I got a bunch of new brewing equipment for Christmas to step up into 5 gallon batches. Previously, I had been making 1-2.5 gallon batches on my stovetop, all grain pseudo BIAB / batch sparge.
Well, I got a 10 gallon kettle, propane burner, 52 quart cooler & I spent some pocket change converting it to a mash tun with a copper manifold. I also got a refractometer, which is wonderful on brew day.
My wife put in a request for a hefeweizen batch, so that is what I decided to make as my first 5 gallon batch. And since my first batch of hefeweizen was just OK, I decided to jump in with both feet and try my first decoction mash.
Lots of firsts today... First 5 gallon batch, first time using a propane burner, first time using a true mash tun, first time fly sparging...
I've only been brewing for a year, and I've reached the point where I am focused on hitting my recipe values as planned. I bought beersmith after thanksgiving, and took the time to setup my profiles accurately. It really paid off today. I hit my volumes spot on, and was within 1 point on all of my gravity readings. That's probably the most satisfying part of the entire day, especially with my new equipment and new processes.
The decoction was a last minute decision. As of yesterday, I was planing on just doing any infusion mash. But less than a day of reading up and researching decoction mashes have me the confidence to try out out. It wasn't too difficult, but it felt like I doubled or trippled my mash time (I didn't exactly keep track). I tried to do my initial dough-in and rest at 132-135, just so that I had a reasonable shot of hitting my main mash temp target of 152 with a single decoction. It worked out OK. I decocted about 8 quarts (per beersmith), and it brought my mash temp up to about 144, so I spent another 30 minutes pulling a thin mash, heating to near boil, and introducing it back into the mash until I got to 150-152ish. That was the worst part. It took me 3 attempts to raise the overall mash temp 8 degrees.
I probably won't do a decoction again unless a recipe really needs it. I thought it would be worth a try since this style uses it traditionally, but I'm probably going to hold off on frequent decoction batches.
I have never truely been able to vorlaugh and do a real sparge before with my previous setups, and my initial plan was to batch sparge, but I noticed that my beersmith decoction mash called for a fly sparge, so that's what I went with. I used a colander to disperse the sparge water, and I used my 5 gallon mash tun as a HLT. I mounted it all up like a 3 tier gravity system, and went to town. I didn't have any issues with a stuck sparge, and I was only 1 point short on gravity after the sparge.
The rest of the brew day went as normal (except scaled up). I was right on the money with my boil off rate and final volumes, and just 1 point shy of my gravity, which could be in the range of measurement error.
I had tons of fun, and my biggest fear (brew day going into the late evening) didn't happen. Started setting up around 8am, and pitched the yeast at 4:30 pm. Still a long day, but not unreasonable.
The only thing I that bugs me is my efficiency... I don't feel like I'm getting that great of efficiency. This batch came in at 68% actual efficiency in beersmith. It worked out that I guessed 68% when I setup the recipe, so I got my numbers. My last batch on my old setup only got 64% using a batch sparge brew in a bag method. I thought I would do better with what I did today, but I didn't. I can take comfort in that I hit my recipe, but I would have thought I would have gotten better efficiency.
Well, I got a 10 gallon kettle, propane burner, 52 quart cooler & I spent some pocket change converting it to a mash tun with a copper manifold. I also got a refractometer, which is wonderful on brew day.
My wife put in a request for a hefeweizen batch, so that is what I decided to make as my first 5 gallon batch. And since my first batch of hefeweizen was just OK, I decided to jump in with both feet and try my first decoction mash.
Lots of firsts today... First 5 gallon batch, first time using a propane burner, first time using a true mash tun, first time fly sparging...
I've only been brewing for a year, and I've reached the point where I am focused on hitting my recipe values as planned. I bought beersmith after thanksgiving, and took the time to setup my profiles accurately. It really paid off today. I hit my volumes spot on, and was within 1 point on all of my gravity readings. That's probably the most satisfying part of the entire day, especially with my new equipment and new processes.
The decoction was a last minute decision. As of yesterday, I was planing on just doing any infusion mash. But less than a day of reading up and researching decoction mashes have me the confidence to try out out. It wasn't too difficult, but it felt like I doubled or trippled my mash time (I didn't exactly keep track). I tried to do my initial dough-in and rest at 132-135, just so that I had a reasonable shot of hitting my main mash temp target of 152 with a single decoction. It worked out OK. I decocted about 8 quarts (per beersmith), and it brought my mash temp up to about 144, so I spent another 30 minutes pulling a thin mash, heating to near boil, and introducing it back into the mash until I got to 150-152ish. That was the worst part. It took me 3 attempts to raise the overall mash temp 8 degrees.
I probably won't do a decoction again unless a recipe really needs it. I thought it would be worth a try since this style uses it traditionally, but I'm probably going to hold off on frequent decoction batches.
I have never truely been able to vorlaugh and do a real sparge before with my previous setups, and my initial plan was to batch sparge, but I noticed that my beersmith decoction mash called for a fly sparge, so that's what I went with. I used a colander to disperse the sparge water, and I used my 5 gallon mash tun as a HLT. I mounted it all up like a 3 tier gravity system, and went to town. I didn't have any issues with a stuck sparge, and I was only 1 point short on gravity after the sparge.
The rest of the brew day went as normal (except scaled up). I was right on the money with my boil off rate and final volumes, and just 1 point shy of my gravity, which could be in the range of measurement error.
I had tons of fun, and my biggest fear (brew day going into the late evening) didn't happen. Started setting up around 8am, and pitched the yeast at 4:30 pm. Still a long day, but not unreasonable.
The only thing I that bugs me is my efficiency... I don't feel like I'm getting that great of efficiency. This batch came in at 68% actual efficiency in beersmith. It worked out that I guessed 68% when I setup the recipe, so I got my numbers. My last batch on my old setup only got 64% using a batch sparge brew in a bag method. I thought I would do better with what I did today, but I didn't. I can take comfort in that I hit my recipe, but I would have thought I would have gotten better efficiency.
