forgot to recirculate

[vallonswayla]

hello-

i just started using the Brooklyn Brew Shop 1 gal kit this past Sunday for my first all-grain brewing experience. First major mistake I can see is that I failed to re-circulate the liquid(wort?) through the grain bed. Some grain(not much) did get into the wort, which i then boiled per instructions while adding hops. Once cooled i poured the wort through a funnel w/strainer into the fermenter where it's now got a blowoff attached and is hiding in my closet.

would appreciate any feedback on what possible outcomes/consequences would be from failing to re-circulate and also getting some(not much) grain into the wort before boiling and cooling.

thanks-

 

[jhurt]

Worst case, you'll have extracted some tannins from the grain which could lead to a bit of astringency in the beer.

 

[Math0]

You will probably have a lower efficiency or lower ABV in the end.
For the grains in the boil, don't worry about it. The difference will be so small you won't be able to taste it. Also, they will settle down in the fermenter and mix with the sediments.

 

[vallonswayla]

ah thanks for the feedback! another question. i am doing closed fermentation, using the blowoff tube. the fermenter is in an ice chest with water in the closet of an unused room. however, this is also the room where we have our cat litter, which more often than not has the cat piss and poop in it. is this going to affect the beer? problem is i don't have another enclosed dark space to store the fermenter undisturbed, and we don't really have anywhere else to put the litter.

any feedback is appreciated!

 

[LovesIPA]

As you say, the fermentor is closed. If it's closed, nothing can get in.

 

[Hang Glider]

boiled grains can cause a mouth-puckering astringency...but you may not notice if the volume was very small.
"hiding in my closet" - is your closet temperature controlled? Your beer temp is likely 8°-10° higher than your closet temp if it's just sitting in the corner...check your yeast specs.

 

[vallonswayla]

closet is not temp controlled. i've been checking temperature of water bath the fermenter is sitting in about every 8 hours or so. been consistenly around 66-68 F. i'm in southern california so the temperature swings have been very mild. i also read that putting the fermenter in water will help keep the temperature swings down some.

 

[feinbera]

You'll be fine. I've brewed nine batches in a bathroom, and while they haven't all come out great, this has a lot more to do with brewer incompetency than infections. ;-)

Your temperature will probably be pretty stable in an insulated water bath, but if I were you, I'd pick up a $3 stick-on "fermometer" to keep an eye on things, let you know when to add hot water or ice. With one-gallon batches, the reading at the side of the fermentor should be within a degree or two of the actual beer temperature, as long as the beer isn't a lot warmer or cooler than the bath.

 

[PDX_T]

I wouldn't do any transferring or sampling anywhere near cat litter, if at all possible.

 

[BlackGoat]

cat litter is irrelevant, its closed and nothing should be able to get in. The water bath should keep it fine, I'm in southern california too and have two batches sitting in water baths, both have been maintaining approximately 64 degrees every day without any ice additions. If it heats up (this weekend it probably will) you can just throw a frozen water bottle into your cooler to bring the temp down a bit.

 

[kombat]

I wouldn't do any transferring or sampling anywhere near cat litter, if at all possible.

Unless I were making an all-Citra IPA. Then any cat-piss cross-contamination would be imperceptible.

 

[vallonswayla]

thank you all for the postings, definitely putting my mind at ease. i was starting to resent the cats.

 

[apalke]

When I was first starting out all grain I would always forget to recirculate the wort and ended up with some grain junk in my wort which got boiled. I never had any problems with astringency in my beers from overextraction of tannins.

In fact, if I'm not mistaken tannin extraction depends on pH as well as temperature and the tannins are less soluble at lower pH. The wort should have a relatively low pH which may be what keeps my beers from being astringent. Of course, tannin solubility should increase with temperature despite the low pH, but I would guess the low pH wins. I don't have any data on tannin solubility to look at here, all I have is my experience of not having astringent beer and a plausible explanation.

Of course, it could also be that only the starchy part of the grain is getting into the wort and not the actual husk...

 

[apalke]

As an addendum, my understanding is that if a beer has a problem of tannin extraction it is most likely due to the increase in pH when you "oversparge". This leads some people who start off with high pH water to acidify their sparge water using various techniques. Thus, I believe the idea that you get astringent beer from your sparge water being too hot is mostly false.

 

[LovesIPA]

Thus, I believe the idea that you get astringent beer from your sparge water being too hot is mostly false.

I heat my sparge water up to 195*. Haven't tasted any astringent tannins yet.

 

[Hang Glider]

vallonswayla - water bath method is just fine - good luck with the brew, I'm sure it will be fine.

 

[vallonswayla]

I used the store-bought spring water for the brew. I dont drink the tap water here, so wouldn't use it in my beer!

 

[apalke]

I used the store-bought spring water for the brew. I dont drink the tap water here, so wouldn't use it in my beer!

Unless you notice any problems with astringency you're probably fine. I used untreated tap water for my sparging for the longest time. Now I treat it with campden tablets to get rid of the chloramine and typically a bit of gypsum to take the pH down a bit. Sometimes minor amounts of other salts. But I'm in the San Francisco Bay Area and our water has a relatively high pH and low mineral content. I haven't really noticed the difference since I started treating the water but it gives me peace of mind.

The spring water probably doesn't have chlorine or chloramine in it... unless I'm mistaken?