Condensed Steps for Brew Day Measurements

[jdudek]

what is "autosparge"? can it be used with many setups or is it proprietary and usable only with blichmann?

It's basically a device that floats on top of your mash and open/closes a valve as the level of the mashes changes. Reminiscent of how the water tank of your toilet works

My brew setup is not Blichmann, it can be used with any setup, but will likely require a new hole in your kettle. I've written up my installation of it here:
http://electricbrewinabag.com/brew-pot-2-0-with-blichmann-autosparge/
I have found it to be a nice addition for a set and forget recirculating setup.

 

[eric19312]

The reason you DO want the flow to stop is to avoid dry frying your heating element or avoid overflowing your kettle.

nah I disagree I don't want flow to stop in my system. I use a manometer sight glass to keep an eye on pressure under the false bottom and do something about it before the mash sticks.

 

[eric19312]

It's basically a device that floats on top of your mash and open/closes a valve as the level of the mashes changes. Reminiscent of how the water tank of your toilet works

My brew setup is not Blichmann, it can be used with any setup, but will likely require a new hole in your kettle. I've written up my installation of it here:
http://electricbrewinabag.com/brew-pot-2-0-with-blichmann-autosparge/
I have found it to be a nice addition for a set and forget recirculating setup.

I initially did it this way but kept snagging the grain bag on the autosparge. Finally mounted the autosparge to the kettle lid and no more issues with snagging the grain bag when I hoisted it out. Another happy autosparge user that doesn't have a Blichmann kettle.

 

[jdudek]

nah I disagree I don't want flow to stop in my system. I use a manometer sight glass to keep an eye on pressure under the false bottom and do something about it before the mash sticks.

Fair enough. I want to be able to walk away so will accept stoppage.

 

[odie]

It's basically a device that floats on top of your mash and open/closes a valve as the level of the mashes changes. Reminiscent of how the water tank of your toilet works

ok, I get it. sounds like really more for a traditional 3V mash tun when you hold back water for sparging...not really for a full mash BIAB application?

 

[jdudek]

ok, I get it. sounds like really more for a traditional 3V mash tun when you hold back water for sparging...not really for a full mash BIAB application?

It was designed for sparging in 2/3V setups as you point out. However I use it in my 1V eBIAB to control recirculation flow. So that’s another application of it.

 

[eric19312]

Fair enough. I want to be able to walk away so will accept stoppage.

I am not electric...direct fire under the mash tun so dry fire is not quite the same catastrophe as in your case...but still bad. I've never had an overflow in the mash tun though. Maybe this is because I have less space under my false bottom? My false bottom sits about 1.5" off the bottom of the kettle so even if the mash completely stuck there is only about 1.25 inches of water that could be pulled from the bottom and added to the top...Now I do push my mash tun pretty hard and sometimes have it full to within 1/2 inch of the rim, but still I have never (over 100 batches as rigged) seen this issue.

Where do you measure temp to control the burner? My temp probe is after the pump on it's return to the mash tun. So if flow stops my system will not get a signal to kill the burner and I could be boiling the wort below the stuck mash...seems that could be dangerous.

The sight glass works well. I get plenty of warning when mash is starting to compact. I am normally kegging a batch while the mash is running so am not very far away for more than a few minutes.

 

[jdudek]

I am not electric...direct fire under the mash tun so dry fire is not quite the same catastrophe as in your case...but still bad. I've never had an overflow in the mash tun though. Maybe this is because I have less space under my false bottom? My false bottom sits about 1.5" off the bottom of the kettle so even if the mash completely stuck there is only about 1.25 inches of water that could be pulled from the bottom and added to the top...Now I do push my mash tun pretty hard and sometimes have it full to within 1/2 inch of the rim, but still I have never (over 100 batches as rigged) seen this issue.

Where do you measure temp to control the burner? My temp probe is after the pump on it's return to the mash tun. So if flow stops my system will not get a signal to kill the burner and I could be boiling the wort below the stuck mash...seems that could be dangerous.

The sight glass works well. I get plenty of warning when mash is starting to compact. I am normally kegging a batch while the mash is running so am not very far away for more than a few minutes.

Thanks, interesting. Indeed gas brings different challenges. I never really had the overflow problem (though I came close) but the real killer is dry frying the element. Brew day is done if that happens. I came very close where my whole false bottom was emptied. Thankfully I noticed and the element was not on at that particular moment. My false bottom space is more than double yours so that's significant volume in my case

 

[Monmouth00]

Quick update, if any of you care:
The batch ended up being a lot larger than I expected. I started with 9 gallons in the kettle, expecting much more loss from the grain, and the boil off. Turns out I didn’t lose nearly as much as I thought I would to boiling in 27 degree ambient temps.
I think I probably got about 6 gallons into the BMB, and pitched. It took a day or two to get started on the Belgian Abbey yeast, but then it took off. Holding steady at 68 degrees with a healthy krausen and swimming yeast. It seems to have slowed down after three days of active fermentation, but I’m still getting the occasional burp in the bucket.
I’ll give it at least another week- probably about 13 days total, before I keg it up.
I was hoping to do a closed transfer, but I don’t want to overflow the keg while I can’t see how full it is. Truthfully I’ve never had oxidation problems with my ambers. They get drunk quick anyway.
More updates to follow!

 

[Bobby_M]

Shortening your hoses will shed less heat in the lines.

 

[wilserbrewer]

Fwiw, I’ll offer my simple snarky reply to “Condensed Steps for Brew Day Measurements”
Mash in somewhat slightly south of total volume, hoist the bag of grain, then continue to throw water at the grain bag until you reach pre boil volume...we don’t need no stinking measurements LOL jk but also serious

 

[eric19312]

Fwiw, I’ll offer my simple snarky reply to “Condensed Steps for Brew Day Measurements”
Mash in somewhat slightly south of total volume, hoist the bag of grain, then continue to throw water at the grain bag until you reach pre boil volume...we don’t need no stinking measurements LOL jk but also serious

I agree that will make beer.

 

[Monmouth00]

Alright, I'm not happy right now.

My gravity reading after my boil and cooling (about 70 degrees) was 1.042

I let the primary go for about 11 days at 68 degrees, and bumped it up to 70 for the last 2.5 days. Fermentation appeared completely normal - good krausen, plenty of airlock activity, and it petered out when I expected.

If you remember, my post-boil volume was higher than I expected. I ended up putting about 6 gallons into the carboy, when I was aiming for 5.5

I cold crashed to about 38 degrees. After kegging with a closed transfer, I had about a gallon left over, so I filled 5 bottles with the leftover.

I took my final gravity reading with the small amount left over, which had some kicked up trub/yeast in it. It measured only 1.026 - which is putting my ABV at about 2.1%

How the hell did I miss by so much? Was it the added volume that dropped the ABV? Is the trub in the sample, or the low temperature affecting the refractometer reading? Is there something else I missed?

It tasted like beer - not too sweet for an amber. The mouthfeel was a bit thin, but that's to be expected because I had a lower than expected mash temp (about 150) and it wasn't carbonated.

I thought my first batch with eBIAB was going so well, and now I'm disappointed.

It's carbonating at 30psi for the next few days, and I'll give a test on Tuesday. But I'm not expecting a miracle.

Any advice to avoid this for the next batch would be appreciated.

 

[DBhomebrew]

It measured only 1.026

How are you measuring? Hydrometer or refractometer with a calculator?

 

[Monmouth00]

How are you measuring? Hydrometer or refractometer with a calculator?

Refractometer, and plugging the OG and FG into Brewersfriend and my Beersmith mobile app. Both say 2.1% ABV.

 

[DBhomebrew]

Refractometer, and plugging the OG and FG into Brewersfriend and my Beersmith mobile app. Both say 2.1% ABV.

What are your numbers in Brix?

 

[Monmouth00]

What are your numbers in Brix?

No idea. Didn’t record them. Does it make a difference? Wouldn’t it be the same result?

 

[DBhomebrew]

No idea. Didn’t record them. Does it make a difference? Wouldn’t it be the same result?

When you plugged your OG and FG into the calculator, was that an ABV calculator?

Refractometers need to be used in conjunction with a refractometer calculator. It will convert Brix into specific gravity AND properly correct the FG to take into account the presence of alcohol.

The 1.02ish FG is sort of the telltale. Good news, your beer's probably just fine.

https://www.brewersfriend.com/refractometer-calculator/

 

[Monmouth00]

I found the problem!!!
I was accidentally using my pre-boil gravity of 1.042
I should have been using my post-boil gravity of 1.05!!!
The difference between the 1.05 and the 1.026 measurement means the ABV is 5.1%
Stupid oversight, and unfamiliarity with new brewing software is to blame.
I’m happy again. Hope that the mouthfeel improves with a little carbonation.
Thank you for making me look at my data again!!

 

[DBhomebrew]

1.026 still seems pretty high for a 1.05 OG. That's only about 50% attenuation.

 

[Monmouth00]

Beersmith says that’s 37.3% attenuation. But the ABV is right on target for the recipe.
Do I still have something to worry about?

 

[DBhomebrew]

26/50 is .52

Punching those numbers into the Brewer's Friend ABV calculator gives 3.25%ABV standard.

 

[Monmouth00]

Yeah, I got that too once I realigned the numbers.
Any ideas what went wrong?

 

[Monmouth00]

Using the Brix calculator, my OG was 12.4, and my final was 6.6.
That’s supposed to be 5.1% ABV.
I’m very confused.

 

[DBhomebrew]

When you took your gravities, did you read the refractometer in Brix and use the calculator to get specific gravity? If not, your numbers are on a foundation of sand.

 

[DBhomebrew]

Using the Brix calculator, my OG was 12.4, and my final was 6.6.
That’s supposed to be 5.1% ABV.
I’m very confused.

Well, there you go!

Put those into the Brewer's Friend calculator with an assumed 1.04 wort correction...

1.048
1.012
4.86%

 

[DBhomebrew]

You can go down a rabbit hole about different calculators and approaches to these numbers.

1.050/5.1% from one calculator and 1.048/4.8% from another is totally expected.

I'd record your Beersmith numbers for each batch as well as Brewer's Friend's. Over a few batches you'll find you'll gain the ability to predict how things turn out.

For my purposes, finding consistency and predictability is much more important than accuracy.

ETA: I checked Brewer's Friend without the wort correction and it came back as agreeing with your 1.050 from Beersmith. That wort correction factor adjusts for the complex sugar types found in wort.

 

[Monmouth00]

When I look into my refractometer I see this:

When taking my measurements, why wouldn't I look at my SG side, instead of looking at Brix then converting?

My OG was 1.050 (12.4 Brix) and my FG was 1.026 (6.6 Brix)

Why does it show both when I should only be looking at Brix?

Calculating by the SG gives me 3.2% while the Brix calculator gives me 5.06%

So you're saying I should only go by the Brix and not the SG?

Can you explain why? Like I'm a 4 year old, please, because I'm very very confused.

 

[DBhomebrew]

A refractometer measures the refraction of light through a sugar solution. This is measured in Brix or Plato, interchangeable for our purposes.

With a simple sugar solution, the SG scale they helpfully provide is usable. But, we brewers don't deal in simple sugars. We've got things like maltose in there as well. 1.04 is a common default correction factor for beer wort.

All's well and good for pre-fermentation. Once alcohol joins the party, it starts to skew the light making it appear to be a higher concentration of sugar. The calculators account for this. Knowing the OG and apparent current SG in Bx, the calculator figures out the true sugar concentration. The SG scale on the refractometer doesn't have any idea it's being tricked by the alcohol.

Takeaway:

Refractometers measure simple sugar water solutions in Brix. The SG scale assumes this simple sugar water solution.

Calculators can compensate for the presence of complex sugars and alcohol.

Measure and record in Brix. Convert to SG.

 

[Monmouth00]

Thank you. I was getting very very frustrated thinking I screwed something up.
Your explanation is soothing, and is greatly appreciated!!

 

[DBhomebrew]

I'm a big fan of using a refractometer. As with all things, understanding the tool does wonders.

Do look into best practices for sample collection, etc. Mixing up the wort before pulling the sample, letting the sample settle before putting it on the lens, temperature awareness, etc.

I like to take 3 separate readings of each sample and average them before inputting into the calculator. Over a few batches I've found that each sample set has gotten tighter as my technique improves.