Cold break in hydrometer, also high mashout

[Malty_Dog]

First ever AG BIAB, 3 gallons. Beirmuncher's Centennial Blonde. Started with 4.5 gallons water, strike @160, mash @150 for 75 min (I went longer hoping for better efficiency), raised heat for mashout and after a bit (10 min?) realized thermometer wasn't budging. Weird. Raised flame to max, waited a few minutes, got different thermometer and bam! 180! Oh crap...lifted grains out, let drain for 4-5 min, tossed. Boil, cooling, fermenter all went fine. Used wine thief for hydro reading - what's this? About 3 inches of cold break in bottom of hydro tube? Reading was 1.036 or thereabout with the particulate in there.

I think I probably had very poor efficiency this batch, and possibly altered flavor profile a bit with the high mashout. Ah well.

Ended up with exactly what I wanted in fermenter though - 3 gallons. Airlock activity within 4 hours, which surprised me a little. Pitched at about 64.

Guess I just wanted to share my first BIAB experience. Much to learn, but hey, it was still fun!

 

[smokinj]

No sparge?

 

[Malty_Dog]

Nope. Its a no-sparge technique. Just teabag a few times, lift, and drain (squeezed a little).

 

[Calder]

Sounds like you had too much water for a decent mash, that probably lost you a lot of efficiency + not doing a sparge. You should keep the water to between 1 and 1.5 quarts per lb for the mash.

Next time split the water in 2.

Add the grains to half the water at 160 F. Ensure there is at least 1 quart per lb, preferably 1.25 quarts. Conversion should be complete withing 30 minutes (longer is always better, but if everything is going right, it is wasted time). Stir the grains occasionally.

I've found it difficult to get the temp of the original mash up very quick, so I just heat the water in the second pot to a little over 170.

Drain the grains from the first pot and then place in the second pot with the rest of the water and leave for 10 minutes (stirring occasionally). Remove grains and let drain somewhere.

Add all liquid to main pot.

Assuming 3 gallons, and you want a 1.056 beer, you will need about 6 lbs of grain to get your gravity. Start with 2 gallons for the initial mash. The grain will absorb about 2 quarts. Use 2 gallons for the sparge, and you should end up with about 3.5 gallons in the kettle to start your boil. This is a little low, if you want to add more, either add it in the fermenter, or add it to the sparge water.

 

[Pie_Man]

The cold break shouldn't alter the hydrometer reading unless it was coming into contact with the hydrometer. Hydrometers measure the amount of dissolved matter, not the solid matter in the sample jar.

The mashout temp was high, but I wouldn't worry about it too much. I would be thinking more about your efficiency. First, calculate your efficiency so you know where you stand, then you can analyze your process and begin to make improvements.

Low efficiency could be the result of not mixing the grains well enough which would cause the mash water to not reach all of the starches for conversion or to not rinse the sugars from that portion of grain. This might occur if you put the grains in the bag before adding it to the pot or if you didn't stir well enough. Sparging will also help to rinse more sugar from the grain. With BIAB you can pour water over the grain bag after it's removed, or you can dunk sparge. I'd work on those things for your next few batches and I'll bet you'll see a lot of improvement. You can always use a little bit of extract to compensate if you miss your gravity mark.

I find AG brewing a lot of fun and well worth the extra effort. Enjoy the learning process