cimirie
Well-Known Member
Ever have one of those brew days that just didnt go right from the start? That was me on Sunday.
It was my first wit in a long time which I was really excited about. I've been tinkering with decoction lately so I planned a protein rest (using flaked wheat, not wheat malt so this was supposed to help). Took out about a gallon and a half of wort to raise to boiling. Ran into the house to grab something, came out and smelled a distinct burning smell. CRAP! The bottom grains of my now boiling decoction were burnt to a crisp.
Figured it would be a total waste to stop now, so I just added my decoction back to my main mash to step up the temp from my 122 to 154. Only problem was, temp only went up to to 140. CRAP! So, I pulled half a gallon of wort, boiled it quick, added it back to the mash. 142. Pulled another half gallon and boiled. 146! CRAP!
Pulled bout a gallon and a half. 146 (yes, after a thorough stirring in of 1.5 gallons o boiling wort, my mash temp dint up at all). Throwing my brew day totally off and not wanting to have a thin-bodied wit, I threw caution to the wind, boiled 2 gallons of water, and finally upped the mash temp to 152. Still no target, but screw it, I'm done.
I sparge as normal. And surprisingly, after adding an additional 2 GALLONS of h2o not planned on, I get the perfect volume in my boil kettle (roughly 9.5 gallons were used to get 5.5 in the fermentor).
Crazy freaking day. At the end of the day, though, my overshot my OG by .002 so I was pretty much spot on despite my snafus. I still hate that my efficiency when using heavy concentrations of wheat is so low (65%), but at least I'm planning on it!
It was my first wit in a long time which I was really excited about. I've been tinkering with decoction lately so I planned a protein rest (using flaked wheat, not wheat malt so this was supposed to help). Took out about a gallon and a half of wort to raise to boiling. Ran into the house to grab something, came out and smelled a distinct burning smell. CRAP! The bottom grains of my now boiling decoction were burnt to a crisp.
Figured it would be a total waste to stop now, so I just added my decoction back to my main mash to step up the temp from my 122 to 154. Only problem was, temp only went up to to 140. CRAP! So, I pulled half a gallon of wort, boiled it quick, added it back to the mash. 142. Pulled another half gallon and boiled. 146! CRAP!
Pulled bout a gallon and a half. 146 (yes, after a thorough stirring in of 1.5 gallons o boiling wort, my mash temp dint up at all). Throwing my brew day totally off and not wanting to have a thin-bodied wit, I threw caution to the wind, boiled 2 gallons of water, and finally upped the mash temp to 152. Still no target, but screw it, I'm done.
I sparge as normal. And surprisingly, after adding an additional 2 GALLONS of h2o not planned on, I get the perfect volume in my boil kettle (roughly 9.5 gallons were used to get 5.5 in the fermentor).
Crazy freaking day. At the end of the day, though, my overshot my OG by .002 so I was pretty much spot on despite my snafus. I still hate that my efficiency when using heavy concentrations of wheat is so low (65%), but at least I'm planning on it!