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**dadshomebrewing** · 10-14-2012, 02:08 PM

I'm a complete newbie, brewing small batches (1 gallon).

Using the Beer Craft Book.

Made 2 pale ales, and 2 wheat's, mostly to get "technique" down.

First thing i've noticed is that my specific gravity readings are very, very, different than those in the recipes, and i seem to have a lot of sediment going into the jug for fermentation (and yes, i'm using a completely sanitized strainer).

My OG readings are off the charts, like 1.3 or higher, and so far the only FG reading was 1.06 for the first pale ale that made it to bottles.

I use 2qt per pound for mash, and a little less than a gallon for sparge, and i'm using a grain bag.

total boil is 2 gallons, output it about 1 gallon.

any thoughts, wisdom, insight, or even wise cracks would be most welcomed.

thanks

**unionrdr** · 10-14-2012, 02:13 PM

I did my 1st partial mash last tuesday. 1.5 gallons water for 5lbs of grain. 1.5G sparge for about 3G wort to start the 1 hour boil. Wound up with about .5G boil off in that hour. 1qt to 1.3 quarts of water per pound of grain seems to be the norm for mashing,so that's what I went by. Worked very well indeed.
My cascade pale ale PM kit (midwest) called for OG between 1.042-1.046. Nailed it dead center mt first time out @ 1.044. Maybe these amounts will help you.

**dadshomebrewing** · 10-14-2012, 03:20 PM

i'm such a dumba$$.

i was reading the hydrometer wrong, and now my beautiful bride of 34 years is laughing her backside off after "showing me how".

i was reading the scale wrong.

so, my beer is good, and my technique seems to be good, it's just my brain that was malfunctioning a bit.

good grief.

hagd everyone

**unionrdr** · 10-14-2012, 03:21 PM

Yeah,come brew day,the smoker I drink,the player I get.

**dadshomebrewing** · 10-14-2012, 03:29 PM

it's a good thing my new hobby is entertaining the mrs. i wouldn't want to get boring

btw... i like your ratios of water to grain better than mine. they seem to line up better with pretty much everything i've read EXCEPT the book i'm using. I may tinker around with that anyway.

**unionrdr** · 10-14-2012, 03:54 PM

Those amounts came from folks experiences on here since I joined. I've gotten a lot of helpfull words since then. Thought I'd pass on what I've learned & applied in my own experiences. It got me right in the middle of the OG range midwest listed for the PM pale I did. So this def works well. But see for yourself. That's what home brewin is about...experimentin!

homebrewdad · 10-14-2012, 04:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dadshomebrewing

i'm such a dumba$$.

i was reading the hydrometer wrong, and now my beautiful bride of 34 years is laughing her backside off after "showing me how".

i was reading the scale wrong.

so, my beer is good, and my technique seems to be good, it's just my brain that was malfunctioning a bit.

good grief.

hagd everyone

lol...

My first response was going to be the "top off water" one, but I saw that you were doing AG. My next was going to be to ask what part of the hydrometer you were reading.

Yay for wives!