First all grain weekend

[Southern_Junior]

So this weekend i started off my all grain career to lofty goals. Granted these were my first two batches ever, i was really not expecting much out of them. However, there are some areas i feel that I can improve with others help.

First, my set up is a three level, all stainless steel kettle rig with a 12" stainless false bottom.

First batch, Caramel amber ale. I felt that things were going all wrong and that i had royally effed up. however my gravity ended up being decent. However, my final volume was super low. I sparged with roughly 7.5 gallons. after my boil, I only got 4. what was the issue here???

my second batch was a rye pale ale. The brew was going flawlessly. I thought i was having a great day, till i racked to the fermenter and only had about 4.2 gallons!!! this beer started with roughly 8.5 gallons of sparge! where did i mess up? on a seperate note, my final gravity was supposed to be roughly 1.045. I only got 1.032 after the boil. thats a huge discrepancy... Is that beer done?

 

[duboman]

You need to list recipes for diagnosing but to start, I believe your terminology is off....

The first water addition to mash is called your strike water. After the mash is complete, then you sparge with a given amount of water to achieve your pre boil volume.

Of the strike water you need to account for grain absorption which is usually .12gal/lb or .21gal/lb-:doh: always mix them up........

There is also dead space in the tun which is a loss as well. Once you get your first runnings you then sparge with x amount if water , no further absorption, to collect your total pre boil volume. ( if you list the recipe and amounts of grain we can help with calculations)

As for gravity there are various reasons for not getting what's expected starting with the quality of the crush.

AG brewing is somewhat more involved with many different contributing factors associate switch how efficiently you are brewing from mash to temps to volumes to PH etc.......

If you list your recipes and processes help to fine tune can be had

 

[Southern_Junior]

All noted.


The recipes were both brought from HBT into beersmith 2.

They were these:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f66/caramel-amber-ale-167880/

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f66/cascadian-rye-pale-ale-194422/

So I didn't think about the absorption rate. That would make a huge difference.

My process was pretty simple. Here is a picture of my rig:



So it was a pretty simple process. Heated my strike water, and mashed in according to the recipe. Then batch sparged with the remaining water. I let the sparge sit for roughly 15 minutes before draining to the boil kettle.

 

[Ondori]

Totally jealous. I want that rig. lol

 

[Southern_Junior]

I highly recommend everything, with a caveat of dip tubes for the spike kettles. Ben is supposed to be working on something.

It's got such a small footprint which is great for urban brewing.

 

[ApothecaryBrewing]

Ummmm... Can I get a rig like that with no prior knowledge of AG brewing?

I must have made a wrong decision in life somewhere.

 

[duboman]

All noted.


The recipes were both brought from HBT into beersmith 2.

They were these:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f66/caramel-amber-ale-167880/

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f66/cascadian-rye-pale-ale-194422/

So I didn't think about the absorption rate. That would make a huge difference.

My process was pretty simple. Here is a picture of my rig:

View attachment 97033

So it was a pretty simple process. Heated my strike water, and mashed in according to the recipe. Then batch sparged with the remaining water. I let the sparge sit for roughly 15 minutes before draining to the boil kettle.

Great Rig!

So here is a calculation example for the Amber Recipe you posted:
Total Grain=8.5#
If you mash at 1.5qts/lb=12.75qts or 3.18gal. Strike temp should be about 163 to settle at 150F
Absorption would be .12gal/lb = 1.02gal
First runnings should then collect 2.16gal
Assuming you need 7 gallons of pre-boil volume you would then sparge with 4.84gal
Taking into account then what your boil off rate is and losses you should collect 5-5.5gallons wort in your primary.

Hope this helps!

 

[Southern_Junior]

That's about what I did. My original strike volume was a little under five gallons and then I sparged with 3.5. I guess next time I will just have to be more critical of my volumes.

If that is my only problem, I will consider myself lucky. For being about 25 degrees both days, the kettles held a constant temperature during the entire one hour mash in. I was watching that thermometer like a hawk.

I woke up this morning to the wonderful sound of active yeast, so I don't think the weekend was a total bust. All in all pretty solid for my first runs.

 

[Southern_Junior]

Ummmm... Can I get a rig like that with no prior knowledge of AG brewing?

I must have made a wrong decision in life somewhere.

It would have been a waste to step up piece by piece. Working through the initial investment might be long, but well worth it.