Joeneugs
Well-Known Member
OK, here it goes:
I ended up doing this recipe:
5.5 lbs Maris Otter
5.5 lbs Pilsner
1 lb Wheat
1 oz. Columbus @ 60 min.
1 oz. Centennial @ 5 min.
1 oz. Columbus @ 2 min.
1 oz. Centennial @ 2 min.
2 oz. Amarillo @ 2 min.
1 oz. Centennial @ 1 min.
1 oz. Columbus @ 1 min.
1 oz. Amarillo @ 0 min.
1 oz. Columbus @ 0 min.
1 oz. Centennial @ 0 min.
Heres the problem. I have a converted keg for my mash tun. Beer Smith said to heat my strike water to 160 degrees F to hit my target of 149. When I added my grains, the temp didnt drop at all, so I added some cool water to bring it down. It barely made it down to 155. Then after about 30 minutes it dropped to 146. I added some hot water and it made no difference. After about 60 minutes, it was down to about 140.
I didnt have any insulation wrapped around the mash tun, but I did wrap it in two warm blankets, but I guess it didnt help.
I took a gravity reading after I collected all the wort into my boil kettle, and after adjusting for heat it read @ 1.030. I collected about 6.75 gallons and planned to boil down to about 5.25 in one hour.
After an hour of boiling, I tried to run off into my fermentor, and.... nothing. I took a swig of vodka and blew into the hose a little to try and clear any blockages, and still nothing. I even tried to siphon it out and that wouldnt work either. I ended up washing my left arm, dipping it in sanitizer and disconnected my false bottom and strained the hops by hand and it finally drained.
My false bottom is the round dome shaped thing with little holes and a small elbow that draws the liquid from underneath through a small piece of high temp tubing connected to the ball valve. I was told that this would work with pellet hops, but apparantly lots of hop material got under this thing. Is there anything I can do to prevent this?
As for my final gravity, It read about 1.054. Well below my target of 1.068. Also a lot of hop material made it into the fermentor. I mean A LOT!
Heres my questions, obviously Ill have a lot of issues with this brew:
1. With a hop bill this large, how can I prevent hops from clogging my drain?
2. Whats the best way to maintain a steady temperature in a converted keg mash tun?
Thanks in advance for the advice!
I ended up doing this recipe:
5.5 lbs Maris Otter
5.5 lbs Pilsner
1 lb Wheat
1 oz. Columbus @ 60 min.
1 oz. Centennial @ 5 min.
1 oz. Columbus @ 2 min.
1 oz. Centennial @ 2 min.
2 oz. Amarillo @ 2 min.
1 oz. Centennial @ 1 min.
1 oz. Columbus @ 1 min.
1 oz. Amarillo @ 0 min.
1 oz. Columbus @ 0 min.
1 oz. Centennial @ 0 min.
Heres the problem. I have a converted keg for my mash tun. Beer Smith said to heat my strike water to 160 degrees F to hit my target of 149. When I added my grains, the temp didnt drop at all, so I added some cool water to bring it down. It barely made it down to 155. Then after about 30 minutes it dropped to 146. I added some hot water and it made no difference. After about 60 minutes, it was down to about 140.
I didnt have any insulation wrapped around the mash tun, but I did wrap it in two warm blankets, but I guess it didnt help.
I took a gravity reading after I collected all the wort into my boil kettle, and after adjusting for heat it read @ 1.030. I collected about 6.75 gallons and planned to boil down to about 5.25 in one hour.
After an hour of boiling, I tried to run off into my fermentor, and.... nothing. I took a swig of vodka and blew into the hose a little to try and clear any blockages, and still nothing. I even tried to siphon it out and that wouldnt work either. I ended up washing my left arm, dipping it in sanitizer and disconnected my false bottom and strained the hops by hand and it finally drained.
My false bottom is the round dome shaped thing with little holes and a small elbow that draws the liquid from underneath through a small piece of high temp tubing connected to the ball valve. I was told that this would work with pellet hops, but apparantly lots of hop material got under this thing. Is there anything I can do to prevent this?
As for my final gravity, It read about 1.054. Well below my target of 1.068. Also a lot of hop material made it into the fermentor. I mean A LOT!
Heres my questions, obviously Ill have a lot of issues with this brew:
1. With a hop bill this large, how can I prevent hops from clogging my drain?
2. Whats the best way to maintain a steady temperature in a converted keg mash tun?
Thanks in advance for the advice!