Mini Mash Brown Ale

Ingredients:

• 1x Tooheys Real Ale kit 1.7kg
• 1kg Australian Ale malt grain
• 150g Medium Crystal malt grain
• 30g Chocolate malt grain
• 500g dried light malt extract
• 20g Williamette or Fuggles hop pellets
• 1x Whirlfloc tablet
• 5-10 liters of chilled water
• 1x Safale US56 ale yeast

Equipment:

• At least 1 x 8-10lt cooking pot (2 would be better)
• An accurate thermometer up to 100 deg (digital preferred)
• 1 grain mashing bag
• 1 small plastic esky (6pack size is ideal - needs to hold about 6 litres)
• 1 pasta colander / kitchen sieve
• 1 plastic measuring jug (3-5 l ideal)
• Standard household kettle

Method:

1. In your large pot heat 3l of water to 70-75 deg. This is called our strike water. The temperature of this water is important and will vary depending on the type of beer you are making and also the temperature of the grain you plan to use - remembering in summer, the temperature of the grain will be warmer than in winter. We are aiming to achieve a temperature of 65-68 deg when we mix the grain and water together. Between 70-75 degrees will suffice for our purposes. A little boiling water or cold water can be  added to get the temperature just right.
2. In your esky (be sure its clean!), add 2l of hot water from the kettle. Leave the lid on the esky for 5-10 minutes. This will pre-heat the esky and make it easier to maintain the correct temperature for the mash.
3. Put the cracked grain into the mash bag and tie the bag up with a piece of cooking string.
4. Empty out the hot water from the esky and pour in the 3l of 70-75 deg strike water. Put the mash bag into the esky and dunk it around to mix the grain fully with  the water. Check the water temperature and adjust as necessary. Ensure the mash bag is submerged, put the lid on the esky and leave it for at least 60 minutes. During  this time the starches in the grain will be converted into fermentable sugars.
5. During the 60 minutes, in your large pot, bring another 3l of water to 70-80 deg. This is the sparge water and will be used to rinse the grain. This is also the perfect time to relax and have a cold beer or clean and sanitise your fermenting gear.
6. After 60 minutes have elapsed, the starch to sugar conversion should be completed. To check, open the lid of the esky and carefully dip your finger in and taste the liquid. It should be sweet. Add 500ml hot water from your kettle to the esky and give the bag a swirl around. Put the lid back on and leave for a further 10 minutes.
7. The next step is to drain the esky and collect the liquid in the large pot (if you don't have 2 pots, pour your sparge water into your measuring jug first). Place the colander  over the pot and carefully pour the contents of the esky through the colander into the pot. Put the grain bag in the colander to drain as well. Return the grain bag to the esky and pour in the 3lt of sparge water and mix well with the grain bag. When mixed well, pour the liquid (sweet wort) into the brew pot. Again put the grain bag in the colander to drain as well. Don't squeeze the grain bag, just let it drain naturally.
8. Put the brew pot on the stove and bring it to the boil. Be careful! As the wort comes to the boil, it has a tendency to foam and boil over if the lid is on or if left unattended. Once the boil has started, add 1 Whirlfloc tablet to the pot. After 10 minutes boiling, add the hop pellets and allow the wort to boil for a further 5 minutes and  then turn the heat off.
9. Add the Tooheys beer kit and the powered malt extract to the pot and stir well. You can use a little of the hot wort to rinse out the beer kit tin.
10. Pour the contents of the pot and the refrigerated cold water into to the fermenter and stir vigorously. Top up to 22l with cool (or chilled) tap water. Check the temperature it should be between 20-25 degrees. Pitch yeast. Ferment at 18-20 deg for best results.