Newest Threads

**Jakeintoledo** · 06-03-2012, 10:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mcaustin

Gotcha. Thanks for the insight!

Austin

I just looked at your picture gallery. I am also a novice fabricator/welder, and I dearly wish to follow in your footsteps.

I shall also grow hops.

**mike_in_ak** · 10-30-2012, 03:34 AM

Two questions:

1) What's the rate of boil off?

2) iodine test vs mash time/temp: if my calculations or recipe says mash at 154 for one hour, how does the iodine test factor? If I still show starch present after an hour, should I keep mashing?

**mike_in_ak** · 10-30-2012, 03:46 AM

Scratch question number one. Google and hbt show no easy answer to that one.

Mysticmead · 10-30-2012, 12:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mike_in_ak

Two questions:

1) What's the rate of boil off?

2) iodine test vs mash time/temp: if my calculations or recipe says mash at 154 for one hour, how does the iodine test factor? If I still show starch present after an hour, should I keep mashing?

1) easy answer. put 5 gallons of water in your kettle. boil for 1 hour. measure the amount left. that's your boil off.

2) if iodine shows starches present, keep mashing. the time given in a recipe is what the creator of that recipe used to achieve conversion. it might be longer for you.

**jtkratzer** · 10-30-2012, 02:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mysticmead

1) easy answer. put 5 gallons of water in your kettle. boil for 1 hour. measure the amount left. that's your boil off.

This changes with atmospheric changes. It may require more or less heat to achieve a boil depending on air temp and humidity which will change the boil off rate.

Running a test like you suggest will get you close, but without controlled conditions, it will be an estimate. Should be a close one, but it won't be exact.

Mysticmead · 10-30-2012, 02:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jtkratzer

This changes with atmospheric changes. It may require more or less heat to achieve a boil depending on air temp and humidity which will change the boil off rate.

Running a test like you suggest will get you close, but without controlled conditions, it will be an estimate. Should be a close one, but it won't be exact.

as you said it changes with atmospheric conditions...which of course change all the time. there is no way to get an exact boil off rate even with controlled conditions because as soon as you leave those conditions, it will change. however, it will get you close enough to make beer

. With time and many brews under your belt you will earn your equipment. Mine for instance I know I boil off more in the winter than the summer. This is because the air is less humid in the winter. so I account for that by adding a little extra to my boil volume.

jrodskreet · 12-13-2012, 09:57 PM

thanks

**mikescooling** · 12-17-2012, 03:30 AM

Lots of new AG brewers find low OG's (.030) so picking your first brew as an APA would be a good idea or at least adding 1 or2 extra pounds of two row to up the ABV. If it's a little high great, if it's not it will still be a good beer.

**kodyind** · 12-24-2012, 03:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RichBrewer

I've seen a lot of threads started concerning problems with peoples first all grain brews.
I would like to give a couple suggestions that might help improve the process for new AG brewers. Here are a couple common problems I've seen:

1. Low efficiency.
I have found that the most common thread here is not using enough water during mashing and sparging. All you need to do is figure 1 to 1 1/4 quarts of water per pound of grain for the mash and about 1/2 gallon of water per pound of grain for sparging.
I think some folks are concerned about too much wort volume when they are figuring how much water to use but if you want decent efficiency you have to use the correct amount of water.
If your brew pot isn't big enough for the volume required you will need to compensate by using more grain and know that your efficiency will be lower. (You will want to use the 1 to 1 1/4 quart per pound of grain for the mash and adjust your sparge water for the volume required)
If you have a large enough brew pot you will need to calculate the boil time so you will have the correct volume when completed. Some high gravity brews can take 2 hours or more to boil down to the correct volume.
2. Missing the mash temperature. (Usually low when using cooler type mash tuns)
To avoid this common problem there are two things I suggest:
1. Pre-heat your mash tun with hot or boiling water. This water is drained from the tun right before the strike water is added. Using this method will pre-heat the tun so not as much heat will be pulled from the strike water when added .
2. Heat your strike water about 2 or 3 degrees above your target temp, pour the water into the tun, and let the temp drop to your target. By the time you reach your strike temp, the tun should be conditioned and when the grains are mixed in you will hit your desired mash temp and it will hold longer.

I hope this helps for you first timers or even folks who are struggling with AG brewing.

Rich,
I am new to AG and i have a quesion about a recipe that i want to try. It is a Bourbon Vanilla Porter and it has 16 lbs of grain is how much water would you use to sparge for a 5 gal batch

**redman67** · 12-24-2012, 03:53 PM

that question is not that easy to answer you need 1 1/3 to 1 1/4 quarts to each pound of grain
then to figure out sparge water you need to factor in absorbtion loss, dead space in your tun, your boil off rate loss to trub in boil pot and fermentor

add all that up and subtract mash water to get that answer