freeflydude
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- Apr 18, 2012
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I brewed a potentially big beer a couple days ago with estimated pre-boil gravity at about 1.080 from 14.77 lbs grain. After draining the pre-boil gravity was a dismal 1.040 at about 140 degrees. With temperature correction I think that gets me to about 1.055. I've read several posts since about efficiency and have a few ideas about what went wrong but would like any suggestions for improvement. My process and equipment:
MLT - 10 gal round cooler w/ FB
1. 170 strike water in MLT.
2. Added grains to water (I've seen posts that say add water to grain so would like comments on this on whether to add grain to water or water to grain, and why...)
3. Mash at 157-152 for 75 minutes stirring every 15 minutes (75 minute mash for Pilsen based malt)
4. Vorlauf and fly sparge with 170 degree water. Probably only took 15-20 minutes to drain which I now know was too fast.
From what I've seen posted here's where I think I messed up, I should have slowed down on the sparge and used water at a higher temp closer to 200. I also think my grain crush was not good which might have been the biggest contributor. The HBS did the crush and my initial runnings were really clear so seems to be a likely cause. Overall when I look back I think a better crush and slower sparge at 200 would have yielded much better results. Any suggestions for next batch would be greatly appreciated. I would like to improve my efficiency to be in the 75 range or better.
MLT - 10 gal round cooler w/ FB
1. 170 strike water in MLT.
2. Added grains to water (I've seen posts that say add water to grain so would like comments on this on whether to add grain to water or water to grain, and why...)
3. Mash at 157-152 for 75 minutes stirring every 15 minutes (75 minute mash for Pilsen based malt)
4. Vorlauf and fly sparge with 170 degree water. Probably only took 15-20 minutes to drain which I now know was too fast.
From what I've seen posted here's where I think I messed up, I should have slowed down on the sparge and used water at a higher temp closer to 200. I also think my grain crush was not good which might have been the biggest contributor. The HBS did the crush and my initial runnings were really clear so seems to be a likely cause. Overall when I look back I think a better crush and slower sparge at 200 would have yielded much better results. Any suggestions for next batch would be greatly appreciated. I would like to improve my efficiency to be in the 75 range or better.