I had done four batches of extract with steeping grains.
My 5th batch was with a buddy and (as per his recipe) we used 2.25 lbs of 2-row and 1 lb. Pale Cyrstal; steeped trying to keep it between 155-170 and then poured the sparge water over the grains into the pot. We got a ridiculously high OG: 1.102!!!! Now, this APA turned out mighty tasty ("bordering on Belgian style" by one taster) but we didn't expect such a high OG.
So, for my 6th batch, I tried concocting an IPA recipe from scratch which used 2 lbs. of Pale Malt, 1 lb. Cyrstal 60, and .5 lb. CaraPils. I started as I did for the 5th batch mentioned above: steep all grains trying to keep temp between 155-170. Thereafter, instead of pouring the sparge water over the grains into the bigger pot, I had an extra gallon of sparge water ready (at about 160-165 dF and dunked the already-steeped grains for 10 minutes before pouring the sparge back into the bigger pot. Again, well-above expected OG: 1.120!!!!!!!!!!!
I have a ton of reading (books and HBT posts) under my belt and more than the average amount of beer knowledge in my noggin, but not enough to figure out where these two batches went wrong. Mash temperature not steady enough? Not properly using the sparge water? Not using the correct volumes of water?
Any suggestions, ideas, comments, or other such constructive criticism would be greatly appreciated!
Cheers,
JWiC
My 5th batch was with a buddy and (as per his recipe) we used 2.25 lbs of 2-row and 1 lb. Pale Cyrstal; steeped trying to keep it between 155-170 and then poured the sparge water over the grains into the pot. We got a ridiculously high OG: 1.102!!!! Now, this APA turned out mighty tasty ("bordering on Belgian style" by one taster) but we didn't expect such a high OG.
So, for my 6th batch, I tried concocting an IPA recipe from scratch which used 2 lbs. of Pale Malt, 1 lb. Cyrstal 60, and .5 lb. CaraPils. I started as I did for the 5th batch mentioned above: steep all grains trying to keep temp between 155-170. Thereafter, instead of pouring the sparge water over the grains into the bigger pot, I had an extra gallon of sparge water ready (at about 160-165 dF and dunked the already-steeped grains for 10 minutes before pouring the sparge back into the bigger pot. Again, well-above expected OG: 1.120!!!!!!!!!!!
I have a ton of reading (books and HBT posts) under my belt and more than the average amount of beer knowledge in my noggin, but not enough to figure out where these two batches went wrong. Mash temperature not steady enough? Not properly using the sparge water? Not using the correct volumes of water?
Any suggestions, ideas, comments, or other such constructive criticism would be greatly appreciated!
Cheers,
JWiC