1st go at All Grain

[Tiger Ed]

Hi everyone,
                  I would love you to take a look my Bitter recipe I'm planning to do and give me some feedback . This is my 1st go at All Grain and I don't  want to be disappointed. Estimated brew efficiency I have set at 60% (As advised by Brewfriend for 1st time All Grain brewer)

Batch 23 ltrs    Est boil size 29 ltr
Boil time 90 min
OG 1041   FG 1009
IBU 31      SRM 16.36   ABV 4.2%

Maris Otter Pale Malt     4.4 kgs   (88.4%)
Crystal Malt  50L           480 g     (9.6%)
Black Malt                     100 g     (2%)

Mash Liquor 11 ltrs   Mash Temp 66c  Mash Time 90mins

East Kent Goldings    Pellet     20 g    6.8%    90mins
Fuggles                    Pellet      15 g   6.2%    20 mins
US Cascade              Pellet      25 g   7.6%     5 mins
1/2 Whirlfloc Tablet  10 mins

1 pkt Danstar Nottingham Ale Yeast
Fermentation Temp 20c

Well what do you think Is it a go or a No. Looking forward to your feedback  Eddy

[DEMPSEY]

should be a good example of an English bitter ok. 60% efficiency may be low so check what you actually get for future reference.  are you using tap water if so then fill a bucket the day before and leave it open topped. welcome to the forum 

[Tiger Ed]

Thank you so much Denpsey. I'm looking forward to picking everybody's brains
I must admit 60% efficiency seemed low to me too, but I don't know as I have never done this before.Maybe I should adjust to say 70% or 75%.What do you think
I am using tap water but its from my own well that runs through a good filter system (I live in the middle of nowhere) so will I still have to leave it out as you suggest

[DEMPSEY]

if it's your own well then no you need not leave it out. Is your water hard or soft. Does it gunk up your kitchen kettle or is your kettle clear after many uses. only other thing would be PH. If you have strips oy would be handy for future brew references.

[Damofto]

What equipment are you using Ed? If you're using a 3v system for the first time I suppose you could get quite low effiiciency until you figure things out but if on the other hand you have a Bulldog or Grainfather you could get up into the 80's. I'd say that 70 would be a good starting point though.

[belfastjacko]

should be a good example of an English bitter ok. 60% efficiency may be low so check what you actually get for future reference.  are you using tap water if so then fill a bucket the day before and leave it open topped. welcome to the forum 

I'm a bit of a noob too, what does leaving the water in an open topped bucket over night do?

[lordstilton]

lets the chlorine evaporate....chlorine in the water can result in a bandaid type flavour from your beer...only an issue if your using tap water

[Tiger Ed]

Hi everyone thanks for your input.
                                                I wish I did have a Brewfather or Bulldog brewer. Still the Euro lottery is 190 million today so I could be buying some new home brew stuff like Fullers or Youngs you never know.
  Anyway to get back to the subject. I have a home made system that I'm itching to try out it involves 2 x 29ltr cool boxes  (1 mash tun and 1 sparging water tank) a plastic 33ltr boiler with 2 x 1500w kettle elements, large stock pot, home made 12mm copper wort chiller and a number of fermentation bins left over from my extract brewing days.
As to my water I have no idea of the ph, it comes from my own well drilled 2 years ago,the company that drilled it tested it and said the water was very good quality and that I needed no more than a particle filter system at the head.
The inside of the kettle is near on as clean as it was when new (Not like when I lived in Essex) and I can tell you that Kettle gets some use as we are tea mad in this house.
Do you think I should invest in a Ph tester before starting my 1st brew, I have seen them quite cheap on ebay.     

[delzep]

No need to boil for 90 mins, an hour will do. I'd lower the crystal to about 5% personally

[Qs]

Don't worry about your water and pH on your first brew. As long as there's no chlorine you are good to go.

As a first time all grain brewer just focus on getting the beer made with no major mistakes. Also keep everything well sanitised and keep your fermentation temps in check. If you do that you'll end up with a good beer. You can worry about making great beer once you have the process down.

[Tiger Ed]

The Directors of Fullers and Youngs can sleep easy, I didn't win the lottery so its back to my Heath Robinson setup.
Hay! that's a great name for my setup. Ok from now on I am the kind of proud owner of Heath Robinson Brewery (Those who don't know Heath Robinson's work look on Google images) Seems quite apt.
Anyway I digress. Thanks again to all you inputers  I feel a lot more confident about things now, I just have 1 or 2 more things to ask
delzep has suggested  lowering the crystal to 5% which I will do, but I don't know why (I'm new to this) can someone explain please and should I replace it with something else like maybe Biscuit malt or just up the Pale malt.
And lastly (For now) Where do you all buy your ingredients from, you see I live in almost the middle of nowhere in the wonderful county of Waterford so I need a good supplier who is not going to stiff me on delivery charges and is willing to supply small amounts until I get the hang of it.     Look forward to your reply's  Eddy

[johnrm]

Crystal adds color, flavor and sweetness. You might like it, others not.
For suppliers, keep an eye on the for sale section.
Try and support home brew shops that support the NHC.
They all do mail order, deliver is generally one day, 2 days tops.

[Qs]

And if you sign up as an NHC member you get 5% off most of the shops, that pays for itself in no time.