Hey... Today I tried out my new all grain setup. It is a make shift HERMS setup as I recently added a pump, hoses, and a new 15 gallon boil kettle (the old boil kettle became the HLT 8 gallon).
So the idea behind the recipe was an Imperial Wheat (i.e. pale ale with a little wheat and a lot of Hops.
So I hit my estimated mash efficiency perfectly, my preboil O.G. was spot on with the temperature conversion taken into effect. So far I am loving the HERMS system, after the 60 min mash/recirculation the wort was crystal clear.
Given that the kettle was new I had to estimate how much boil off/wort would be left in the bottom, and boy was I off. I planned on ending with 5.5 gallons, but ended up with ~4. I should have pre-measured the volume that would be below the ball valve entrance (no dip tube). I am estimating a gallon loss for that reason. Also, I definitely lost more to boil off than planned, as my post boil O.G was about 0.05 higher than it was estimated to be (again temp taken into consideration).
I am glad to have found this all out and I am sure I will come across other issues as I brew more. I have an IPA planned tomorrow and a scotch ale planned for Friday. I will have to get back to the brew store to buy more grain and to take into account the volume that I know I will now lose.
I don't really have a question with this post, I am just talking about the brew day. However, if anyone has any suggestions please share.
As promised: A couple pictures of the day with my assistant brewer Otto. Also, if anyone is interested the beer is Rush River Brewing Company's IPA (from River Falls, WI).
So the idea behind the recipe was an Imperial Wheat (i.e. pale ale with a little wheat and a lot of Hops.
So I hit my estimated mash efficiency perfectly, my preboil O.G. was spot on with the temperature conversion taken into effect. So far I am loving the HERMS system, after the 60 min mash/recirculation the wort was crystal clear.
Given that the kettle was new I had to estimate how much boil off/wort would be left in the bottom, and boy was I off. I planned on ending with 5.5 gallons, but ended up with ~4. I should have pre-measured the volume that would be below the ball valve entrance (no dip tube). I am estimating a gallon loss for that reason. Also, I definitely lost more to boil off than planned, as my post boil O.G was about 0.05 higher than it was estimated to be (again temp taken into consideration).
I am glad to have found this all out and I am sure I will come across other issues as I brew more. I have an IPA planned tomorrow and a scotch ale planned for Friday. I will have to get back to the brew store to buy more grain and to take into account the volume that I know I will now lose.
I don't really have a question with this post, I am just talking about the brew day. However, if anyone has any suggestions please share.
As promised: A couple pictures of the day with my assistant brewer Otto. Also, if anyone is interested the beer is Rush River Brewing Company's IPA (from River Falls, WI).
