Howdy all! I have been brewing for three years and recently switched to all grain brewing. Using an infusion mash of 152 degrees x 60 mins, 9 lbs of grains, batch sparge, I have been tinkering with an ale recipie I created. It has a good color but has a watery undertone that is proving to be rather vexing. The last two batches had this issue, the latest not as much as the earlier one, but it is still noticible and frustrating. From version 1 to 2 I increased the time I let the sparge water sit in the grains and it seemed to body up the beer a bit more, but the wateriness is still there. I am getting a hydrometer soon to test O.G. and estimate abv (money for this venture is sporadic lol), so I can only take a SWAG (scientific wild A$$ guess) as to what these numbers come out to be. I feel I may be mishandling the grains a bit and am open to criticism and suggestions. Can some more experianced brewers offer suggestions? The pursuit of brewing the perfect beer! Thanks everyone! :rockin:
Howdy all
- Thread starter gunny2005
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KevinW
Well-Known Member
There a several factors to consider when coming up with low body beers like mash temp, variety of grains, and even water quality.
Without a hydrometer you cannot measure your efficiency so it would be difficult to advise you at this point. Ideally you should be getting an OG of about 1.045 or so (with 9lbs of grain) assuming your efficiency is about 75% meaning you are getting about 75% of the "available" sugars out of the grain. Of course if your efficiency is lower then your beers will be much lower in gravity and could be giving you a low ABV low body beer!
You could check conversion if you have some iodine by putting a few drops of mash liquor (after an hour or so) on a white plate, add iodine and stir. If you get any black or dark reaction then your grains may not be fully converted so may need to be mashed a little longer! Obviously if you are not getting a full conversion then you are leaving potential sugars in the mash and not getting them into the wort!
Just some ideas, good luck!
Without a hydrometer you cannot measure your efficiency so it would be difficult to advise you at this point. Ideally you should be getting an OG of about 1.045 or so (with 9lbs of grain) assuming your efficiency is about 75% meaning you are getting about 75% of the "available" sugars out of the grain. Of course if your efficiency is lower then your beers will be much lower in gravity and could be giving you a low ABV low body beer!
You could check conversion if you have some iodine by putting a few drops of mash liquor (after an hour or so) on a white plate, add iodine and stir. If you get any black or dark reaction then your grains may not be fully converted so may need to be mashed a little longer! Obviously if you are not getting a full conversion then you are leaving potential sugars in the mash and not getting them into the wort!
Just some ideas, good luck!
