
Now measure how much water remained in the pot. The difference x 2 is the
Boil Off Rate in Gallons per Hour for your pot and heat source. The boil off
rate is most dependent on the diameter of your pot then the heat source. This
is also a good test to see how much your stove will boil. If you can only
boil 3 gallons now is the time to know that…
For example if you boiled off 1 quart in 30 minutes then
your boil off rate is ½ gallon per hour. With this in hand you know how much
extra wort you need to start with.
Or use the boil off calculator on my home page…
The Process
Mashing
Add the water to your boil pot then warm it up to dough in
temperature.
Add the crushed grain gently stirring till mixed.
Check the temperature of the mash.
If it is low heat over low and stir till the mash
temperature is reached.
Put the pot on a folded up towel and cover with a couple
more towels.
Walk away for an hour. Pretty easy so far…
Lautering
Place the steamer basket into your bottling bucket.
Put the grain bag into the bucket.
Add the mash to the bag using a scoop. Try not to splash.
Once it is all in drain off a quart then gently add this
back.
This gets any bits out so your wort will run clean and is
called the vorlauf.
Attach the bottling hose to the spigot so it will drain with
out splashing.
Drain your sweet wort into your boil pot.
Add your sparge water and stir a bit.
Vorlauf again then drain to your pot.
Boiling
Start heating with the lid on if your stove is anemic.
Watch careful for signs of boiling and remove the lid or
at least have 15% off.
Once the boil starts the proteins will form a foam on the
surface.
Once the foam “breaks” to one side this is called “Hot
Break”
After hot break you can add your 60 minute (bittering)
hops and start your timer.
Continue boiling and adding hops as the recipe calls for.
Cooling
As soon as the boil is over put some cold tap water into
the sink and place the boil pot in there. After a couple of minutes the water
will be hot. Drain and replace the water every few minutes till the pot is
cooled to <80F. Each time you drain and fill the sink it will take a
little longer for the cooling water to transfer the heat. Gentle stirring of
the wort and cooling water will speed this process up.
Fermenting
Once the sweet wort is cooled add the yeast and transfer
to your primary fermenter. Put on the airlock and keep it in a cool place for
1–2 weeks.
After that you can rack to a secondary for futher clearing
and cold condition for 2 to 4 weeks.
Bottling
After the secondary is done prepare the priming sugar and
add it to the bottling bucket. Rack your beer to the bucket then fill each
bottle and cap. Place in a warm place for 3 weeks till carbonation is done
then chill and enjoy…
Stovetop All Grain Session
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