1st AG Advice/Critique Needed

Hi all,

So I just moved my 1st AG batch to secondary, and everything looks great, but I'm having some issues trying to figure out my efficiency.

Recipe Max Potential Gravity
8 lbs 2 Row Brewers 46.769 (8*38 / 6.5)
2 lbs Vienna 10.769 (2*35 / 6.5)
.5 10L Caramel 2.692 (.5*35 / 6.5)
.5 Cara Pils 2.462 (.5*32 / 6.5)
Total Max Potential 62.69
Measured OG 52.00
Observed Efficiency 83%

Process
Mash in with 3 gal of strike water at 158 with a
60 Min mash at temp of 155 that fell to 153
Strike with 4 Gal of 180
Boil for 60 min, chill to 68 and pitch yeast

Here are my questions:

1) I don't really know how much wort I boiled but I am guessing around 5.5 to 6.5 based on mash & strike water amounts is this a reasonable assumption?

2) My measured OG was 1.052 but I only had about 4.5-4.75 after evaporation and trub loss so I added enough water to bring me to about 5 gal which brought my OG to approx 1.044; is there any way to back into my volumes using the OG differential?

3) Thoughts about process, should I mash or sparge with more water, add more water to the boil (I was pretty close to a boil over so I don't have a ton more room in my 30qt brew pot)?

I would RDWHAHB, but that might get me fired, so I'll have to that after the gym.

Thanks!

k2brew said:

2) My measured OG was 1.052 but I only had about 4.5-4.75 after evaporation and trub loss so I added enough water to bring me to about 5 gal which brought my OG to approx 1.044; is there any way to back into my volumes using the OG differential?

Click to expand...

This doesn't seem right. You added less than a half gallon and your OG fell from 1.052 to 1.044? Should have been about 1.048 after the water.

If I ignore that and look at the fact that you had about 4.6 gallons of 1.052 OG wort from a recipe that would produce a 5 gallons of 1.063 OG wort with 100% efficiency....


ideal = 1.0627 * 5 = 5.3135 gravity units in the wort
yours = 1.0520 * 4.6 = 4.8392 gravity units in the wort

efficiency = yours/ideal = 4.8392/5.3135 = 91% efficiency

I think.....

There is a damn good chance that I have no idea what the actual volumes were.

I know that my input was 7 Gal and when I put it in the carboy I said... "damn have to add some more water"...

Could have been 1-1.25 (I really don't think it was any more than 1.5, but I can't be sure) I guess I had better mark the carboy before the next batch.

For what it's worth, you never HAVE to add water. If your beer is heavier than you expected, you can always just leave it alone and drink it.

But, the lesson to take away is that if you know the max gravity potential for the recipe and you know your gravity and volume, figuring out efficiency is as simple as the math I put above.

Walker-san said:

ideal = 1.0627 * 5 = 5.3135 gravity units in the wort
yours = 1.0520 * 4.6 = 4.8392 gravity units in the wort

efficiency = yours/ideal = 4.8392/5.3135 = 91% efficiency

I think.....

Click to expand...

It should look like this, I think:

62.7*5=313.5
52*4.6=239.2

239/313= 76% efficiency.

You're right. I forgot to strip of the "1.0" at the head of the gravity readings.

don't add water. if you are a pint or two short, just deal with it and adjust your sparging next time. don't get caught up in the science part too much until you are REALLY obsessed with brewing and have your system and technique and equipment dialed in. just keep measuring and keeping track and asking questions and drinking homemade beer.


we are the future of the world(homebrewers).
who else is going to make beer after the apocolypse?

Synovia said:

It should look like this, I think:

62.7*5=313.5
52*4.6=239.2

239/313= 76% efficiency.

Click to expand...

That's more like it.

Ok, things are making a little more sense now. I think I'll take some time and create some fill markings so that I have a better idea where I am at.

I'm not super worried, but I did want to get to the right efficiency number so that I can accurately make recipes going forward (of course I'll keep measuring).

I did relax with a Goose Island Oatmeal Stout last night and thought, meh this is pretty good, but my beer is better. First time that has happened and I liked it!