First All-Grain Batch

I'm so EXCITED!!

We're doing our first all grain batch this weekend. We're brewing up Denny Conn's Bourbon Vanilla Porter. We had some Breckenridge Vanilla Porter last night to firm up that decision and it was so tasty that we've to to make some of our own. We're actually going to go all out DIY this weekend and make an MLT and a fermentation chamber. I'm also doing a yeast starter for the first time and collecting yeast from our English Pale that finishes up this weekend.

English Pale Ale

Because we haven't been down to the beach (or even to the mountains) in a few weeks, we had to buy our latest recipe in Raleigh. It was a busy day and I wasn't up for driving all the way to American Brewmasters so I picked up a Brewer's Best kit from Fifth Season around the corner. I picked this one because I'm in the mood for some Boddington's. I know it won't be the same because Boddington's uses nitrogen but it'll be okay. The kit only came with a half pound of grains so I modified the recipe and added another half pound of Maris Otter grains. I had read a bunch of English Pale recipes and that was the most used grain. Also, I thought it could use a bit more hops. I wanted to add an oz of Kent Goldings but they only had US Goldings so we used that. The hops package ended up being not full and only weighed a half ounce. We used it anyways but from now on I'll be sure to check the package before I buy. L thought it was going to be a little weak so he ended up running to ABM anyways. Our final recipe ended up being:

So cool how this stuff turns into such a tasty beverage.

3.375 lb Light DME
3.3 lb  Light LME
.5 lb Marris Otter Pale
.5 lb American Crystal / Caramel 60L

1 oz Fuggle at 60m
1/2 oz US Golding at 45m
3/4 oz Tettnang at 20m
1 oz Stynan Bobek at 5m

We're planning on converting to All-Grain for our next brew so I wanted to try to do more chemistry and math calculations with this batch. I used online calculators to figure out that our expected Original Gravity should be 1.055. Because I don't know the actual points per pound per gallon, I can't replicate the measurements exactly. When we do all grain, I will definitely make sure we collect that information.

The actual original gravity was 1.054 so the calculations were pretty accurate. 

Alpha Acids:

Alpha Acids are the chemical component in hops that give the beer bitterness. AAUs aren't necessarily the best way to calculate bitterness, however, because they don't take into account the length of the boil or the volume and gravity of the wort. They are used in the calculation for IBUs, though, which does account for those variables.

AAU = AA% x weight in ounces
Fuggle = 5.3% x 1 = 5.3 AAU
US Golding = 4.9% x 1/2 = 2.45 AAU
Tettnang = 4.8% x 3/4 = 3.6 AAU
Stynan Bobek = 3.8% x 1 = 3.8 AAU
TOTAL = 15.15 AAU

International Bittering Units:

International Bittering Units, or IBUs, include a utilization variable and a volume variable essentially quantifying the bitterness of a beer that can be compared on a scale with other beers of completely different profiles. The utilization variable is a combination of boil time and specific gravity. Now, you could measure the gravity at each hop addition to make the calculation even more accurate, but we're just using the original gravity. To find the utilization, I used the table in John Palmer's How to Brew and intepolated between the given values.

Utilization Values:
Fuggle: 1.054 for 60m --> .223
US Golding: 1.054 for 45m --> .205
Tettnang: 1.054 for 20m --> .135

Stynan Bobek: 1.054 for 5m --> .044

IBU = AAU x U x 75 / Vrecipe

Fuggle = 5.3 x .223 x 75 / 6 = 15

US Golding = 2.45 x .205 x 75 / 6 = 6

Tetnang = 3.6 x .135 x 75 / 6 = 9

Stynan Bobek = 3.8 x .044 x 75 / 6 = 2

TOTAL: 32 IBU 

So that's great right?! Well, not so fast. The problem with IBUs is that there isn't an industry standard for the calculation. There are a plethora of different calculators online that utilize about 4 different formulas to come up with an IBU measure. Your best bet is to pick a calculator/formula and stick with that through all of your brewing so that you can compare apples to apples. Of course, you'll need to keep that in mind if you're comparing to someone elses numbers who may not use the same formula as you.

Looks like more than it was.

Yeasties!

So, that's pretty much how we did this English Pale. I'll add pictures when I get home, and let you know how it is later! Also, the grains made AWESOME bread!!!

Good way to thaw grains for the bread -- this recipe didn't have quite enough for 2 loaves.

Best Yet.