Determining starter size with OG discrepancy?

[jdauria]

I am making More Beer's all grain Janet's Brown Ale. Their recipe states 75% efficiency and OG between 1.065-1.070. But when I enter the 15.75 lbs of grain in Beersmith, at 75%, I am looking at gravities in the 1.090's. Had to adjust down to 60% to be in their range.

So question is what do I use for a starter? A 1 liter at 1.040 is fine if gravity is in 1.060's, but will be way under-pitched if I hit 1.090's. Should I just aim for something in between?


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[sptaylor70]

I'd shoot for in-between. What grain:water ratio? It matters, too, what yeast you're using.**

*It's hard to get 75% brewhouse efficiency in big beers. I expect 65-68% for 1080+.
**Chico, like the AHA recipe says? Or something fruitier, like Wyeast 1278 Anchor Liberty, Wyeast 1084 Irish, or S-04?

 

[jdauria]

I'd shoot for in-between. What grain:water ratio? It matters, too, what yeast you're using.**

*It's hard to get 75% brewhouse efficiency in big beers. I expect 65-68% for 1080+.
**Chico, like the AHA recipe says? Or something fruitier, like Wyeast 1278 Anchor Liberty, Wyeast 1084 Irish, or S-04?

That's what I wound up doing, a in between starter. It was the Chico yeast and my ratio was 1.27 quarts per LB.

 

[2bluewagons]

Their recipe states 75% efficiency and OG between 1.065-1.070.

That works out to a post-boil volume of 6-6.5 gallons. I'm guessing you are fermenting in a 5-gal carboy, so you had 4.75 gallons or less as you final volume in Beersmith? There's your discrepancy.

If not too late, use the correct amount of water and hit the OG range that the recipe suggests. If not, it will finish too high of an FG and the hops will get lost in all the maltiness. But sounds like you might have already brewed this. You could dilute post-ferm but bitterness and hop flavor will dilute as well.

MoreBeer knows their stuff, they wouldn't mess something like that up. That recipe is fantastic, and is what I based my brown ale off of, which is the best beer I have made to date.

Good luck!

 

[jdauria]

That works out to a post-boil volume of 6-6.5 gallons. I'm guessing you are fermenting in a 5-gal carboy, so you had 4.75 gallons or less as you final volume in Beersmith? There's your discrepancy.

If not too late, use the correct amount of water and hit the OG range that the recipe suggests. If not, it will finish too high of an FG and the hops will get lost in all the maltiness. But sounds like you might have already brewed this. You could dilute post-ferm but bitterness and hop flavor will dilute as well.

MoreBeer knows their stuff, they wouldn't mess something like that up. That recipe is fantastic, and is what I based my brown ale off of, which is the best beer I have made to date.

Good luck!

You got me thinking so went back to MoreBeer site...their 75% efficiency on recipe sheet is MASH not Brewhouse, that's what I got confused on. Did not really look at the sheet after I entered recipe in BeerSmith. I wound up getting 70.3% mash efficiency, but still hit OG at top end of recipe range, so that's good. Usually get a higher number, but batch sparged for a change

And just an FYI, I did have 6 gallons post boil, for 60 minute boils with my system, I always shoot for 7 gallon pre-boil, 6 post and 5 goes into the carboy (6 gallon).

The beer did smell great brewing as does the aroma from the airlock. So definitely looking forward to drinking it! Thanks for the advice!