2nd PM- ugly

Pharmguy · 07-02-2009, 03:06 PM

Ever plan a brew for months and brew day sucked? Brewed this Octoberfest yesterday and it went all wrong. Couldnt get to my mash temp of 154. Heated the water to about 168, added my grain and it dropped a whole 8 deg. So it was 160 for about 10 minutes. It took another 20 minutes to get to around 154. So what will 30 minutes of the high temps do to the final product. I then ended up somehow with a 4 gal boil (planned 3) and I had my first boil over. I cant get it clean now. So I had to adjust my hops on the fly. It then took 4-ever to cool so I finally said screw it and pitched my S-04 at about 80. Its feremnting now at 70. The only good thing about the day was the great lakes brewery pale ale i pounded down.

**pompeiisneaks** · 07-02-2009, 03:27 PM

I'll bet it makes beer

. Seriously, don't worry too much about overshooting temps, so long as you don't go over about 168 where you start extracting tannins. Just get it to your target temps and start counting time there. Did you get your OG? If you didn't have to add extra Extract, then you were on about where you should have been w/ the PM part, and that should indicate you did okay. If its taking a long time to cool, you need to invest in a wort chiller. They make your brew day so much faster. Pitching a bit high isn't advised, as it can stress the yeast and create off flavors, but ultimately as you see, yeast is pretty hardy stuff and works its magic anyway. I bet you'll have a damn good beer.

**IrregularPulse** · 07-02-2009, 03:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pharmguy

Ever plan a brew for months and brew day sucked? Brewed this Octoberfest yesterday and it went all wrong. Couldnt get to my mash temp of 154. Heated the water to about 168, added my grain and it dropped a whole 8 deg. So it was 160 for about 10 minutes. It took another 20 minutes to get to around 154. So what will 30 minutes of the high temps do to the final product. I then ended up somehow with a 4 gal boil (planned 3) and I had my first boil over. I cant get it clean now. So I had to adjust my hops on the fly. It then took 4-ever to cool so I finally said screw it and pitched my S-04 at about 80. Its feremnting now at 70. The only good thing about the day was the great lakes brewery pale ale i pounded down.

Gee I couldn't imagine why things could have went wrong

I tend to hold off on cracking beers until the boil starts. And then I usually on;y have 2-3 if I'm brewing alone. Now on the 25th another guy from the forum is coming down to brew so I imagine we may drink slightly more

Pharmguy · 07-02-2009, 03:46 PM

Couldnt of been the pale ale

, sure was good!

I came close to my OG, I did have to add extra DME but that was because when I bought my grain, i forgot 1.5 pounds of 2-row. So I just mashed munich and some crystal. I didnt realize I forgot the 2row and mashed in 2 gals. So it was 4 pounds of grain in 2 gals...another problem I forgot about. Jeeez.

Denny · 07-02-2009, 04:49 PM

You're likely to end up with a wort high in unfermentables and a high FG.

Pharmguy · 07-02-2009, 04:54 PM

Which part of my crappy brew day will give it a high amount of unfermentables and a high FG?

**Yooper** · 07-02-2009, 06:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pharmguy

Which part of my crappy brew day will give it a high amount of unfermentables and a high FG?

The high temperature of the mash. For a "thick" beer, I like to mash at 156. 4 pounds of grain won't really make that much of a difference, if you're getting almost all of your fermentables from extract.

MN_Jay · 07-02-2009, 06:03 PM

The crappier the brew day, the better the beer tastes after it's done. It's just a fact, don't ask why - it's bigger than all of us..

Pharmguy · 07-02-2009, 07:29 PM

I would guess I was under 156 for atleast 1/2 hour. So these unfermentables contribute to the OG but will not be converted by the yeast.?
Also, since you mention it....thick beer vs thin/dry beer??

zman · 07-02-2009, 08:32 PM

+ 1 what Yooper said... I did a PM with some 4 year old LME on Tuesday and I have an electric stove and it took a while ( with some cold boiled water) to get it down to 156 ish. I was at 160 for 15 min or so. I too had a boil over or two but not until the last 20 min of the boil. I think I might have pitched a lil high ( it was late and I was tired) but I aerated for a good 5 min or so. The porter is happily bubbling away. Like everyone here says. It is really hard to screw up making beer.