pym99
Active Member
I just finished my second all-grain batch yesterday, after doing the first over the weekend. For the first I did Orfy's Hobgoblin 2, 23L (as it was formatted). It turned out at 1063, with a target of 1053. I added water and got it down to 1053 easily.
However, for my second batch, I tried Adnams Bitter from Graham Wheeler's Real British Ale book. Not sure of my efficiency, since I didn't measure it the first time, so I made a 23L batch (even though my goal is 19L or 5 gallons for a Corny), figuring I could just throw some out if need be.
I had way more trouble. First, my mash started at 66C, as Wheeler instructed, but dropped to 60C after an hour. I tried adding boiling water, but it didn't raise the temp much, and I'm sure there was way too much water in the mash to start with. I let it mash for another 30 minutes. I'm mashing in a 10 gallon rubbermaid, and had no problems the first time (but then there was a LOT more grain in the Hobgoblin).
Second, my sparge was too slow, and therefore too cool; it didn't get above 60C in the grain bed for the first hour (even though it was 85C in the hot water cooler). By the end, I raised the flow enough to get it up to the mid-60s.
I got plenty of wort, filled my 7.5 Gallon kettle, boiled for an hour, added some more wort to top it off, boiled for the last 30 minutes. I ended up with 4 gallons in the fermenter at 1053.
The OG for the recipe was 1036, so I calculated that I needed to ad 1.8 gallons of water to dilute it properly using this formula:
(Current OG / Desired OG) * Current Volume = Desired Volume
I had pre-boiled about 1 1/4 gallons, so first I only added 1/2 a gallon, then another, then a quarter, measuring the gravity each time after rocking the bucket to mix it. But I was still measuring 1050, which I now know was because I didn't mix it nearly well enough. (I've since read that you need to stir it really, really well to fully distribute the hot water into the colder, denser wort).
I ended up dumping a gallon of wort and adding another gallon of boiled water before bed.
This morning, I measured it and I am now at 1030, well under my target OG. I have a bucket of watery wort. I suppose I could add sugar to raise the gravity, but the recipe already called for 6.8 lbs of malt and .75 lbs of sugar. If I now add another 3/4 lb of sugar to raise the OG to 1036, I'm afraid the recipe will be all out of whack.
I'm inclined to just pitch the whole thing and start over, considering the OG problems and the really poorly-done mash and sparge. As it is now, the wort tastes both watery and, I think, tannic, a bit like over-extracted tea. Should I just chalk it up to a learning experience and dump it in the compost pile?
At this point, I'm only out $15. I can pick up more grain, fix the huge problems with my process, and start over. If I pitch the yeast and rack to keg to just see, then one of my kegs is tied up for however long and I'm out $21.
Any advice would be most welcome.
However, for my second batch, I tried Adnams Bitter from Graham Wheeler's Real British Ale book. Not sure of my efficiency, since I didn't measure it the first time, so I made a 23L batch (even though my goal is 19L or 5 gallons for a Corny), figuring I could just throw some out if need be.
I had way more trouble. First, my mash started at 66C, as Wheeler instructed, but dropped to 60C after an hour. I tried adding boiling water, but it didn't raise the temp much, and I'm sure there was way too much water in the mash to start with. I let it mash for another 30 minutes. I'm mashing in a 10 gallon rubbermaid, and had no problems the first time (but then there was a LOT more grain in the Hobgoblin).
Second, my sparge was too slow, and therefore too cool; it didn't get above 60C in the grain bed for the first hour (even though it was 85C in the hot water cooler). By the end, I raised the flow enough to get it up to the mid-60s.
I got plenty of wort, filled my 7.5 Gallon kettle, boiled for an hour, added some more wort to top it off, boiled for the last 30 minutes. I ended up with 4 gallons in the fermenter at 1053.
The OG for the recipe was 1036, so I calculated that I needed to ad 1.8 gallons of water to dilute it properly using this formula:
(Current OG / Desired OG) * Current Volume = Desired Volume
I had pre-boiled about 1 1/4 gallons, so first I only added 1/2 a gallon, then another, then a quarter, measuring the gravity each time after rocking the bucket to mix it. But I was still measuring 1050, which I now know was because I didn't mix it nearly well enough. (I've since read that you need to stir it really, really well to fully distribute the hot water into the colder, denser wort).
I ended up dumping a gallon of wort and adding another gallon of boiled water before bed.
This morning, I measured it and I am now at 1030, well under my target OG. I have a bucket of watery wort. I suppose I could add sugar to raise the gravity, but the recipe already called for 6.8 lbs of malt and .75 lbs of sugar. If I now add another 3/4 lb of sugar to raise the OG to 1036, I'm afraid the recipe will be all out of whack.
I'm inclined to just pitch the whole thing and start over, considering the OG problems and the really poorly-done mash and sparge. As it is now, the wort tastes both watery and, I think, tannic, a bit like over-extracted tea. Should I just chalk it up to a learning experience and dump it in the compost pile?
At this point, I'm only out $15. I can pick up more grain, fix the huge problems with my process, and start over. If I pitch the yeast and rack to keg to just see, then one of my kegs is tied up for however long and I'm out $21.
Any advice would be most welcome.