Another Frist Timer

[blagoe]

All Grain Batch #1

Gain
0.50 lb Rice Hulls
6.00 lb Pale Malt
4.00 lb Wheat Malt, Ger
1.00 lb Munich Malt
1.00 lb Wheat, Torrified
Hops
60 min 1.00 oz Pearle
15 min 0.50 oz Hallertauer Hersbrucker
15 min 0.50 oz Saaz
2 min 0.50 oz Hallertauer Hersbrucker
2 min 0.50 oz Saaz

Used beer smith for all my temps and water volumes.
10 gal cooler with ss braid MT
Mashed in 15 qts of water
Mash started at 154° after 60mins 152°
Iodine test showed no starch
Batch Sparged
Round 1: Sparge with 1.03 gal of 180.0° water.
Round 2: Sparge with 3.44 gal of 180° water.
Pre boil volume of almost 7 gal
Pre boil Gravity: forgot - doh!
60 min boil
Volume into fermenter 5 gal
OG 1.043 Efficiency 48%
LHBS says their mill is set to .037
Calibrated my 6 thermometers tonight, all less than a degree of each other.

So a little disappointed with my efficiency, I'm a bit stumped. But I'm sure it's still gona taste good. Next time I think I will measure my pre-boil gravity and just boil a bit longer if I have too.

My other problem was the 3oz of pellet hops plugged the ball valve on my kettle, had to scoop it out with a sanitized pitcher.
So picked up a 10 " Stainless Steel Flat False bottom for keg kettles form the brew shop today. It fits in beautiful, well see if it helps.

Over all had a great time had a couple friends helping brew and drink, weather was awesome. Can't wait to do the next batch!
Thanks to everyone for providing a such great wealth of resources here on the forums.

 

[brewingkitty]

i'm curious how you like the screen after a few batches?

 

[Lil' Sparky]

Put a stainless hose clamp on that dip tube to keep the FB tight against the bottom. The edge lifting up and letting grain by can turn into a clogged MLT in a hurry.

 

[blagoe]

Put a stainless hose clamp on that dip tube to keep the FB tight against the bottom. The edge lifting up and letting grain by can turn into a clogged MLT in a hurry.

It fits in very well, but that's a good idea there is a bit of room for it to jump up. The clamp should hold it in place perfectly. I'll let ya know how it works.

So my best guess at this point to explaining my efficiency is maybe the guy forgot the 4lbs of wheat malt. that would put the estimated OG at 1.044 giving me a 74% efficiency. I didn't weight it before hand and, I haven't done enough batches to tell if something was missing, they just hand you a bag with everything mixed in.

 

[blagoe]

Quick update: Did a 10 gallon batch of stout over the weekend. The kettle false bottom did its thing, drained all 10 gallons with out issues.
Oh and no efficiency problems this time 81% woot!