ericw
Well-Known Member
This past weekend was my first time to brew with an AG setup. First mistake was not taking the temps of my grain and mash tun. I left both in the sun for an hour or so why I got everything ready and I guessed at those temps. The result was a slightly higher mash temp (164 vs 155). My mash tun did a great job, only losing 3deg over an hour with stirring 3 times during that.
I didn't use enough sparge water the first time and had to heat up more to get my target of 6 gallons. Next time I'll heat up more than I need and only drain off what I need for the boil, is this correct? After I had my 6 gallons boiling, everything went great, except for a boil over when we weren't watching closely. Brewing and bottling is not the best combo. After the boil, I was left with a little over 5 gallons of wort.
We chilled it and let it sit covered, so all the hops and other stuff would settle. This recipe called for 4 oz of hops, so there was a bunch there. I use a siphon to move the beer to my fermenter and it was having a hard time toward the end. It kept getting stuck on pieces of orange peel. In the end, I had a little over 4 gallons in my bucket. I had an extra gallon of spring water, so I used that to bring the level up to 5. I got my hydrometer out and proceeded to drop it on the floor before taking a reading, so I have no idea what the OG was. Good news was the yeast got a quick start and were going at it by the next morning. I didn't read the instructions fully, and only did a starter with 1 packet instead of 2, so I added the 2nd packet dry.
Was I wrong to add the extra gallon of water to bring the level up to 5 gallons?
I didn't use enough sparge water the first time and had to heat up more to get my target of 6 gallons. Next time I'll heat up more than I need and only drain off what I need for the boil, is this correct? After I had my 6 gallons boiling, everything went great, except for a boil over when we weren't watching closely. Brewing and bottling is not the best combo. After the boil, I was left with a little over 5 gallons of wort.
We chilled it and let it sit covered, so all the hops and other stuff would settle. This recipe called for 4 oz of hops, so there was a bunch there. I use a siphon to move the beer to my fermenter and it was having a hard time toward the end. It kept getting stuck on pieces of orange peel. In the end, I had a little over 4 gallons in my bucket. I had an extra gallon of spring water, so I used that to bring the level up to 5. I got my hydrometer out and proceeded to drop it on the floor before taking a reading, so I have no idea what the OG was. Good news was the yeast got a quick start and were going at it by the next morning. I didn't read the instructions fully, and only did a starter with 1 packet instead of 2, so I added the 2nd packet dry.
Was I wrong to add the extra gallon of water to bring the level up to 5 gallons?