Recent content by chasman

I'm planning on doing this build soon. But I do have a question: why do I need the 5/8" washers when the nipple is only 3/8"? And do they have to be fender washers, or will plain/flat stainless steel washers do?

william shakes beer: I didn't quite follow. I can still mash-out to 170 by turning on the stove, which I would do before Vorlauf. I just wouldn't need to add any additional water to raise my temps as my MLT is "direct-fireable"

Bobby_M: I'm glad you commented on this, as your primer pdf and videos were a huge part of my research. As was Denny Conn's info. You just answered my question, I think... so since the gravity of the wort is at equilibrium with the gravity of the grain, passing it thru the grains again would...

But instead of using 3.5 - 4 gal. of mash water, I would be using ~7 gal. (which includes my boil-off and grain absorption) so it would be pretty thin to start out. Recirculating it would allow it to get "dirtier", so to speak. Right? I've read posts about using reiterated wort in other mashes...

I finished my second BIAB last week and was not particularly thrilled with the method nor the OG results. Therefore, I have been researching more traditional ways of all-grain brewing such as batch sparging since I basically have all the required tools (minus a kettle screen). I was wondering...

yeah I actually thought I would boil off another 3/4 gal. which would definitely have made a difference in OG. But I did my vol. calcs based on last brew in which it was very dry, whereas this time it's humid and warm. I will take the average and use that next time :) [3/4 gal. boil-off per...

I just brewed my second batch of BIAB last night (a Bavarian Hefeweizen) and did better - I think. I made sure the grains were crushed more, however, this time I only boiled off 1/2 gal. during my 60 min. boil (last brew was 1 gal. boil-off). So I ended up with too much water in the end. So...

~15" aluminum stockpot (10 gal capacity) : 1/2 gal. boil-off last night but... same pot : 1 gal. boil-off last brew ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ average boil-off for 2 brews = 3/4 gal for 60 min. boil

From what I gather from everyone's post - the crush (or lack there of) on my grain wasn't enough. Wouldn't that be the cause for such a low OG and therefore a low FG? I calibrated my thermometer with boiling point at my altitude.

thanks guys. this hobby is even more addictive now.

yup... i think you're right. I'll talk to them next time I go in about it. I told them to mount the mill to a piece of plywood with a hole in it and place that over a bucket. I guess there's not a huge demand for all-grain supplies around here. And I don't think I'll bother blending it at this...

OK - so i racked to secondary and dry hopped with an ounce of cascade today. The SG reading is at 1.003. Needless to say the beer is very watered down. Is there a way of adding something to fix this batch? Maybe some DME or something???

That's what I'm gathering from all the comments too. Will work on it. Thanks.

BierMuncher- Did you have a false bottom in your pot to keep the nylon bag from burning to the bottom of the hot pot when you cooled?

The grain bag is pretty large. I mean I can fit the pot inside it... so i don't think it was restricted. I have a cheap wire rack false bottom to keep it from scorching. The grain looked like almost whole 'kernels' with a piece of the 'shell' missing. Some of the 'insides' were still inside...