All Grained and Ready to Roll... sort of

[Firebat138]

Well, we all grained an Oktoberfest last night. Forgot to take the grains out of the freezer until the last minute...oops... I had about 10lbs of grains, so I used a little over 3 gallons of water, but it was about 150 degrees, so I added about another gallon trying to get it up to temp... Got it to 154 and after an hour, it was about 151. We kept opening the lid to look at it... LOL... Should we be stirring? Or just leave it alone? So after the hour, we heated up the sparge water and were ready to sparge... I ran off about a quart of wort and it looks awesome... at that point w e got confused... I dumped it back in and my friend and I were having a discussion on whether or not to mess up the grain bed... lol.. So we collected all the wort, trying to match the output of the wort collection to the sparge hose... But after about 3.5 gallons it was really really clear... Did we not use enough water, or too much? I decided to sparge more and collect more of the clear wort, cause I figured it still had SOME sugar in it... After that all was well... After the boil, I ended up with a little over 4 gallons and I too the OG, 1.054... right on target, but of course, low on the volume... I decided NOT to top it off, which I assume I can do tonight if everyone thinks I should. Well... that was my first experience at all grain... Any insight one can offer is much appreciated...

Thanx all

Camper

 

[RyanDe680]

Couple of things:

- Did you foil the top of the grain bed when you went to vorlauf? I slap a small sheet of foil on top of the grain while pouring the first runnings back in the mash tun. Helps to not disturb the grain bed.

- I would stir 2 or 3 times during the hour the grain is in the mash tun. A 3 degree temp loss isn't bad, but what type of mash tun do you have/using?

- When you sparged, I'm confused. Did you keep it in the tun for 10 minutes or so or just collect right away?

- How quickly did you drain the runnings after sacch' rest? That will up your efficiency in the future if you are concerned about that....

 

[Firebat138]

we did not foil... I like that... We will do that next time...

We are using a coleman extreme cooler... something like a 48 quart or so...

We collected right as soon as we were sparging...and we collected about at the same rate at the sparge... about halfway open on the valve...

 

[Firebat138]

Oh.. couple more things

after the hour is up... we collected some and poured back in... next time we pour over the foil, or a spoon, lid... something... got it... Then we start sparging? we drained right away and I guess we should have waited until the water was 1-2 above grains, correct?

Do we recirculate at ALL after that, if so why? Oh... we are using a SS braid for the filter thingy...

 

[Brandonovich]

How long did it take you to sparge? It should be between 30 and 60 minutes to fly sparge, probably more like 60. If you sparged to quickly, you did not give it enough time for all the sugars to dissolve. I used to do this and it killed my efficiency.

 

[Firebat138]

hmmm... yeah, we did it in about 5-10 minutes.... LOL... so... we were about 10% efficient.

oh... i was reading today... what does this mean

Single Infusion, Medium Body, No Mash Out

Step Time Name Description Step Temp
90 min Mash In Add 12.81 qt of water at 165.9 F 154.0 F

Mash Notes: Simple single infusion mash for use with most modern well modified grains (about 95% of the time).

 

[diS]

Single Infusion

No Mash Out- look for mash out explanation at bottom line.

Mash in- adding water to MLT

 

[emetcalf]

It sounds like you are fly sparging, which is where you drain water slowly out of the mash tun while you add more water to the top of the grain. You don't want to fly sparge with a SS braid. Fly sparging needs very even flow through all parts of the grain to work well, and you aren't going to get even flow with a braided hose. You should read about batch sparging and try that next time. It should work A LOT better with your current set-up.

And as far as topping off goes, I wouldn't add any more water. Adding water will make your beer weaker, and no one wants that

 

[Brandonovich]

You should read about batch sparging and try that next time. It should work A LOT better with your current set-up.
)

I agree here. I was doing the exact same thing you are and having the exact same problem. I have gone to batch sparging and have been pretty happy. It's easier, faster, and you don't need as much equipment.

 

[Pappers_]

FWIW, it took me three or four all-grain brews before I had my process locked in and it didn't feel like I was messing around. Cheers!