Curse you displacement!!

[dougdecinces]

As of this writing, I am brewing a big milk stout. I'm doing a partial mash with the BiaB method. I ended up mashing in 2.5 gallons, but due to the size of my sparge vessel, I had to sparge in only 1.5 gallons of water. I planned on sparging in two gallons, but I foolishly underestimated the amount of displacement 8 lbs of grains would give me.

My question is will this affect my conversion percentage any? If I can get some solid responses in the next hour or so I can adjust the amount of LME I add to my brew to compensate.

Thanks all.

 

[ksbrain]

I recommend taking a gravity reading and see if you need to adjust. It's hard/impossible to tell what the effect would be on your gravity. It could make a difference, or maybe not, but if it does make a difference, how much?

Assuming you don't have a refractometer, pull a sample from your kettle after you're done draining your mash tun. Then put it in the fridge or freezer or maybe even outside. Once it's cool enough take a hydrometer reading and go from there.

You could also just proceed as normal and if your gravity comes out low, consider it a lesson learned. That's what I'd do.

Good luck! I wish I were brewing right now, but I gotta wait til Saturday.

 

[gingervitis]

I'm no expert by any means, but I believe it would lower your conversion percentage because the wort would be more concentrated, therefore less sugars would be extracted (osmosis-related).