nostalgia
Well-Known Member
First day with the new rig, trying out the new March pump. In pre-brew testing it worked perfectly. During the brew it refused to prime, then lost prime twice during the transfer from boil kettle to MLT. Bleh. I guess I'll figure it out eventually.
Mash seemed to go OK. Came in a little high, so added some cool water to come down to 154F. Left it for an hour and lost about 5 degrees.
After sparging and topping up to the 6.42 gallons specified by Beersmith (I only needed about a quart), I was at 1.030, making my efficiency into the kettle a fabulous 47%.
The boil was uneventful, except I didn't realize I had plug hops instead of the pellets the recipe was designed for. Luckily I had an extra 1/4oz of pellets in the freezer, which I added at 15 minutes.
4 7/8 gallons at 1.038 went into the fermenter, for a final efficiency of 58%.
My crush looked great and my temps seemed good, so I'm not sure how I can be so far off on my efficiency numbers. Could it be water chemistry? I'm using 3 gallons bottled spring water and the rest tap water. I don't know the chemistry of either.
I would be surprised, because the last beer I did with the same equipment and water gave me 78% efficiency into the boiler.
Oh, here's the recipe:
Prepare Ingredients for Mash
4.50 lb Wheat Malt, Ger (2.0 SRM) Grain
3.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain
0.50 lb Aromatic Malt (26.0 SRM) Grain
0.50 lb Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain
Mash In: Add 12.75 qt of water at 164.4 F
60 min - Hold mash at 154.0 F for 60 min
-- Drain Mash Tun
-- Batch Sparge Round 1: Sparge with 4.50 gal of 168.0 F water.
-- Add water to achieve boil volume of 6.42 gal
-- Estimated Pre-boil Gravity is: 1.039 SG with all grains/extracts added
60 min 0.50 oz Pearle [8.20 %] (60 min) Hops
15 min 0.25 oz Pearle [8.20 %] (15 min) Hops
5 min 0.25 oz Pearle [8.20 %] (5 min)
-Joe
Mash seemed to go OK. Came in a little high, so added some cool water to come down to 154F. Left it for an hour and lost about 5 degrees.
After sparging and topping up to the 6.42 gallons specified by Beersmith (I only needed about a quart), I was at 1.030, making my efficiency into the kettle a fabulous 47%.
The boil was uneventful, except I didn't realize I had plug hops instead of the pellets the recipe was designed for. Luckily I had an extra 1/4oz of pellets in the freezer, which I added at 15 minutes.
4 7/8 gallons at 1.038 went into the fermenter, for a final efficiency of 58%.
My crush looked great and my temps seemed good, so I'm not sure how I can be so far off on my efficiency numbers. Could it be water chemistry? I'm using 3 gallons bottled spring water and the rest tap water. I don't know the chemistry of either.
I would be surprised, because the last beer I did with the same equipment and water gave me 78% efficiency into the boiler.
Oh, here's the recipe:
Prepare Ingredients for Mash
4.50 lb Wheat Malt, Ger (2.0 SRM) Grain
3.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain
0.50 lb Aromatic Malt (26.0 SRM) Grain
0.50 lb Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain
Mash In: Add 12.75 qt of water at 164.4 F
60 min - Hold mash at 154.0 F for 60 min
-- Drain Mash Tun
-- Batch Sparge Round 1: Sparge with 4.50 gal of 168.0 F water.
-- Add water to achieve boil volume of 6.42 gal
-- Estimated Pre-boil Gravity is: 1.039 SG with all grains/extracts added
60 min 0.50 oz Pearle [8.20 %] (60 min) Hops
15 min 0.25 oz Pearle [8.20 %] (15 min) Hops
5 min 0.25 oz Pearle [8.20 %] (5 min)
-Joe