Numbers and process

OK I did my first all grain and I'm warming up for my second and I just want assistance in walking through my process, with some tips on where to improve. Specifically in information to obtain for note taking so I can better measure my brew to help the elusive repetition.

Equipment

Square coleman cooler 50qts (not my choice but a freebe) with stainless braid
Keggle boil pot

Recipe

7lb wheat
4lb pilsner
1/2lb rice
3/4oz hallertau @60
1/4oz hallertau @15
yeast WLP380 from slant
Process

Heat MLT with boiling water, run through hoses to help clean
Add strike water (boiling) allow to cool to strike temp going for thick mash 1qt:1lb for stepping purposes (11qt)
Mashin stir to remove clumps
Wait a couple of minutes check mash temp of protein rest (it was a hefe and since I did this a couple of people said it was not necessary I guess I just wanted to try the step in the mash)
A little high so I stirred and let sit for a few minutes
Checked temp and dead on 122Deg F
Sit for 20minutes
Added infusion of boiling water to bring it up to 1.5qt:1lb and hit temp of 150degF Stirred like crazy to limit hot spots (5.5qt)
Waited a few minutes check temp 150DegF
Sit for 90minutes (was planning 60minutes but kids nap time should not be messed with + then I have peace! no more wachya doing Daddy)
Check temp 149Deg F
Checked iodine test with a piece of paper towel and used diluted iodophor it showed negative.
Cooled sample in frozen mason jar and checked gravity 1062
Vaulaufed about 8qts
Drained 12qt from the MLT
Added Batch sparged with 8qts of boiling waters
stirred like crazy to get rid of hot spots got grain bed to 165Deg F
Cooled sample in frozen mason jar and check gravity was 1032
Drained 8qts from the MLT vaulaufed about 6qts first
Added 2nd Batch sparge of boiling water (forgot that the grain bed was already hot)
Stirred like a madman with a fan blowing in the mash tun got the temp down to 170 in about 3 minutes (oops)
Cooled sample in frozen mason jar and check gravity was 1020
Drained 7qts from MLT

Collected about 6 1/3 gallons and boiled for 1hr down to 5 gallons @1054 (rest of my process as per extract I'm happy with.

Things I plan on changing next time if I have to do a 2nd batch sparge I'll watch the temp, to save propane I used the stove and I'm limited how much water I can boil on the stove hence the 2 sparges, I heard that is does not effect efficiency and can help. I'm getting PH strips so I can check my PH.

I did not check the pre boil gravity of the whole batch, as I started heating the wort as soon as I had the first runnings before the second batch sparge. I calculated it to be around 1043 by multipling out the ppg for each runnings, adding them and then dividing by the total volume. I should probably check this next time.

So my question I put all the numbers I recorded in my process above, have I collected enough information about my brew? And is there anything else I should plan on changing about my brew day heading in to batch No.2?

Side not the brew fermented out quick and bottle conditioned quickly, normally I would not be drinking it yet however it was tempting me, I popped one last night it is my best beer yet! The head is sooo creamy, good yeast flavors and subdued hop bitterness and flavors. Only complaint the color was a little yellow and not golden enough, I think I will add a touch of Munich 10L next time.

Clem

Things I like to write down for each brew are starting times, finishing times (for performance...), starting water amount and grain in lbs, sparge water I suppose but since I BIAB I don't need to.

I like to write down how long my mash is and how much heat I lost so I can gauge it on the next one better.

I'd write down your volume into the boiler, so however much liquid you have when you start ramping the heat up for the boil, and your temperature adjusted gravity reading at the same point.

I write down how much I wind up with in the kettle after cooling, before draining to the fermenter, and the gravity at that point.

These numbers will give you a way to measure your boil-off rate, the amount you lose to kettle trub, your into boiler and post boil efficiency (brewhouse, whatever). The first two are just nice to get a good average on so you know how much water to start with, but efficiency can give you some hints on if you're low, maybe you need to look at some other bits of your process to up it to a good place.

Damn, what can I say.

Everything you did looks correct, even great, but way over the top. A single step infusion at 152-158 followed by a double batch sparge at 185 is really all you need. A vourlaff of about 1/2 qt is usually sufficient though a full qt is common. As far as SG samples go, you really only need one post boil to determine alc content and brew-house eff.

It sounds like you did a lot of extra work. None of it wrong, just more than you need. Remember, a brew day should be just like a BBQ day--more fun than work.

Ravenshead said:

Remember, a brew day should be just like a BBQ day--more fun than work.

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Brew day for me is a cross between herding cats, there are too many children that think my garage is a great place to play, and stress over making sure it works.

To address my short comings I vorlaufed so much to make sure the beer was clear when I trial ran my MLT I did not vorlauf enough and hence the yeast food I made is touch cloudy and I did not want to make that mistake again. Also I was not sure how much too do and what was normal. I will remember that next time.

I also took the samples as I had time and wanted as much data as I could about the mash. Also I wanted to make sure that the final sparge was not below 1010 as I remember something about tannins being an issue if you rinse that much sugar out.

My wife is calling me a science geek at the moment, and that explains my fasination with this hobby, science experiences that you can drink

Thanks for your advice, I'll try to keep the glasses and lab coat off while brewing

Clem

Thanks for your advice, I'll try to keep the glasses and lab coat off while brewing

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Brewers don't have glasses and lab coats, silly.....they have mountain-man beards and brew dogs.

And bib-overalls.

Clem,
The science part of this is probably the best part. I'm a NASA engineer by profession but I spend most of my time doing paperwork and herding cats at work these days. The only place I get to do any engineering/science is brewing in my garage. I love to collect data on brew day. I just don't make it part of my success criteria.

If I miss a data point, oh well, I still made beer.