My first AG batch results/questions

novahokie09 said:

1) FWIW, I use a 5 gallon Home Depot cooler with a brass valve installed with a SS hose for my MLT. The total grain bill was 11#, and I used 4 gallon of water (1.45qt/#). My mash-in temp was 150F at the top at the start, and at 147F the top after an hour of mashing. This means I was 3F off my target temp, but I had no room to add hot water to raise the temp because I added 2 qt of 175F to get it up to 150F. Not sure how large a problem this is, but from my research, I’d estimate that the slightly lower temperatures will produce more fermentable sugars and will probably result in a lower FG. Can you confirm this?

You are correct. Mash in a little hotter next time. It takes a couple of batches to get your brewing setup dialed in. Lower mash temps dryer beer.

2) When I attempted to vorlauf, I measured the exit temp at 114F. This tells me that I have a very large temperature gradient (~33F) in the MLT from top to bottom. Have you guys measured your exit vorlauf temps and found them to be substantially lower than your target mash temp? If not, how can I get a uniform mash temp? I think the most likely culprit has to be an incorrect reading because after an hour of mashing, the temp should be uniform throughout the MLT. I’m just curious if this is an observed issue, or more than likely an incorrect reading?

Couple things here. I doubt you had that much difference truly in your temp. You could have hit a cool spot in your grains. Stir the bed before your readings. I have a direct fire mash and re-circulate during the mash. When you get to the point you want to invest in a pump you can do that with a cooler as well. It helps keeping a consistent Mash temp.

I would also look into getting at least a ten gallon tun. As you can already see head space is a issue with a five and you only brewed a 5% beer. If you want to brew something bigger going to become an issue.


3) I ran off 2 qt of wort during the vorlauf; It was free of grain, but it was not clear as apple cider as Palmer references in his literature. I decided to heat the turbid wort on the boiling kettle anyway, so I could get to sparging. I did two batch sparge cycles with 2 gallons each at 165F. The exit fluids from both sparges were beautifully clear and orange. I hope the initial 3 gallons of turbid wort won’t impact the taste too much. Should I have kept running off the initial wort before boiling, or I am going to be okay with just running out 2 qt despite it not being as clear as the sparge runoffs? Here’s a picture of my SG reading. Does it look right for pale ale?

No worries at all. This is to prevent a stuck sparage and keep the grains to a min. in your kettle. No flavor impact.



4) I targeted a 5 gallon batch, but only received 4.6 gallon of fluid in my fermenter carboy. I’m not worried about the 2 qt difference. I had ~6.5-7 gallon (3 gallon worth and 4 gallon of sparge) of wort pre-boil, and I was able to transfer 4.6 to the carboy. This means I boiled off 2 gallons during the hour. I had a strong full boil going and have a large diameter pot, so the air-wort interface has more surface area for the wort to boil off. I’ll just have to increase starting boil water next time. My real worry is that since I have a 6.5 gallon carboy, the head space in the carboy is large. I’ve read on here that it’s common to ferment 5 gallons in a 6.5 gallon carboy, but my issue is that the yeast didn’t really peak too much. I’m approaching 48 hr and the fermentation is decreasing. My max krausen layer was ~0.5”, and now there’s essentially nothing. The ambient temps range from 68F - 72F. I know the yeast is working, but the airlock activity has significantly dropped. Do you think this is a function of the head space, yeast starter bad, or am I just over-reacting?

Again nothing to worry. Every fermentation is going to be different. I did a Brown Ale over the weekend with a starter on a stir plate. Airated the wort it is in a controlled chamber and same thing. Airlocks are only a valve to release CO2. More head space most likely less airlock activity but does not mean less fermentation. Leave it be for a few weeks and it will be great.



5) Finally, I want to add 1 oz of both Zythos and Cascade to the primary after the fermentation has declined (~1 week from start), but I have no desire to transfer to secondary. What’s the best way to do this, or should I just neglect the hop addition entirely? Consider that I have a large head space (4.6 gallon beer in 6.5 gallon carboy). If I remove the airlock to add the hops, I fear I won’t have enough yeast activity to replace the O2 with CO2 and risk oxidation.

No you can remove add hops and place back on no issues.

I appreciate any assistance you will provide, and I apologize for the wall of text. However, I feel that providing context to the situation will result in better comments and minimize the back-and-forth.

Thanks in advance!

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