trub quaffer
Well-Known Member
Did my second AG batch last weekend and I still can't figure out where I went wrong. My first batch went w/o a hitch. Hit 73% brewhouse efficiency and hit all my volumes, etc. This batch was a different animal though.
Did a Munich Dunkel. Grainbill was 10.5 lbs Munich 10L and 2 oz Carafa Special II. Mashed at 1.25 qt/lb. 10 minutes into mash I checked my temp and was only at 148F. Target was 154F. Added 2.25 quarts boiling water at left it alone until 60 minutes total mash time. At end of mash, my temp was 156F. Iodine test was negative so it appears I had complete conversion. I collected 1st runnings (about 1.5 gallons), added 4 gallons of 169F sparge water, stirred well, let sit 10 minutes and collected second runnings. I checked mash temp just before collecting second runnings and it was only at 157F. I ran off a little faster than I did on my first batch but by no means was it wide open (I'm using a 1/2" ball valve in a 10gallon rubbermade beverage cooler and copper manifold.) I was about 2 quarts shy of my expected 6 gallon volume so I added 2 quarts tap water. My expected OG was 1.046 but my actual was 1.036.
(note-I did not stir my runnings after collecting them and collected my gravity sample off the top of my kettle with a pitcher- first possible point of miscalculation). I had some DME handy so I added 1.5 lbs. Assuming 44 points per pound per gallon I figure this should have raised my gravity to around 1.047. I did not check gravity after adding the DME.
After the boil I transferred 5 gallons into my fermenting carboy (which was my target) and removed gravity sample with my auto-siphon. I put the sample in my hydrometer jar and left it for about a half hour while I was adding yeast and getting beer into my fermentation fridge. By the time I took my hydrometer reading, all the trub in the sample had settled out to the bottom. My estimated post-boil gravity was 1.053. Hydrometer read 1.064 Now my face is starting to stick like this.
I'm sure the beer will turn out fine, it's just going to be more like a bock than a dunkel.
So, what went wrong? Did I miscalculate somewhere? Did I run into some super-potent DME? Was my initial gravity reading wrong because the runnings were more dilute at the top of brew kettle than they were at the bottom? (I held the tubing above the surface of the runnings instead of letting the tubing lay in the bottom of the collecting vessel). Did the layer of trub at the bottom of the hydrometer jar cause a high reading when taking my post-boil reading?
The beer is still fermenting so I can't give you a final gravity yet.
I don't mind making small errors like this when brewing as long as I can find the cause of the error so I don't make it again. This just has me stumped though.
Did a Munich Dunkel. Grainbill was 10.5 lbs Munich 10L and 2 oz Carafa Special II. Mashed at 1.25 qt/lb. 10 minutes into mash I checked my temp and was only at 148F. Target was 154F. Added 2.25 quarts boiling water at left it alone until 60 minutes total mash time. At end of mash, my temp was 156F. Iodine test was negative so it appears I had complete conversion. I collected 1st runnings (about 1.5 gallons), added 4 gallons of 169F sparge water, stirred well, let sit 10 minutes and collected second runnings. I checked mash temp just before collecting second runnings and it was only at 157F. I ran off a little faster than I did on my first batch but by no means was it wide open (I'm using a 1/2" ball valve in a 10gallon rubbermade beverage cooler and copper manifold.) I was about 2 quarts shy of my expected 6 gallon volume so I added 2 quarts tap water. My expected OG was 1.046 but my actual was 1.036.
(note-I did not stir my runnings after collecting them and collected my gravity sample off the top of my kettle with a pitcher- first possible point of miscalculation). I had some DME handy so I added 1.5 lbs. Assuming 44 points per pound per gallon I figure this should have raised my gravity to around 1.047. I did not check gravity after adding the DME. After the boil I transferred 5 gallons into my fermenting carboy (which was my target) and removed gravity sample with my auto-siphon. I put the sample in my hydrometer jar and left it for about a half hour while I was adding yeast and getting beer into my fermentation fridge. By the time I took my hydrometer reading, all the trub in the sample had settled out to the bottom. My estimated post-boil gravity was 1.053. Hydrometer read 1.064
Now my face is starting to stick like this. I'm sure the beer will turn out fine, it's just going to be more like a bock than a dunkel.
So, what went wrong? Did I miscalculate somewhere? Did I run into some super-potent DME?
Was my initial gravity reading wrong because the runnings were more dilute at the top of brew kettle than they were at the bottom? (I held the tubing above the surface of the runnings instead of letting the tubing lay in the bottom of the collecting vessel). Did the layer of trub at the bottom of the hydrometer jar cause a high reading when taking my post-boil reading?The beer is still fermenting so I can't give you a final gravity yet.
I don't mind making small errors like this when brewing as long as I can find the cause of the error so I don't make it again. This just has me stumped though.
