BlindFaith
Well-Known Member
I brewed my first all-grain the other day and it didn't come out like I wanted to. I know what I did wrong, for the most part, and I just had a couple questions. I attempted to make a 5.5 gal batch of an APA with 12.5lbs grain @ 152. The hops aren't important for now.
Anyhow, I punched some #s in my calculator and came up with a strike temp of 175. I heated up 4 gallons of strike water (per my calculator from Beer Alchemy iPhone app) to the 175 and slowly mixed water and grain while stirring to dough it in. My temp was low and I ended up adding too much water, but I got my temp around 150-152 after figuring out my thermometer was off after calibrating it. Mashed for an hour with a decent temperature of 148 after the hour.
Now, since I added so much strike, I used less sparge. Heated sparge up to 170-180 and poured after first runnings and initial recirculation. This is where I get fuzzy. I have read and been told by other brewers to always keep at least 1/2 to a full inch of water above grainbed and use foil or plastic lid to pour the sparge onto. I did that while keeping at least a 1/2 inch of water/wort above the bed, but I ended up with wort still in my tun even after hitting my pre-boil volume. I believe this affected my OG and I also think I lautered too fast, but does everyone use that method of keeping liquid above the bed? I don't know how to tell when to stop adding sparge water if I am constantly pouring onto a floating lid. I am sure this comes with experience, but I ended up watering my beer down by 10 gravity points.
Target OG was 1.054 and my actual was 1.044. I ended up using too much strike and then I even goofed up my pre-boil volume due to having a keggle and overshooting my 7 gal watermark from earlier. I was too concerned with that damn inch water level and over added.
Also, how much sparge water is actually necessary? I see some say 1.5 to 2 times strike, while some calculators give me almost equal numbers (3.97 gals and 4.3 gals i.e.). It is needless to say that my efficiency was garbage and this beer will probably be extremely watered down. I am brewing again tomorrow, so any advice is welcomed.
Anyhow, I punched some #s in my calculator and came up with a strike temp of 175. I heated up 4 gallons of strike water (per my calculator from Beer Alchemy iPhone app) to the 175 and slowly mixed water and grain while stirring to dough it in. My temp was low and I ended up adding too much water, but I got my temp around 150-152 after figuring out my thermometer was off after calibrating it. Mashed for an hour with a decent temperature of 148 after the hour.
Now, since I added so much strike, I used less sparge. Heated sparge up to 170-180 and poured after first runnings and initial recirculation. This is where I get fuzzy. I have read and been told by other brewers to always keep at least 1/2 to a full inch of water above grainbed and use foil or plastic lid to pour the sparge onto. I did that while keeping at least a 1/2 inch of water/wort above the bed, but I ended up with wort still in my tun even after hitting my pre-boil volume. I believe this affected my OG and I also think I lautered too fast, but does everyone use that method of keeping liquid above the bed? I don't know how to tell when to stop adding sparge water if I am constantly pouring onto a floating lid. I am sure this comes with experience, but I ended up watering my beer down by 10 gravity points.
Target OG was 1.054 and my actual was 1.044. I ended up using too much strike and then I even goofed up my pre-boil volume due to having a keggle and overshooting my 7 gal watermark from earlier. I was too concerned with that damn inch water level and over added.
Also, how much sparge water is actually necessary? I see some say 1.5 to 2 times strike, while some calculators give me almost equal numbers (3.97 gals and 4.3 gals i.e.). It is needless to say that my efficiency was garbage and this beer will probably be extremely watered down. I am brewing again tomorrow, so any advice is welcomed.