So, I've been routinely getting pretty crummy efficiency, and I'm looking to boost it up a bit. Whenever I miss my target OG, I get really anal and obsess over it. Last Tuesday, this worrying actually got me physically ill.
However, I don't care about being ill. Making beer, to me, is worth bleeding for (metaphorically). I'm eager to try again.
So I went back and I re-read over some material, and when one sparges, I have these questions:
1.) I was told that an ideal lautering rate when sparging was 1 gallon every 12 minutes. I have been told by all my beer cognoscenti that this is painfully slow. They say that the real rate is 1 quart per 90 seconds, so that means 1 gallon every 6 minutes. Is this true?
2.) When sparging, what is the ideal grain bed temperature? I have heard it's 165 to help dilute sugars and make for a thinner lauter. How does one get a 150* grain bed to 165 without extracting tannins?
I am fly sparging, by the way. Thanks in advance!
However, I don't care about being ill. Making beer, to me, is worth bleeding for (metaphorically). I'm eager to try again.
So I went back and I re-read over some material, and when one sparges, I have these questions:
1.) I was told that an ideal lautering rate when sparging was 1 gallon every 12 minutes. I have been told by all my beer cognoscenti that this is painfully slow. They say that the real rate is 1 quart per 90 seconds, so that means 1 gallon every 6 minutes. Is this true?
2.) When sparging, what is the ideal grain bed temperature? I have heard it's 165 to help dilute sugars and make for a thinner lauter. How does one get a 150* grain bed to 165 without extracting tannins?
I am fly sparging, by the way. Thanks in advance!