i over pitched...what should i expect?

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beerhound28

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Hello everyone
I brewed my first AG batch the other day..and it was a disaster
all you pro's are gonna laugh
I started of with 15lbs of grain and 8 gallons of water
ended up with 3 gallons of wort haha i really screwed the pooch on this one
and on top of that i heavily overpitched
I had 2 pacman smack packs that were not handled proper and i thought they might not be viable...so i thought if i activate 2 and make a starter i can culture enough yeast for my "5-6 gal" batch..anyway they were both viable and swelled to my suprise(no turning back now)..So i pitched the starter into my 3 gallons of wort..what does overpitching do to the beer?
 
Well maybe you didn't over pitch since you only had 3 gallons of possibly very high gravity wort?? With all you have going on...i doubt overpitching to be your biggest obstacle and would focus on your volume issues...bang head:mug:
 
yeah your right..it was like the grains were a sponge and stole all my wort haha..i gotta work on every aspect of brewing ..i cant brew worth a damn..cheers
 
Sounds like you may have forgotten to sparge. Check out the boards, there are two methods - batch sparge and fly sparge. Basically, you'll drain the grain bed and then add additional hot water to "rinse" the grains. You will get a lot more wort this way.

Did you measure the gravity of the wort?
 
In terms of overpitching, that's pretty hard to do on a homebrew scale, you'll be fine. In terms of everything else, I recommend getting BeerSmith software, it's about $20 and one of the better investments you can make in terms of making sure you're doing things correctly, especially with water volumes.
 
your right..i did not sparge...i mashed the grains in a real ghetto way..I mashed on the stove top in a 9 gal kettle with 4 gallons of water..then did a mash out with the other 4..then hand strained the batch:cross: I did not have enough all grain gear and i got impulsive haha ..needless to say your right i did not sparge..i thought i would still get 5 gallons ..lesson leared..them grains are like a sponge
 
oh yeah my OG was 1.061..what is that 30% efficiency..terrible just terrible..i need to get that program or i will be doomed to buying beer in the store
 
i had no clue what BIAB was but i looked it up.. i should have did that method..Im gonna buy like a case of grain bags..thanks cheers
 
i had no clue what BIAB was but i looked it up.. i should have did that method..Im gonna buy like a case of grain bags..thanks cheers

use paint strainer bags, they're a couple bucks for a three pack at Menard's or Home Cheapo, and they work great. BIAB is a great way to step up to PM or AG, makes it as easy as an extract brew. :mug:
 
In terms of overpitching, that's pretty hard to do on a homebrew scale, you'll be fine. In terms of everything else, I recommend getting BeerSmith software, it's about $20 and one of the better investments you can make in terms of making sure you're doing things correctly, especially with water volumes.

+20 to buying Beersmith. It has helped me from making costly mistakes in the past.
 
Also, if you are brewing on a stovetop, you might look into a 'Partial Mash'. This is using extract + speciality grains. You'll need much less equipment/space this way. Austin Homebrew makes some great kits (just about any beer style) for partial mash brewing. They will ship you everything you need along with a good step by step guide.
 
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