mcgeebc
Well-Known Member
I completed my first all grain brew over the weekend :rockin: but got really bad efficiency (56%) . I've been reading up trying to figure out what I did wrong, and I think it might be my sparge technique.
I was brewing a porter (Edmund Fitzgerald Clone) with 12 pounds of grain. I did a single infusion mash and a batch sparge.
I wanted a thicker beer so I mashed at a higher temp. I calculated in BeerSmith that I should start with 3.75 gallons of water at 170.5 degrees to hit a strike temp of 156. This was successful. I stirred the grains every 15 minutes for a total mash time of an hour. Then came the sparge... I was a little confused as to what the process and temp for batch sparging was. I poured about 4 gallons of 170 degree water into the mash tun and waited a few minutes for the grain bed to settle. Then I recirculated the wort until it ran clear at which point I continued to drain it into my boiling pot. Did I use the right temp for a batch sparge? Should I be using 170 degree water or using water that is hot enough to bring the total temp of the mash up to 170 degrees? Eventually I want to try fly sparging, but I want to get my feet wet with batch before I spend the extra money.
I know Ph can also be a big factor in the efficiency. The Ph of my water is about 7.3, and I didn't make any adjustments because I was using darker grains for the porter. I read that this should bring the Ph to appropriate levels.
I don't really know how good my crush was. I just had my LHBS crush the grains for me. I am making an assumption that since they are the pro's they should have a pretty decent crush.
So, my conclusion is that something is wrong with my sparging techniques. Any help would be appreciated.
I was brewing a porter (Edmund Fitzgerald Clone) with 12 pounds of grain. I did a single infusion mash and a batch sparge.
I wanted a thicker beer so I mashed at a higher temp. I calculated in BeerSmith that I should start with 3.75 gallons of water at 170.5 degrees to hit a strike temp of 156. This was successful. I stirred the grains every 15 minutes for a total mash time of an hour. Then came the sparge... I was a little confused as to what the process and temp for batch sparging was. I poured about 4 gallons of 170 degree water into the mash tun and waited a few minutes for the grain bed to settle. Then I recirculated the wort until it ran clear at which point I continued to drain it into my boiling pot. Did I use the right temp for a batch sparge? Should I be using 170 degree water or using water that is hot enough to bring the total temp of the mash up to 170 degrees? Eventually I want to try fly sparging, but I want to get my feet wet with batch before I spend the extra money.
I know Ph can also be a big factor in the efficiency. The Ph of my water is about 7.3, and I didn't make any adjustments because I was using darker grains for the porter. I read that this should bring the Ph to appropriate levels.
I don't really know how good my crush was. I just had my LHBS crush the grains for me. I am making an assumption that since they are the pro's they should have a pretty decent crush.
So, my conclusion is that something is wrong with my sparging techniques. Any help would be appreciated.