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HoppyMaltPoet · 07-09-2011, 04:40 PM

So I am brewing a pale ale and I hit all my target temps dead on while mashing and what do I do while batch sparging...I leave my ball valve open and loose I don't know ...somewhere between 1/2 gallon and a full gallon before I notice. My pre-boil efficiency is at 54%....darn it. Oh well.

**Fat_Bastard** · 07-09-2011, 05:24 PM

there's no shame in adding a little dme to get your gravity back to where it should be.

**hope2perc** · 07-09-2011, 05:31 PM

Exactly.

bigbeergeek · 07-09-2011, 08:06 PM

I left the ball valve open on an imperial red last summer -- lost about a gallon of first runnings. I didn't have any DME on hand, so a pound and a half of brown sugar went into the boil. Result: a rather dry IPA (note: pale colored) and nothing close to an imperial red. It's a mistake I'll never allow myself to make again. I've got ball valve paranoia now.

MaltnHops · 07-10-2011, 03:44 AM

That sucks man! I can't tell you how many times I've made some stupid mistake like that before.

lumpher · 07-10-2011, 03:52 AM

most of us have done something like that early in our brewing history. i left a valve open right after i started; never did it again...

samc · 07-10-2011, 06:23 AM

some of us have even done stuff like that later in our brewing history, like yesterday with a recirculating hose that was hanging over the sink instead of the brew kettle. It's hard to keep track of all the goofs so you can remember never to do them again.

HoppyMaltPoet · 07-10-2011, 01:46 PM

Didn't have any DME on hand at the time. And yeah it was my first runnings. I was about a gallon short (maybe a little less) after my boil. We'll will see how it turns out.