1st time AG. 12% pot. ABV!?

[DesignatedDecoy]

It was my first time doing all grain. I did 1.25 quarts of water per pound of grain. mashed at about 152 for 70min and got this:View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1445807806.404689.jpg

11-12% potential alcohol by volume sounds like a lot. Did I do it right? I did biab so I didn't think I needed to sparge. Prob is that It's already been fermenting for a week. Should I add water? Did I do it right.

 

[schematix]

Post your recipe.

 

[Bellybuster]

1.25qts/pound is the recommended mash for traditional mashing with sparge. BIAB you can use the full volume. You're missing some water there, you should find it....

Highly recommend using software for BIAB. You can know the outcome on paper first.

 

[menerdari]

I always sparge with BIAB, you need the volume of the sparge water to go along with the mash out to get the correct SG.
Kind of late now if you are fermenting it, call it an "Imperial" whatever you brewed.
With the higher alcohol it may stall out before finishing depending on the yeast strain.

 

[cilestiok]

Is that hydrometer calibrated? What temp is your sample?

 

[DesignatedDecoy]

1.25qts/pound is the recommended mash for traditional mashing with sparge. BIAB you can use the full volume. You're missing some water there, you should find it....

Highly recommend using software for BIAB. You can know the outcome on paper first.

Sorry typo. I did use 1.25 qts./lb. I should've known to sparge. It makes logical sense. Next time.

 

[DesignatedDecoy]

Room temp sample. Didn't celebrate the hydrometer but it worked last time. It's Chico yeast. The recipe was a 2-row pale ale barely smash.

Lol "imperial" haha we'll see how it turns out. I'll post here in a few weeks when it's done.

I should've known to sparge. It's only logical. That's why I did a smash my first time; scared of messing up an expensive recipe. Bummer I'll get it next time tho.

Think the Chico yeast will stall out for me? Will that cause an off taste?

 

[chickypad]

For beer you should be reading the SG scale, looks like you're at about 1.084 so it's not crazy. I assume you were well short of your batch volume if you mashed at 1.25 thickness and didn't sparge, what was your recipe and how much wort did you end up with?

 

[tennesseean_87]

I also want to know how much wort you ended up with. Did you boil it?

You can always dilute it. I recommend doing so now to save stress on your yeast. You can still dilute after fermentation, though!

 

[DesignatedDecoy]

Well, I confess, I broke a "rule" by not following a recipe. I put in 3.5 and got out 2.75 before the boil. After the boil there looks to be about 1.5 gallons and .5 worth of trub.

initially 3.5 gallons of water and 11.2lbs of 2-row pale ale barley. mashed at ~151 for about 70min to be safe. Boiled for 60min. 1/2oz of centennial hops at 60. 1/2oz at 10, and 1oz at 5. It's a smash so all additions were centennial hops. Brought it down to pinching temp with frozen 2-liters. Drained it. Then pitched the yeast.

 

[Sammy86]

Since no one else mentioned it I will...remember when you take a hydrometer reading of wort from a mash there isn't any alcohol in it yet. There is just sugar and water. You won't get any alcohol until the yeast are introduced and starting eating those sugars to create the alcohol.

 

[DesignatedDecoy]

Bear with me I am a noob, but how much sparge water should I use next time, for 3.5 gallons/11.2lbs? In other words, how do I calculate sparge water for each batch? What's the sparge water ratio?

 

[DesignatedDecoy]

Since no one else mentioned it I will...remember when you take a hydrometer reading of wort from a mash there isn't any alcohol in it yet. There is just sugar and water. You won't get any alcohol until the yeast are introduced and starting eating those sugars to create the alcohol.

Right but doesn't *potential* alcohol by volume give a good guess as to what the abv will be after fermentation? Or does it not ferment all the way down to zero?

 

[beergolf]

Right but doesn't *potential* alcohol by volume give a good guess as to what the abv will be after fermentation? Or does it not ferment all the way down to zero?

No.

you need to use the OG reading and then a FG reading to calculate the ABV. That scale is useless to brewers. What was the OG? You can rotate your hydrometer and look at the scale to figure it out. Just look at the same point and it should give you OG. Then with a recipe we can get you pretty close to what you ABV will be.

The formula for ABV. is simply.. (OG-FG) X 131.25= ABV.

 

[menerdari]

Bear with me I am a noob, but how much sparge water should I use next time, for 3.5 gallons/11.2lbs? In other words, how do I calculate sparge water for each batch? What's the sparge water ratio?

I use a calculator like this one
http://www.brew365.com/mash_sparge_water_calculator.php

 

[DesignatedDecoy]

^beautiful thank you

 

[ChelisHubby]

well it will be strong b ut it should show off the ingredients as a smash should!

 

[Gavin C]

11.2 pounds of grain and 2 gallons of wort. This sounds like you need to really go back to the drawing board.

For a 5.5 gallon batch of beer, 10 pounds of grain and a 1 hour boil with my BIAB setup I would typically start with 7.5 gallons of water and would expect a beer at approximately 1.05 OG. ( I do not sparge but if I did the total volume would remain the same)

Once it ferments out to ~1.010 I'll have roughly a 5% beer but this is something I rarely calculate. (although very easy to do.)

The potential alcohol scale on the hydrometer is of no use to beer makers.

Also your picture seems to show a very undefiled hydrometer test jar. The hydrometer could conceivably be resting on the bottom if it's not floating.

Some threads and article in my sig below illustrate my BIAB process in more detail. You may find things of use there.

 

[ChelisHubby]

My bet is it will be close to 8% beer depending on yeast and tempature. You will not forget this experiment. It might taste decent after it ages a few months, My first all grain was a cluster**** of mistakes but after 10 months it has mellowed to a drinkable beer at 8.2 %, Mind you it started as a 3.2 % british mild per recipe instructions.

 

[dstockwell]

Bear with me I am a noob, but how much sparge water should I use next time, for 3.5 gallons/11.2lbs? In other words, how do I calculate sparge water for each batch? What's the sparge water ratio?

If you're doing BIAB then use the full volume (7.5G), unless the kettle is not big enough to do that. Brewer's Friend calculates 6% ABV with 11.2lbs of grain.

 

[DesignatedDecoy]

If you're doing BIAB then use the full volume (7.5G), unless the kettle is not big enough to do that. Brewer's Friend calculates 6% ABV with 11.2lbs of grain.

I have a 5 gallon electric kettle w a fb. Nothing I can do now since idk exactly how much water to add, since idk the exact volume of what's fermenting. Just gotta wait and see what happens and do it right next time. Even though I thought I knew what I was doing, I had a feeling it might end up being a learning experience. Good thing I went w a cheap recipe for that exact reason. I'll get it right next time. I'll let u know how it turns out in a few weeks [emoji3] thanks again guys. This site is so great

 

[tennesseean_87]

To calculate your water volumes, you start with how much beer you want to have (usually 5 gallons). Then you add extra water for how much the grain will absorb (varies if you BIAB and squeeze--do a search for the standard and then adjust based on your practice). Also, a bigger grain bill obviously absorbs more water, so you account for that as well. If you have any dead space in your mash tun that doesn't drain, you add that much water also (varies by design of mash tun). Finally, you add however much water you lose during the boil (again, it varies). When you add all these up, you're probably going to end up with 2-3 extra gallons of water, so 7-8 gallons, but it varies. You have eto get to know your system to dial in all your own variables to where you can hit your final volume just right.

To calculate your sparge volume, just subtract your strike volume (1.25 qts/lb or whatever) from the total. If you do a mash-out or other steps via boiling infusions, subtract these from the total also. I find it's easier to figure out my total volume, measure out my strike and infusion volumes, and sparge with whatever's left over.