2nd all grain and first stuck sparge!

Bombeque · 01-17-2012, 08:05 PM

Hey guys, well Im guessing it was beginners luck on the first batch, because the second batch went down hill quick! To start, it was a saison all grain kit from Homebrewersoutpost.com
I have the 10 gallon mash tun from homebrewing.org. It has the false bottom with a detachable tube and fitting that goes in the middle of the false bottom. Anyways all of this moves quite easily I found out. When doughing in, I stirred real deep to make sure there were no dough balls and best I can figure, I knocked the fitting out of place and all the grains went underneath the false bottom! So to correct, I poured the mash in a pot and cleared everything out. Put it back. It was still clogged a bit, so remembering what Palmer said, I blew in the hose. Which in turn blew the tube and fitting out AGAIN! Twice I did this!! Until finally I got it and was able to sparge correctly. I had about 6.5 gallons total, getting a preboil of 1.038 (in the pot) and 1.042 (in the graduated cylinder)...have no idea why I got 2 different readings. Post boil was 1.069 after the 1 lb of candi sugar added and final 4.75 gal volume. Oh and, my begining mash temp was 152, I checked again after 2 mins and it was still 152. Checked after the hour and it was 156! Im hoping I can get the fg down ok. Anyway these are my thoughts and ramblings for this batch. Any input is welcome! BTW my grain bill was 10.5lbs. I calculated my mash eff around 70%? Is this about right? I fly sparged but not as slow as I did last batch due to all other things going wrong. Im sure I can get better next time.

cooper · 01-17-2012, 08:19 PM

Congratulations on learning your brewhouse! I'm still learning mine as well, but that's sort of the fun part of it too. Just take good notes and apply everything you've learned from this batch to the next one and sooner or later, you'll run out of mistakes to make and finally have a decent brew day.

Bombeque · 01-17-2012, 08:29 PM

Thanks! Yea def dialing it in. I know it will take some time, just hoping batches in the mean time come out more than just "drinkable"!

cooper · 01-17-2012, 08:36 PM

Make sure you're getting your water right though for the different styles you're brewing too. Do you use Reverse Osmosis water or is your tap water working out well for you? My tap water was terrible for brewing (more of the mistakes I was talking about earlier) so I started building my own water for the style I was brewing. Making sure the salts are where they need to be in your water really helps everything from attenuation to taste.

Here is an excellent sticky on matching your water to the style you're brewing.

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f128/brewing-water-chemistry-primer-198460/

Basically as follows:

Baseline: Add 1 tsp of calcium chloride dihydrate (what your LHBS sells) to each 5 gallons of water treated. Add 2% sauermalz to the grist.

Deviate from the baseline as follows:

Hefeweizen: For soft water beers (i.e Pils, Helles). Use half the baseline amount of calcium chloride and increase the sauermalz to 3% (you can make great Hefe with soft water too).

Porter: For beers that use roast malt (Stout, porter): Skip the sauermalz.

Light Ale: For British beers: Add 1 tsp gypsum as well as 1 tsp calcium chloride

IPA: For very minerally beers (Export, Burton ale): Double the calcium chloride and the gypsum.

Pilsner or soft water styles: 1/2 tsp calcium chloride, 3% sauermalz

American Pale Ale: 1 tsp calcium chloride, 1 tsp gypsum, 2% sauermalz

British Pale Ale: 2 tsp calcium chloride, 1 tsp gypsum, 2% sauermalz

Hoppy/Strong British Ale: 4 tsp calcium chloride, 2 tsp gypsum, 2% sauermalz

Porter or Stout: 1 tsp calcium chloride (no sauermalz)

Cascadian Dark Ale (hoppy): 1 tsp calcium chloride, 1 tsp gypsum (no sauermalz)

Bombeque · 01-17-2012, 09:34 PM

Interesting. I have been using filtered tap water. I havent yet tasted any of my beers because Im waiting for them to either finish fermenting or bottle conditioning. Boy I hope my water is ok. Ill def check out that thread though. Doesnt seem too hard to do.

saintdog327 · 01-17-2012, 10:58 PM

I'm guessing you got two different readings because of the difference in temperature between the tube and the pot. I may be wrong though...

Bombeque · 01-18-2012, 02:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by saintdog327

I'm guessing you got two different readings because of the difference in temperature between the tube and the pot. I may be wrong though...

Didnt think of that. Im guessing then that the graduated cylinder reading is right. Thats means 1.042 preboil, 6.5 gallons collected and 10.5lbs of grain. Im getting 72% eff out of that, is this right? BTW I tested the gravity of the beer tonight, and tasted of course. It has a reading of 1.012, I cant believe it. Only 3 days! Down from 1.070. It tastes like a hefe, guessing its the forbidden fruit yeast. One thing though, its really cloudy. Could I get rid of this with gelatin if Im bottling?

cooper · 01-18-2012, 01:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bombeque

Interesting. I have been using filtered tap water. I havent yet tasted any of my beers because Im waiting for them to either finish fermenting or bottle conditioning. Boy I hope my water is ok. Ill def check out that thread though. Doesnt seem too hard to do.

Your water should be fine, the calcium and chloride and sometimes sulfate for hoppy beers just help out with making a good beer better, and the different types of grains can cause the pH to either rise or fall and the salts and acid malt help out with keeping it in the most optimal range where you get the best efficiency.

**stratslinger** · 01-18-2012, 01:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bombeque

Didnt think of that. Im guessing then that the graduated cylinder reading is right. Thats means 1.042 preboil, 6.5 gallons collected and 10.5lbs of grain. Im getting 72% eff out of that, is this right? BTW I tested the gravity of the beer tonight, and tasted of course. It has a reading of 1.012, I cant believe it. Only 3 days! Down from 1.070. It tastes like a hefe, guessing its the forbidden fruit yeast. One thing though, its really cloudy. Could I get rid of this with gelatin if Im bottling?

First off, without knowing your grain bill, nobody can verify your efficiency calculation. And always remember that you have to adjust your hyrdometer readings for temperature! There should be a little instruction sheet that came with your hydrometer that tells you what temp it's calibrated for and how to adjust for temperature. Generally speaking, it's best to get the wort or beer you're measuring as close as you can to the calibrated temperature.

Secondly, yes, it's not uncommon for a beer to ferment out that quickly. That said, if it's only been three days, it's way too soon to make any judgement calls on flavor or cloudiness - you still need time to let the yeast clean up after themselves (this will help the flavor) and then settle out of solution (thus clearing things up).

If in another week or two it's still really cloudy, I'd think gelatin could help. And it's not going to take so much yeast out of solution that it'd cause you problems when bottling.

cooper · 01-18-2012, 02:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bombeque

Didnt think of that. Im guessing then that the graduated cylinder reading is right. Thats means 1.042 preboil, 6.5 gallons collected and 10.5lbs of grain. Im getting 72% eff out of that, is this right? BTW I tested the gravity of the beer tonight, and tasted of course. It has a reading of 1.012, I cant believe it. Only 3 days! Down from 1.070. It tastes like a hefe, guessing its the forbidden fruit yeast. One thing though, its really cloudy. Could I get rid of this with gelatin if Im bottling?

If it's a Hefe, you'll want the cloudiness as Hefe yeast is what most of the flavor is about and a Hefe yeast is low in flocculation so they will usually stay in suspension for a few months before they give up the ghost and fall out of solution. Unless you used a yeast that was something other than a traditional Hefe yeast at which point you've brewed a wheat beer and not a Hefe.