emjay

Recipes 

I use a cordless drill on my Barley Crusher just fine

And I have to go on it pretty gently at that... I can mow through an entire hopper in a matter of seconds, but going that fast shreds the husks too much.

DHUKILL

Recipes 

Since I do 5-gal batches in my 10-gal MLT, though, I've cut out a piece of thick styrofoam that rests on top of the mash. This not only cuts the dead-air head space in the MLT, further insulating the mash, but it gives me something to stick my thermometer probe in so it sits perfectly in the grains.

I am adding to an old thread but this quote made me wonder if this is the source of my problems with 50-60% efficiency. Is this dead space in my 10 gal cooler the issue? I've double and triple checked all other processes and this is the last possibility that I have been wondering about. So much so that I am going back to my 5 gal tun and do smaller batches. I didn't seem to have any problems with that setup. I use Beersmith and follow those recommendations and temps right on target. I monitor alll my temps with a digital therm. Crush grains at .39. I've batch and fly sparged nothing seems to get me up past 50-55%. I regularly miss my FG by 15-20 points. Any thoughts?

masonsjax

Recipes 

Have you checked the pH of your water?

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DHUKILL

Recipes 

Our PH is 9.75. I use 5.2 but have just started hearing that stuff doesn't work?? Since I have been using it I haven't tested it. Any thoughts on what I should use to bring it down?

masonsjax

Recipes 

Try doing a batch with store bought water, see if you get any improvement. If so, you've found your culprit and can start working out how to address it.

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DHUKILL

Recipes 

Will do! Thanks for the suggestion. I will post back after my next batch

cpbraun

Recipes 

So... yea, new to the all grain brewing... two batches done no beer done yet...
I bought a watercooler and converted to a mash tun after trying Papazians Zapap(?) sparger (a bucket with a hundred holes in it)

My Questions:

1)How do I know if the grain I bought needs a "protein rest" ?

2) Flavor and body variations from Mash temp: What kind of numbers are we talking about here? 145-155?

OPEN,OPEN, OPEN to any and all advice.
I love doing this and would like to do it forever! (beer, not the blog questions)
:tank :

Denny

Recipes 

1) Almost no grains out there require a protein rest these days. Especially if you're using pale malt. It's essentially been done during the mqlting process. You have to go out of your way to find a malt that's undermodified enough to need or benefit from a p rest.

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DblTrbl500

Recipes 

If I have a recipe with 12 pounds of grains, that would be 3.75 gallons for the mash. But then 1.2 gallon per pound for the sparge would add another 6 gallons, totaling nearly 10 gallons for the boil. It is supposed to be a 5 gallon batch. Where am I going wrong?
Thanks!

brettwasbtd

Recipes 

Grain absorbtion is approximately .125 gallons per pound of grain. So 12 .125 = 1.5 gallons absorbed by the grain. So you would be able to get 2.25 (3.75 - 1.5) gallons of wort out of that. Sparge with a remaining volume X so you reach your target pre boil volume. 2.25 + X = Y

I like to collect 7.5 gallon to start my boil. evaporate of 1.5 gallons in an hour boil and arrive at my 6 gallon planned batch size. In the equation above my X value would be 5.25 gallons of sparge water to equal my pre boil of 7.5

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