40 replies to this topic

[tlojak38]

Hello everyone I need a little help here. I'm brewing my first beer, and I'm going to try mad elf. I know, I know, this is too involved, but I got the stuff and I'm going to try. I graduated from a Mr. Beer beer maker to trying full boils. I have a few questions before I do this sat. The inst. Say to mash the grains/Malta, but I don't have the equipment to mash. My question is, can I get the same end result using a muslin and steeping, then sparging through the muslin? Also I'm going to split the batch into two, will it hurt to add the honey the recipe calls for, then splitting it, week.g the cherries to only half the batch? Will that make the other half with just honey too sweet? Sorry about the simple questions, but like I said, I'm new to this process. Any help is greatly appreciated.

[strangebrewer]

First off welcome aboard! You're definitely starting with a more involved beer as you know but if you're willing to give it a shot then do it. Just don't get discouraged if it doesn't come out exactly the same, people spend years perfecting process and recipes.Sounds like what you're going to need to do is called a Partial Mash or a mini-mash. We've got a good writeup in the FAQ section here on the steps of exactly how to do this. It outlines exactly what your asking as far as steeping the grains in water and then straining through muslin.Why are you splitting the batch in two? For a variety of reasons you want to do it all in one batch so I'd focus on how to make that happen. If you've got a 3-4 gallon stock pot around then you should be able to do a mini-mash for specialty grains, the bulk of your fermentables from extract, and then the honey into the primary post chilling if you're worried about volume.Honey is 100% fermentable so unless you max out the yeast it will be consumed by the yeast. On that note, Mad Elf has a pretty high ABV and strikes a balance between alcohol and malt so that it's drinkable without aging. If that balance is off you'll end up with a hot beer that you'll have to cellar for a year before it tastes like anything but alcohol. Just something to be aware of. I think most of us have done that at least once .Again welcome aboard and definitely fire back if you've got more questions. As a former PA resident who spent quite a bit of time in Mechanicsburg I know Troegs beers pretty well. Worse comes to worse in your case you could always visit the brewery and ask. The brewers there are pretty homebrewer friendly last time I talked with them.

[tlojak38]

I have all grains, no extract. I was told to do a mini mash with the Munich and choclate malts to get maximum usage out of them. Then mix it IM with the 13 pounds of Belgium that are mashed in the big pot. Does that sound right. Kind of does to me. All this gets done at 152-155degrees. Then the boil and hops. After a 90 minute boil and both hops, honey is added at flame out. I'm getting all excited about doing this! Sat. Is the day and I just want to make sure I got it right.

[tlojak38]

Oh, and I want to split it because I'm getting requests for scratch 46, naked elf. And if I remember right, the difference is no cherries in the secondary. So far, good info. Please keep it coming.

[SchwanzBrewer]

I suggest you go to:https://howtobrew.comand read the book online a couple of times so you understand the process a little better. Come back and ask us a questions on parts that you get hung up on. We'll be happy to help.Welcome to the forum!Cheers,Rich

[strangebrewer]

What all do you have for brewing equipment? It sounds like you don't have some of the equipment required to make this work best, namely a mash tun. Please correct me if I'm wrong. I hate to kill your enthusiasm but I don't think you'll end up with anything close to mad elf with this process. If you were after a pale ale, brown ale, or a wheat I think we could make it work but for a higher gravity beer you'll need to use a lot of extra grain to make up for the decrease in efficiency. If you still want to make a mad elf clone I'd recommend doing a mini-mash for the specialty/darker grains and light malt extract in place of the 13lbs of belgian pale malt. Save the belgian pale malt in a cool dry place and it'll keep and be ready for another beer.For an inexpensive way to get started with a mash tun I'd check out Denny Conn's batch sparging setup. As for the split batch that sounds good. I was concerned you were planning to split the boil between pots. You're splitting the batch after primary fermentation so no issues there.

[Genesee Ted]

I suggest you go to:https://howtobrew.comand read the book online a couple of times so you understand the process a little better. Come back and ask us a questions on parts that you get hung up on. We'll be happy to help.Welcome to the forum!Cheers,Rich

Or just ask away.... Good read for sure, but there are a lot of knowledgeable brewers here who don't mind helping you out. We have got your back on whatever you need. One suggestion for the honey... Add it after most of the fermentation is complete. Honey is very delicate. Primary fermentation produces a lot of CO2, which bubbles off. It will certainly bubble off a lot of the delicate honey character. If you add the honey later, it will still ferment, but the final beer will keep a lot more of the honey flavor.

[tlojak38]

Ok, started reading the suggested reading. I'm on chapter 4 and didn't want to, but had to stop for the night. So far, so good. I understand everything being covered so far. Starting out with Mr. Beer, and research, I understand cleaning, sanitation, and extract brewing. I understand what happens basically. Going to keep reading. Anymore questions I have will be posted. Thanks again for the help guys.

[Genesee Ted]

That is what we are here for bro!

[cavman]

Good to see a newbie here, I second checking out Denny's page as well as Kellers page whatever that is.

[cavman]

Found it https://cruisenews.net/brewing/ click the simple all grain brewing part.

[SchwanzBrewer]

I'm wasn't trying to be dismissive, but reading that book a million times helped me a ton, and its already laid out in a very linear easy to follow format, so why try and reinvent the wheel by typing all that out is all. I still had questions on parts that you all answered for me, but the basic parts were already described there.I have no problem helping new brewers, we were all there once, but having that book as a resource was a lifesaver for me. It's my bible.Good luck on your first brew and welcome to the forum! :frank:Cheers,Rich

[Murphy]

I applaud the enthusiasm but for your first batch you may want to look at a "simple" beer that ferments our quickly just so you have a hands on batch under your wing. That way when you move up to a more complex, high alcohol, beer you are more familiar with the process and your equipment. If you chose to go this route Brown Ale's and Porters are both fairly quick and easy and you will be drinking your own beer in a short time frame, Mad Elf may require many months of aging as Strangebrewer mentioned

[tlojak38]

I understand the beer will have to be aged, that's why I want to do it now. Get it done and bottled, and move on to something easier. It's just the way I'm built, lol. As for the book, Im not upset that it was recommended I read it several times, I look for as much information as possible. That's how you learn. And I'm loving the good info in this book. Ok, back to it. Thanks guys.

[Brauer]

One big advantage of making a smaller beer first is that it would grow your yeast up to a decent pitching rate for such a big beer as Mad Elf. Otherwise, you'd have to make something like a 7 liter starter to get to the recommended pitching rate from a vial. At that point, you might as well make a few gallons of beer instead of a starter that will just end up going down the drain... and gain a little experience along the way.If you don't want to get a cooler and a water line braid for a tun (which would probably cost you about $30-40, if you don't already own a cooler), then you could buy a few 5 gallon paint strainer bags (a few dollars), and do mash-in-a-bag. Then, you could sparge by just dunking the bags in some more hot water. However, you'd need to find enough vessels to put all those grain bags in to mash all that grain. A cooler would be easier. If you have one that already has a drain, you can convert it for about $10 and an hour of your time.

[MakeMeHoppy]

Mad Elf is awesome, can you post the recipe you have here?I'll agree with others that this is a HUGE first step brewing. Just don't get frustrated if it doesn't taste like Mad Elf (or just doesn't taste good at all). However it turns out try an easier beer for your next one and welcome to the obsession!

[tlojak38]

Ok. Boil is done. Cooling now. Just got one question. There is sediment on the bottom. Do I put it in the fermenter, or try to keep it out?

[JMcG]

Try to leave the break material in the kettle if you can. If you use an autosiphon, stick a sanitized stainless or copper pot "scrubbie" on the bottom to filter out the break. Don't worry if some gets through.

[BarelyBrews]

First ,welcome to the board.

Ok. Boil is done. Cooling now. Just got one question. There is sediment on the bottom. Do I put it in the fermenter, or try to keep it out?

I adjust my brew size so i can leave 1/2 gallon or so in the bottom of the boil pot, if won't hurt if you dump it in. BUT, it won't help the clarity either. I vote to not use the sludge. Do you have a spicket on the boil pot? or do you pour it in the fermentor?

[tlojak38]

I poured it into the fermenter. But I did leave about a half gallon in the bottom, and topped off the fermenter with fresh water to bring it up to five gallons. Pitched the yeast. I went with wlp545 yeast. I was told I didn't need to start this stuff, so we'll see what happens in the next 24 hours.