[GolfBum]

So I just took the leap to all grain and decided that since it's summer time I might as well make a hefeweizen. I am keeping the grainbill simple. Here is my reciepe I came up with right before I went to the store. I made it while at a restaurant so it might not be what I want but oh well, I'll still drink it.

5# german wheat malt
4# german pilsner malt

1 oz hallertau (60 mins)
WLP 300 Hefeweizen Ale Yeast

Let me know what you think and how you think I should brew it. As well as how long you think it will take to brew. I am really excited but nervous at the same time. Seems like a big step up from extract.

[denny]

Keep it simple and take good notes.  Don't try anything fancy like decoctions or step mashes...get the basics down first.   Concentrate on hitting your mash temp and getting your water volumes right.

[euge]

Looks good. And you picked a nice style for your first AG. I'd be drinking it sooner than later- IMO this is one that doesn't improve with age.

[tcanova]

Sounds good!  Hefeweizen is what got me into home brewing and is still one of my favorite styles to make.

Relax and enjoy and welcome the the dark side....

[jmcamerlengo]

Id suggest adding some rice hulls as a precaution. Especially since its your fist batch and you dont have any idea how your system is going to operate. Wheat can get kind of sticky. Make sure you open your valve when you vorlauf/collect very slowly to prevent compaction, which can happen with wheat centric brews.

Other than that congrats and welcome to All grain! Its not very daunting after you get one under your belt.

[thebigbaker]

Congrats on moving to all grain.  Recipe looks good and simple, which most Hefe recipes are.  I haven't used WLP 300 for any of my Hefe brews, so I can't really comment on that, but I (and my wife) really like Wyeast 3068 for our Hefes. 

[Pi]

+1 on the rice hulls. and watch the sparge closely. if you maintain  an inch of water above the grain bed should be fine. if it does stick, RDWHAHB and cut a bunch of slits in the top of the grain bed. You can tweak ester production by employing a warm(er) fermentation tem . see http://www.wyeastlab.com/com_b_yeaststrain_detail.cfm?ID=135.

[denny]

+1 on the rice hulls. and watch the sparge closely. if you maintain  an inch of water above the grain bed should be fine.

Unless he's batch sparging....

[bboy9000]

+1 on the rice hulls. and watch the sparge closely. if you maintain  an inch of water above the grain bed should be fine.

Unless he's batch sparging....

Okay, this raises many questions for a noob.  Should there be more than an inch of water above the grain bed when batch sparging? Was he referring to the amount of water left on top after the grain bed has settled right before lautering or is the one-inch rule referring to continuous sparging?  I'm getting ready for my first all-grain brew as well so I'm not well-educated even though I've read up on the topic.

[euge]

Pi was talking about fly-sparging as opposed to batch sparging. Batch sparge is drain completely, fill again and drain a second time. With fly sparging you do need a "water level" as you are trickling/sprinkling hot water continuously into the mash as it drains. One needs to maintain a certain amount of water over the grainbed to keep it from compacting and/or channeling as the tun drains.

[jmcamerlengo]

+1 on the rice hulls. and watch the sparge closely. if you maintain  an inch of water above the grain bed should be fine.

Unless he's batch sparging....

Okay, this raises many questions for a noob.  Should there be more than an inch of water above the grain bed when batch sparging? Was he referring to the amount of water left on top after the grain bed has settled right before lautering or is the one-inch rule referring to continuous sparging?  I'm getting ready for my first all-grain brew as well so I'm not well-educated even though I've read up on the topic.

He was referring to continuous or "fly" sparging for the 1 inch above the bed thing.

As for batch sparging, you do not need 1 inch of water above the grain bed you are merely going to use x amount of water in your main mash, collect: then use x amount of water in your 2nd mash(or sparge) to achieve your desired preboil volume.

So assuming the grains will absorb 1 gallon of water
10 lbs of total grain
1.5 qts/lb mash ratio
6.5 gallon desired preboil volume

You would use 3.75 gallons of water for your mash and 3.75 gallons of water for your batch sparge. It is also preferred to use a strike temperature on your batch sparge volume that will allow the temp of the mash to raise to 168-172.

There is no right or wrong way to do things, its all about preference on your system.

[Pi]

Yeah, what he said. I should've been more clear . I like to fly sparge but that's just how my (RIMS) is set up. Since you are doing a Wheat, and assuming this is your first all grain, I would probably suggest a batch sparge for the simple reason of having fewer balls in the air. Your efficiency will be slightly less, but that is easily remedied by adding a little more grain in your recipe, and/or having some DME on hand to throw in the kettle at the end of the sparge to adjust your SG. What's important is you have fun and take lots of notes (which can be fun trying to decipher later after a few HBs). Once you go all grain you'll never go back.

[GolfBum]

I plan on batch sparging as I am trying to keep it as simple as possible. I try and keep good notes for brewing with extract and will do so with all grain. Hoping for a smooth brewday but am aware some problems are likely to arise.

[euge]

I plan on batch sparging as I am trying to keep it as simple as possible. I try and keep good notes for brewing with extract and will do so with all grain. Hoping for a smooth brewday but am aware some problems are likely to arise.

They almost always do.

Yesterday on my first batch I forgot campden tablet, yeast nutrient and whirlfloc. The second went A1 OK.

[thebigbaker]

I plan on batch sparging as I am trying to keep it as simple as possible. I try and keep good notes for brewing with extract and will do so with all grain. Hoping for a smooth brewday but am aware some problems are likely to arise.

When I started my all grain adventures, I decided to keep it simple and batch sparge.  I still batch sparge and really don't have any plans of changing in the near future.  Some advice I recivied on this board in terms of water volumes is to take the amount of your initial runnings and subtract that from your desired pre-boil volume.  The result will give you the volume needed to sparge with.

As for mash temp, it may take a few times to figure out what your strike water temp. should be.  My first time, after adding strike water to the cooler, let it sit to warm up the cooler and stirred in my grains, I was well under my mash temp and had to add more water to get the temp up.  After a few brews and some good notes, I figured out what temp I need the strike water to get to my mash temp.  For example, to get a mash temp of 152 - 154, I needed to heat up my strike water to 180. 

I'm sure your brew day will go well and looking forward to your results.