theCougfan97

Recipes 

I started with 6 gallons of water, in the end I had about 2.5 gallons of beer in the primary fermentor, with a lower than target OG (target was 1.068, actually 1.6).

I guess I have no idea what I did wrong, I can only assume I made a mistake while trying to make my mash. Any one have a similar experience? or know where I should start looking to correct this going forward.

Thanks

jakenbacon

Recipes 

account for boil off and grain absorption. For instance, if I want 6 gallons in my fermentor, and I lose 1.5 gallons per hour to boil off, and 1 gallon of water to every 5lbs of grain, then for a 10 lb batch, I would need 9.5 gallons of water total (6+1.5+2). Does this help?

mhandke

Recipes 

I end up using more water for the sparge than for the mash. The key is how much wort you collect and boil - I shoot for 7 gallons.

C-Rider

Recipes 

2.5 gallons goin into the fermenter or after fermentation was done?

__________________
Kaiser Ridge Brewing
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Primary: Red Top Ale (Irish Red)
Bottle conditioning: Baltic Porter
Bottled in the refer: Munich Malt German IPA; Kaiser Imperial German IPA; Pilsner Malt German IPA; Old Glory American Stout

theCougfan97

Recipes 

2.5 going into the fermenter.

Jakenbacon - are those reliable numbers to follow, or do I need to be determine this for myself?

Thakaz

Recipes 

They are good go buys, but take good notes your first few times and you will be able to fine tune that. I rarely loose an entire gallon per 5 lbs. of grain. I generally start with around 7.5 gallons +/- before I mash.

Thakaz

Recipes 

Also, your sparge water will be your friend to get you up to the proper boil volume. The grain should be well and saturated by the point that you sparge, and you will get almost all the volume out that you put in.