mhenry41h
Well-Known Member
All and all, things worked out ok. It definitely didn't go according to plan, but it could have been worse. I hit my temps pretty well. As soon as I stirred in my grain, the temp was ready to seal up. I opened and stirred at 30 minutes (quickly) and the temp had only dropped 1 degree. At 1 hour, I had lost 3 degrees. Seems decent to me. Hiccup #1 was at sparge time. I decided to batch sparge, but I couldnt fit all of the water called for in the tun so I ended up doing 2 batch sparges for my desired boil level. At boiling I had 1 boil over but it wasnt bad. However, the freezing cold and dry PA day led to the unforseen evaporation of too much wort. I ended up with just over 4 gallons at 1.072 OG when my target was 1.052! I boiled a gallon and racked it in for just over 5 gallons with and adjusted OG of 1.059. Its looks and smells great and I thought it tasted very nice. I guess I didnt really make the exact brew I had in mind...but if it is tasty...
The brew was my own recipe for a Coconut-Cocolate Porter. I ended up boiling (for 20 mins) the toasted, unsweetened organic coconut flakes. (What a trube mess!) I used 16 oz of organic raw cocao nibs in my primary. I racked on to them and the plan is for a 10 day primary. I used Maris Otter, 40L Crystal, Brown, Chocolate, and Honey Malts. I definitely learned what I need to do better next time. I suppose that is how it goes!
The brew was my own recipe for a Coconut-Cocolate Porter. I ended up boiling (for 20 mins) the toasted, unsweetened organic coconut flakes. (What a trube mess!) I used 16 oz of organic raw cocao nibs in my primary. I racked on to them and the plan is for a 10 day primary. I used Maris Otter, 40L Crystal, Brown, Chocolate, and Honey Malts. I definitely learned what I need to do better next time. I suppose that is how it goes!