| All Grain Brewing |
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The basic equipment requirements are as follows: A 7-9.5 kettle, mash tun (a vessel at least as big as the intended final volume with a false bottom or something that allows the sweet wort out), and finally a hot liquor tank (vessel that can hold hot water to sparge with). Other pieces of equipment that aren't required, but help, include a pH meter, sparge arm/ring, stand to hold the vessels, pump (if not gravity from vessel to vessel), mash paddle, mill, a good thermometer, and Promash software. Although not equipment, water modifiers such as calcium sulphate (gypsum), calcium chloride, lactic acid, etc. are helpful for adjusting water pH. Find or formulate a recipe. Recipe formulation is vital and the brewer should have a clear understanding what each ingredient does for the beer. A great book on recipe formulation is Designing Great Beers: The Ultimate Guide to Brewing Classic Beer Styles The grain portion of your recipe is called the grain bill. Base malts will comprise the majority of the grain bill while specialty malts will help to define the flavor and style. Specialty malts should account for no more than 35% of the total grain bill. Once you have weighed out your grains, they must be cracked. This is best done in a roller mill (most homebrew shops will crack your grain free of charge). Cracking the grain is necessary for the starch conversion and enzyme activation, just as specialty grains are cracked for steeping to get at the flavor and sugar inside. Wheat and specialty grains such as crystal, chocolate, munich malt, etc. should also be cracked. This cracked grain is called the grist. The grist is what you will add into your mash tun.
You need to know the total pounds of malt that will be used so you can figure out how much water will be needed in the Mashtun. The recommended amount is 1.0 quarts per pound of malt. When doing this calculation don't forget about the "dead space" you have under the false bottom and add that water to the needed amount. It's a good idea to filter your water if you are using water from a municipal source with a carbon activated filter to remove chlorine or chloramines. Carbon filtering also has the advantage of removing any bad flavor that is organic in nature. Fill your Mashtun with the amount of calculated mash water. You can all-grain brew without doing any pH adjustment but it's best to lower the water pH to improve efficiency and flavor. You want a 5.2-5.5 pH after the grains have been mixed in. Since it is very difficult to alter the pH after you mix (dough) the grains in change the water pH before you add the grains. Dark grains are more acidic so recipes with dark grains usually do not require that the pH of the mash water be lowered as much. For more info on pH try An Analysis of Brewing Techniques by George Fix. The temperature of the mash is affects the flavor of the final beer. Holding a mash temperature between 148°F and 158°F for 60 minutes is sufficient in activating the enzymes that are in the barley. These are the enzymes that turn the starches into sugars. Low-end temperatures (148-152°F) produce an overall dryer beer, while a high mash temperature (154-158°F) produces a beer with a full body and more malt sweetness. The middle range of 151-154°F is a great compromise for most beers and makes a beer with a lighter body and less malt sweetness. When adding the grain to the water, not water to grain to avoid the formation of dough balls, plan for temperature drops of 9-15 degrees due to the fact that the grain is sitting at room temperature.
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. This book is a must-read for everyone who plans on doing all-grain brewing.
