First all grain day, looking for some help

[phuzle]

I'm doing 5 gallon batches in a 15 gallon keggle with a side dip tube. I think my estimated 6 gallons to boil was actually more like 5, and when I finished cooling it was exactly 3 gallons. Oops!

I'm at about my limit for water in the mash (3.5g in 5 gallon cooler) and I sparged with 3 gallons to make what I am guessing is about 5 gallons. Should I do a second sparge to get more like 6.5 gallons for the start of the boil, or just add water straight into the boil kettle, or something else?

My second question is about using my side dip tube. I don't know if it was just because there was only 3 gallons of wort or what, but my dip tube got clogged with hops immediately. I blew into the valve to clean them up, but it just got clogged again. I ended up having to siphon out. But I thought I got the dip tube to help me leave behind the hops and break material - right? It almost seems like a SS braid would be better that the side tube for the boil kettle. Should I try to fashion a mesh screen to put over the side tube? Should I squeeze the side tube so it has a smaller flatter opening?

 

[weirdboy]

How many pounds of grain are you putting in there, and what thickness are you mashing at?

For a 5 gallon batch you will typically want 6-7 gallons preboil. If you are using a megapot with more surface area, lean more towards 7 or maybe even 7.25.

Focus on getting the amount of wort you want post-boil at the target OG. Sometimes you won't be able to do this. You can extract more sugars than expected and you can extract fewer than expected. So you have to make a choice about whether you want your target OG with a different volume, or your target volume with a different OG, or some combination of the two. If you have a 5 gallon cooler and are stuffing it full of grain, mash thicker and sparge more.

Use gravity points to figure out how what you have preboil will translate to post-boil.

Gravity Points = Volume x Gravity

So you have preboil gravity points, and then you have post-boil gravity points. In theory they are the same, but in reality you will have systemic losses, from e.g. trub, that will reduce your post-boil gravity points.

But sticking to the theoretical, if you have 7 gallons of 1.040 wort you have:

7 x 40 = 280 gravity points

Assuming you have those same points at the end of your boil, if your have 5 gallons left your OG should be:

280 / 5 = 56 gravity points, or 1.056





So far as your second question is concerned, a dip tube does not automatically filter out hops. It's a straw, for crying out loud. You need to whirlpool or otherwise strain your hops and break material or else it will clog.

 

[phuzle]

Thanks for the reply. I was mashing 11 lbs, at about 1.3 qt / lb. I was shooting for 6 gallons pre-boil, and fell short by almost a gallon. I think I'll try for 7 or more next time, and that way if I come up short it won't be so extreme.

As for the whirlpool or otherwise straining hops, is a cloth hop bag the best solution? Or do people use little metal mesh screens to go over the tube?

 

[hadabar]

Thanks for the reply. I was mashing 11 lbs, at about 1.3 qt / lb. I was shooting for 6 gallons pre-boil, and fell short by almost a gallon. I think I'll try for 7 or more next time, and that way if I come up short it won't be so extreme.

As for the whirlpool or otherwise straining hops, is a cloth hop bag the best solution? Or do people use little metal mesh screens to go over the tube?

did you calculate for grain absorption? and loss to the mash tun ? this was a calculation I missed on my first AG brew...

I too came up about a gallon short...and like above had an inflated gravity, target was 1.047, actual 1.050.

I figured this out after a day or two. congrats on the upgrade to AG. learning is half the fun.

 

[phuzle]

I have been using Beer Alchemy for making my recipes, and there is a feature that prints out instructions based on your presets and recipes. So no, I didn't calculate anything, I just made a few guesses and hoped the program would take care of the rest. I think I should make some marks of water levels in my brew kettle and just make sure I have enough liquid before I boil, then worry about straining hops (I think I'll go with a bag) and then lastly worry about efficiency.

 

[hadabar]

I use beer alchemy as well...and they recently did an update on the program to help with this. it does equate for the absorption and loss.

I use brew365.com water calculator. very accurate IMO.

yes the markings on the pot, carboy or bucket should be done. no way to tell without them till its too late.

 

[weirdboy]

So far as measuring volume in your boil kettle. I have learned over time that keeping track of all your volumes throughout is critical. All of my fermenters, buckets, etc. have volume markings on them to the nearest 1/2 gallon or less. I also have a yard stick that I marked with volume markings for my bayou classic kettle on one side, and my megapot on the other, so I always know how much liquid I've got at every step in the process.

The only thing I haven't marked in some way is the mash tun, since the grain volume would make that pretty useless.

 

[wilserbrewer]

Yes you need to sparge more, do a second sparge if your MT is not large enough. Almost always better to collect a bit more runinngs, as you can simply reduce it by boiling. Try starting w/ about 7 gallons preboil, and you will finish closer to 5.

 

[phuzle]

Thanks for the help everyone. Last question, since I use a side dip tube, what is the best way to calculate batch size? Should I measure how much it will leave behind, and shoot for that + 5 gallons to be my finished batch size at target OG?

 

[weirdboy]

Yes. Stuff that gets left behind in the mash tun, boil kettle, tubing, etc are system losses you have to account for somehow. If you are using software that let's you track that stuff, you can just enter the appropriate numbers and use 5 gallons as your batch size. Otherwise you can add it to your batch size manually to make up for the difference.

One other thing I will suggest is that you can tip your boil pot a little to leave less behind, but it probably won't work well if you are whirlpooling to keep hops and break material out. Tipping the mash tun also works well for me since I use a SS braid in it.