Coastie
Well-Known Member
I did my first all grain recipe yesterday. I brewed NB's Speckled Heifer kit and used BeerSmith 2 to come up with the
calculations. I hit the volumes and temperatures but I was consistently short on the gravity.
Let me back up and give you some background info. I used 5 gallon water coolers as my HLT and MLT and I had a 9 gallon brewpot.
BeerSmith told me to use the following water volumes for 8.5 lbs of grain;
Mash In 10.63 qt of water at 163.7 F, rest at 152.0 F for 60 min
Mash Out 6.80 qt of water at 202.2 F rest at 170.0 F for 10 min
Fly sparge with 3.43 gal water at 168.0 F
My preboil gravity was estimated to be 1.039 but measured at 1.030. That's a brewhouse efficiency of 63%.
The estimated OG was 1.045 but was actually 1.039.
I pitched the yeast and it's been really bubbling for 24 hours.
What could I have done to increase the efficiency? During the sacch rest, I simply put the lid on the cooler and left it alone for an hour.
Should I have stirred it occasionally?
How big of a deal is it to miss the gravities like this? Would extending the boil been the right thing to do?
calculations. I hit the volumes and temperatures but I was consistently short on the gravity.
Let me back up and give you some background info. I used 5 gallon water coolers as my HLT and MLT and I had a 9 gallon brewpot.
BeerSmith told me to use the following water volumes for 8.5 lbs of grain;
Mash In 10.63 qt of water at 163.7 F, rest at 152.0 F for 60 min
Mash Out 6.80 qt of water at 202.2 F rest at 170.0 F for 10 min
Fly sparge with 3.43 gal water at 168.0 F
My preboil gravity was estimated to be 1.039 but measured at 1.030. That's a brewhouse efficiency of 63%.
The estimated OG was 1.045 but was actually 1.039.
I pitched the yeast and it's been really bubbling for 24 hours.
What could I have done to increase the efficiency? During the sacch rest, I simply put the lid on the cooler and left it alone for an hour.
Should I have stirred it occasionally?
How big of a deal is it to miss the gravities like this? Would extending the boil been the right thing to do?