First Brew Fermenting - Questions???

[zlwags85]

Hello,

This is my first post after reading a ton of great threads on this forum. Overall things went fairly well for my first batch but I definately feel somewhat uneasy and had some questions on "what should I have done".

I have a 8 gallon MoreBeer Kettle w/ ball valve and IC. Brewing outdoors on a raised burner. Primary fermentation in 6.5 glass carboy and secondary in 5 gallon (skipping this brew). Sanitation was not a concern... have a Mark's Keg Washer II and seemed to work great for everything I needed today.

The ball valve is about an inch or so from the bottom of the kettle and I have a SS strainer screwed on the inside of the kettle.

Question 1: When I racked the beer through the ball valve and tilted the pot a bit to try to get as much of the wort as I could, there was still a solid gallon of primarly liquid (although pretty cloudy with the "trub"). Should I try to utilize more of this liquid or do most people dump the bottom?

Question 2: I started with a little over 6 gallons for the boil and between boil off and the remaining .5-1 gallon mentioned in question 1, I only racked about 3.5-4 gallons into the carboy. Luckily I was somewhat prepared and had about a gallon pre-boiled and cooled to room tempature and covered with foil. I added all of this water and I still was only able to get to about 4.5-4.75gallons in the carboy.

Question 3: I had an aerator spray nozzle on the end of the transfer tubing and oxygen seemed to be good. When I added water in question 2, I mixed it by tipping carboy as best possible but I'm sure it didn't mix great. I tipped the carboy and was able to get a small sample in a sanitized pipette and OG was way low measure with refractometer (just guessing it was primarly water off the top that didn't mix well) Should I have mixed it better or will it be fine. My first reading was irrelevant I think.

Either way, I know not to dump it or worry too much. I'm sure it will be beer and ferment. Just wondering on these few items that could have gone better / smoother. Trying to learn from my mistakes.

Thanks in advance! All comments welcome!

-Zach

 

[Grizzlybrew]

Question 1: ...there was still a solid gallon of primarly liquid (although pretty cloudy with the "trub"). Should I try to utilize more of this liquid or do most people dump the bottom?

I would argue no. If you listen to people like Jamil Z, you should brew additional volume knowing that you will lose a certain percentage. For example, for a 5-gallon batch, brew 6.5 gallons. Ferment 5.5 - 6 gallons (wort minus hop/protein trub waste) and then keg/bottle 5 gallons (fermented beer minus yeast trub)

Question 2: I started with a little over 6 gallons for the boil and between boil off and the remaining .5-1 gallon mentioned in question 1, I only racked about 3.5-4 gallons into the carboy. Luckily I was somewhat prepared and had about a gallon pre-boiled and cooled to room tempature and covered with foil. I added all of this water and I still was only able to get to about 4.5-4.75gallons in the carboy.

Take careful measurements so you can realize your lost volumes. Learn your true boil-off volume (it will mean more than knowing your "rate"), MLT and kettle dead space, etc. Just from your numbers above, you should have planned a brew for about 6 - 6.5 gallons.

Question 3: ...When I added water in question 2, I mixed it by tipping carboy as best possible but I'm sure it didn't mix great. I tipped the carboy and was able to get a small sample in a sanitized pipette and OG was way low measure with refractometer (just guessing it was primarly water off the top that didn't mix well) Should I have mixed it better or will it be fine. My first reading was irrelevant I think.

I hate to say it, but the low reading was probably accurate. If you had 4 gallons of wort that were close to your targeted OG and you added a gallon, you just reduced the gravity by 1/5 (20%). For example, 4 gallons of 1.060 wort that had a gallon of water added would then be 5 gallons of 1.048 wort. Still... don't dump it, it could be ok.

 

[mux]

your learning, and so is every one here. It will be fine, and the next will be better.

 

[zlwags85]

Thanks for the responses. So, based on some additional reading and your comments, it sounds like it would be best to determine roughly where the 5 gallon mark on my kettle is above the ball valve and add water towards the end of the boil to achieve a better OG. I guess that's one of the major advantages of a refractometer is that the drop or 2 will cool to room tempature in virtually no time and can get instant readings.

 

[Grizzlybrew]

...it sounds like it would be best to determine roughly where the 5 gallon mark on my kettle is above the ball valve and add water towards the end of the boil to achieve a better OG.

Not necessarily true. You'd be better off knowing your boil off rate and calculating the volume and gravity of your pre-boil wort rather than just adding water to reach some volume. You'd rather have 3 gallons of wort at the correct gravity than 5 gallons at a greatly reduced OG (or at least I would). If you have to add water at the end, I always preach knowledge of Gravity Units (see Designing Great Beers or one of my many posts). Once you understand them, you can more accurately manipulate your wort. Basically your volume in gallons x the last two digits of your gravity = GU's (gravity units). Search for more information or grab that great book.

I guess that's one of the major advantages of a refractometer is that the drop or 2 will cool to room tempature in virtually no time and can get instant readings.

Or, if you have an ATC (automatic temperature correcting) refractometer, you don't even need to worry about it at all.