Happy new year!
I did a partial mash Alt on New Years Day and everything went pretty well except for the vorlauf. A little history:
I used to brew all-grain until I had to stop brewing 5 years or so ago. I'm back at it but now only have time and space for partial mash. I use a 3 gallon cooler with braided stainless tubing (from a sink supply line) for my mash tun. It's connected to a 3/8" ball valve through the cooler wall. This was my first partial mash and therefore my first time using this cooler. I doughed in with 5.5 pounds of grain at 1.25 qts/lb trying to hit 149F. I used calculations from iBrewmaster and missed my target temp. I ended up adding 2 more quarts of water to get up to 149F so it was a pretty loose mash (1.64 qts/lb) by the end. Anyhow, after the hour I recirculated the wort to clarify. I opened up my ball valve all the way to set the bed and drained a quart, carefully poured this back on top of the mash and drained another quart. I did this 7 times and the wort was still cloudy. No chunks, mind you, but not clear. So I said to heck with it and drained the first runnings into the kettle. I added my sparge water, stirred well and waited 10 minutes. I then tried to recirculate and clarify again, this time with 9 quarts. Same results, so I drained this into my kettle and proceeded with the boil.
I'm wondering why I couldn't clarify the wort. I've read where others clarify after 2 quarts. Is there anything in my method that could be the cause? Is there anything I should change? And most importantly what effect will this have on the beer?
I welcome all advice and questions. The rest of the brew went very well. The Alt is currently fermenting happily at 60F in my fridge.
Cheers!
Kevin
I did a partial mash Alt on New Years Day and everything went pretty well except for the vorlauf. A little history:
I used to brew all-grain until I had to stop brewing 5 years or so ago. I'm back at it but now only have time and space for partial mash. I use a 3 gallon cooler with braided stainless tubing (from a sink supply line) for my mash tun. It's connected to a 3/8" ball valve through the cooler wall. This was my first partial mash and therefore my first time using this cooler. I doughed in with 5.5 pounds of grain at 1.25 qts/lb trying to hit 149F. I used calculations from iBrewmaster and missed my target temp. I ended up adding 2 more quarts of water to get up to 149F so it was a pretty loose mash (1.64 qts/lb) by the end. Anyhow, after the hour I recirculated the wort to clarify. I opened up my ball valve all the way to set the bed and drained a quart, carefully poured this back on top of the mash and drained another quart. I did this 7 times and the wort was still cloudy. No chunks, mind you, but not clear. So I said to heck with it and drained the first runnings into the kettle. I added my sparge water, stirred well and waited 10 minutes. I then tried to recirculate and clarify again, this time with 9 quarts. Same results, so I drained this into my kettle and proceeded with the boil.
I'm wondering why I couldn't clarify the wort. I've read where others clarify after 2 quarts. Is there anything in my method that could be the cause? Is there anything I should change? And most importantly what effect will this have on the beer?
I welcome all advice and questions. The rest of the brew went very well. The Alt is currently fermenting happily at 60F in my fridge.
Cheers!
Kevin