high gravity 1st all grain

[springfieldxd]

Hey guys/gals I just brewed my first ag batch fri after xtract brewing for a year after I was done I took my sg reading for the goose island nut brown clone and it was a tad high @ 1052 so i proceeded like normal transfered, pitched, and fermented. My question is if the batch turns out high or sweet can it just be diluted with treated water or is a re-pitch necessary?

 

[COLObrewer]

Yeast replicates itself to the correct population to ferment the level of gravity that it is pitched into, pretty neat huh? It may turn out a tad higher ABV than the recipe, but probably not enough to warrant any sort of dilution.

Disclaimer: This assumes proper pitching temperature and adherance to other basics.

Keep on brewing my friend.

 

[Bentpirate]

I would take the approach 'I got what I got' and drink it. Don't sweat the 'perfection', simply make it again and adjust accordingly. Let it ride and appreciate the fact you made beer vs. a perfect clone....

 

[springfieldxd]

Thanks guys the only thing i was worried about was when I did the extract version it too came out a little high in the fg i think it was around 1018-1019. Also (not to beat a dead horse) when I mashed I had a total grain bill of 10.25# so @ 1.25qts/# my mash water was close to 3.25 gallons. My sparge water was 2.75gal to total 6gal to allow for vapor loss over the 60min boil. should I have sparged maybe a little more water? sorry to ask so many questions I am just glad I finally made the step to all grain.

 

[BucksPA]

Thanks guys the only thing i was worried about was when I did the extract version it too came out a little high in the fg i think it was around 1018-1019. Also (not to beat a dead horse) when I mashed I had a total grain bill of 10.25# so @ 1.25qts/# my mash water was close to 3.25 gallons. My sparge water was 2.75gal to total 6gal to allow for vapor loss over the 60min boil. should I have sparged maybe a little more water? sorry to ask so many questions I am just glad I finally made the step to all grain.

sounds a little light given that wort is boiled off and wort is lost to trub and hops. i'd keep the mash @1.25 qts/lb and increase the sparge volume. i always heat up extra sparge water that way I am sure to reach my preboil volume.

Were you able to achieve 5 gallons into your fermenter or whatever the batch size was? If you intended for 5 gallons but ended up with 4.5 then you a) boiled off more than you anticipated or b) lost wort to trub. Whole leaf hops utilize more water than pellets, but each type of hops have their pros/cons. also, check your preboil gravity to make sure you are on pace. hope this helps.

 

[springfieldxd]

sounds a little light given that wort is boiled off and wort is lost to trub and hops. i'd keep the mash @1.25 qts/lb and increase the sparge volume. i always heat up extra sparge water that way I am sure to reach my preboil volume.

Were you able to achieve 5 gallons into your fermenter or whatever the batch size was? If you intended for 5 gallons but ended up with 4.5 then you a) boiled off more than you anticipated or b) lost wort to trub. Whole leaf hops utilize more water than pellets, but each type of hops have their pros/cons. also, check your preboil gravity to make sure you are on pace. hope this helps.

yea after the boil there was exactly 5 gallons. The hops I used was 1.5oz williamette pellets @ 60 and .5 williamette @ 20. The kit didnt give me a pre boil gravity but I think it was around 1085 in the first few quarts after mash water started to run clear.

 

[BucksPA]

then you got better efficiency than expected!!!!! drink, enjoy, and adjust your efficiency. if you havent determined your efficiency yet, keep good notes now and on the next 4 or 5 ag batches and determine the average. if you are overshooting OG constantly, you need to lower your grain bill. it's a good problem

 

[springfieldxd]

how exactly do you go about determining your efficiency? also if the batch is too high won't the beer be sweet at finish? or will it just have higher abv? sorry for all the questions.

 

[pkeeler]

how exactly do you go about determining your efficiency? also if the batch is too high won't the beer be sweet at finish? or will it just have higher abv? sorry for all the questions.

If the batch is too high it might taste sweeter, sure. However, I have a feeling your FG will be in range. Extract beers notoriously finish high. What yeast did you use? A decent name brand yeast will probably take you down to around 1.010-1.015 from your OG. I really wouldn't sweat it. In the future, if your OG is high, you can add water to bring it down. You could also add a little extra at bottling if you think it is too sweet. I wouldn't add it in between since it would be a pain (boiling all the oxygen out).

All All-Grain recipes should have an assumed efficiency. If you know that, a quick calculation would be to divide your OG by the recipe's OG then multiply that to the recipe's assumed efficiency. For example, if the recipe assumed 70% efficiency (and you didn't add or subtract any grain) for 5 gal. at 1.048 and you got 5 gal. at 1.052, then 52/48*70% = 75.8%

 

[springfieldxd]

All All-Grain recipes should have an assumed efficiency. If you know that, a quick calculation would be to divide your OG by the recipe's OG then multiply that to the recipe's assumed efficiency. For example, if the recipe assumed 70% efficiency (and you didn't add or subtract any grain) for 5 gal. at 1.048 and you got 5 gal. at 1.052, then 52/48*70% = 75.8%

So then if the efficiency was 75.8% rather than 70% is that a bad thing? the yeast i used was the dry mundens in the yellow packet. I oxygenated the wort and the rapid fermentation was over in 24 hrs got good krausen and the beer looks good.

 

[pkeeler]

Efficiency is neither good nor bad. You are better off higher since it is easier to lower OG than to raise it. However, it should remain pretty constant with practice, which will allow you to anticipate recipe yields or develop your own recipe grain bills. 1.052 is not high enough that I would worry about yeast performance. However, you would be better off in the future to make 1-2L starters.

 

[springfieldxd]

thanks guys that has answered alot of questions for me. that is what a site like this is all about. Ill keep good notes and keep plugging away.