New brewhouse = big efficiency miscalculation. Questions...

I went all out and bought a new rig recently. 10 gal cooler mash tun and a converted keggle. First batch was a saison, I hit 60% efficiency. No big deal. I was a BIAB brewer and that was my standard. I figured I would have to run a few batches through before dialing in my process. So for my second brew on this setup, I made a Double IPA. Bought enough grain for 1.077 OG at 60% efficiency, but whoops, I hit 75%. I'm not complaining about the ABV, as I now have a 1.096 OG DIPA. Could be worse, I guess. Anyway, the problem is that I only made a 1.7 L starter (WLP007). It's off and running and fermenting great, but I would hate to have my yeast peter out early. Should I chuck in a rehydrated packet of S-04? or should I leave it? BrewSmith recommends a 1.97 L starter. I'm about 25 billion yeast cells short.

The difference seems to be a pretty small percentage. As in optimal vs. pretty much optimal. I wouldn't worry about it at all.

And if your yeast stalls out a little high, you could pitch something else and your yeast profile should be pretty well established by the initial fermentation.

70 - 75 is standard for me with a 10g cooler. Did you switch HBS between the 1st and 2nd AG batch? You may be dealing with a different crush between the two.

haha... yeah, about that...my regular LHBS accidentally crushed 3 lbs of crystal 40 into the mix instead of 3/4 lb. They write the grain amounts on the bag, but I didn't double check...so I found out on brewday. I scooped out half of the grain, ran down to the shop down the street (not my regular shop) and had them grind up more base malt to add back in. I probably ended up w/1.5 lb of C40, which isn't terrible I guess. Double what I wanted, but these things happen. Long story short, grain and milling from two different shops.

Personally, I think I just figured a few things out, got more out of the gear on the second run through. Since I'm still getting the hang of it, I probably should have done a low gravity beer to be safe, but fortune favors the bold.

Wow...

Well, I still think your yeast pitching rate will be fine. Good luck dialing in the new system.

Update: I got 7 straight days of very, very active fermentation on this one (today is day 10). I took out the blowoff tube to put in an airlock last night. Took a sample and it's at 1.020...still bubbling, just not as actively. I'll check again in a week. Hoping to shave at least another 4 or 5 points off of the gravity.

It tasted fantastic, which surprised me a bit, considering it's 10.2% abv and barely over a week old.

Sounds like you're already in a good spot on this. Should be a hefty DIPA.

Sounds like you're already in a good spot on this. Should be a hefty DIPA.

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Yeah. It's gonna be a brute...pushing 11% by the time it's done. Triple IPA?

I kicked up the temp. a bit just to help the yeast finish out. Started at 66F, let it go for 4 days, then brought it up 1 degree per day to 70. Last night I set it to free rise to 72. I'll leave it there until it's done.

Two weeks since brewday on this and the yeast has pooped out. It finished at 1.018. I'm bummed it's that high, but there's a lot of crystal in there, so I'm not too surprised. The hydro sample tastes phenomenal, so I guess I won't stress out on the FG reading. It's not cloying or sweet tasting at all. Just hops, hops, and more hops.

I wouldn't be disappointed in that result whatsoever. You got a huge-ass beer, huge ABV, that's not easy.

You got a huge-ass beer, huge ABV, that's not easy.

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For sure. I'll take it. I was just looking for a feeew more points. You know how it is, always chasing perfection.

81% apparent attenuation is good, I'm not arguing that!

ICWiener said:

For sure. I'll take it. I was just looking for a feeew more points. You know how it is, always chasing perfection.

81% apparent attenuation is good, I'm not arguing that!

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Lower your mash temp a scosche next time and I bet you'll eak out a few more points.

Update on this: Holy sh*t, it's undrinkable so far. Two weeks in Primary, two weeks for dryhopping (2 sets of dry hops, also in primary), and 2 weeks in the bottle. It finished at 1.017, but good god man, it is so effing sweet. No hop presence whatsoever. I mean, none. It's strange, the hyrdo samples all tasted good, all the way up to bottling...hoppy as hell. So weird.

Anyways, it's still flat, probably because the yeast was so pooped out. Not worried about that since it appears that I've made a barleywine. Anyone tasted Firestone Walker's Double Double Barrel Ale, their Imperial Special Bitter? It tastes exactly like that. I suppose it will change with age, but so far it tastes like caramel candy in a bottle.