ParanoidAndroid
Well-Known Member
So I am 4 batches into all grain. All of them suck to say the least. Considering I did 1 Partial Mash before going all grain, and had two bad extract batches before that, I haven't made a drinkable beer in almost a year. I don't even tell people when I brew anymore because they expect beer in a few weeks and I cant produce....so I am seeking help.
For the record this isn't a "hmmm, I think this brown ale is too hoppy" or "this IPA is kind of thin" problem; this is straight up Ass Water.
Mouth puckering astringency tastes are what is present in my first 3 all grains.
The first two I know what happened. I missed my mash temp at about 145. So i put it back on the flame. I monitored the temp but its as though heat built up in the bottom, then released, and my temp quickly shot to 185-190. I assume this is what caused the tannins.
My 3rd (Lil Sparkys Nut Brown) I thought was going to be good. I missed my mash temp and hit 160. So I left the MT open for 20 minutes to get my temp to 154 then covered for an hour. Temp was stable.
I had 11.75 lbs of grain. 1.25 qt/lb puts me at around 3.75 gallons of Strike Water. I got 2.75 gallons of wort out of that, but the last gallon or so, I had to force out. This involved me sucking (no homo) the end of the tube to get a good siphon going. A blew in the tube to release a stuck sparge, then sucked again to siphon. Is this causing tannin extraction? Should the last little bit of wort be left in there?
After getting 2.75 gallons out, I needed 4 gallons to get to 6.75 gallons of total wort. I usually have 1.25 gallons of boiloff, but this time I had 1.75 gallons. I double batch sparged at 2 gallons each with 180 degree water and 185 degree water. I only got the sparge temp to 154 both times.
Everything was filtered before going into the BK. Got the 6.75 gallons needed.
Also, I ran drained the MT wide open with fully open valve. Ive read this should be slower. Would that cause tannin extraction?
Added my hops as needed, irish moss @ 15, IC at 15 minutes to disinfect.
It did take a while to cool. Maybe 30 minutes. And since Im in the south, I couldnt get it past 82 degrees. With it being late and not having time to cool it, I put it in my Ferm Chamber. i pitched the yeast the next morning (about 8 hours later).
I got 78% efficiency. That combined with the higher boiloff rate gave me a higher OG than I wanted, but that should not contribute to this nasty taste.
This latest batch I missed my OG terribly. I hit 1.026 when it should have been 1.054 or so. It was a Wheat with 6 lbs White Wheat and 4 lbs 2 Row and 1 lb rice hulls. I did 1.25 qt/lb. I included Rice Hulls to give me 11 lbs grain @ 1.25 = 13.75 quarts strike and just went with 3.5 gallons.
I didnt siphon with my mouth this time and did a slow trickle from my MT. I only got 1.25 Gallons of first runnings. I assume I left a LOT of wort in there. Now i have a 6 gallon sparge. 3 on fist, 3 on second. I got my 7.25 gallons of wort. Everything I thought was fine till I was cleaning out my MT. There was 1.25 gallons of wort left in the MT. Should I have siphoned the first runnings more? I didnt do it this time bc I figured I was sucking out tannins.
For the record this isn't a "hmmm, I think this brown ale is too hoppy" or "this IPA is kind of thin" problem; this is straight up Ass Water.
Mouth puckering astringency tastes are what is present in my first 3 all grains.
The first two I know what happened. I missed my mash temp at about 145. So i put it back on the flame. I monitored the temp but its as though heat built up in the bottom, then released, and my temp quickly shot to 185-190. I assume this is what caused the tannins.
My 3rd (Lil Sparkys Nut Brown) I thought was going to be good. I missed my mash temp and hit 160. So I left the MT open for 20 minutes to get my temp to 154 then covered for an hour. Temp was stable.
I had 11.75 lbs of grain. 1.25 qt/lb puts me at around 3.75 gallons of Strike Water. I got 2.75 gallons of wort out of that, but the last gallon or so, I had to force out. This involved me sucking (no homo) the end of the tube to get a good siphon going. A blew in the tube to release a stuck sparge, then sucked again to siphon. Is this causing tannin extraction? Should the last little bit of wort be left in there?
After getting 2.75 gallons out, I needed 4 gallons to get to 6.75 gallons of total wort. I usually have 1.25 gallons of boiloff, but this time I had 1.75 gallons. I double batch sparged at 2 gallons each with 180 degree water and 185 degree water. I only got the sparge temp to 154 both times.
Everything was filtered before going into the BK. Got the 6.75 gallons needed.
Also, I ran drained the MT wide open with fully open valve. Ive read this should be slower. Would that cause tannin extraction?
Added my hops as needed, irish moss @ 15, IC at 15 minutes to disinfect.
It did take a while to cool. Maybe 30 minutes. And since Im in the south, I couldnt get it past 82 degrees. With it being late and not having time to cool it, I put it in my Ferm Chamber. i pitched the yeast the next morning (about 8 hours later).
I got 78% efficiency. That combined with the higher boiloff rate gave me a higher OG than I wanted, but that should not contribute to this nasty taste.
This latest batch I missed my OG terribly. I hit 1.026 when it should have been 1.054 or so. It was a Wheat with 6 lbs White Wheat and 4 lbs 2 Row and 1 lb rice hulls. I did 1.25 qt/lb. I included Rice Hulls to give me 11 lbs grain @ 1.25 = 13.75 quarts strike and just went with 3.5 gallons.
I didnt siphon with my mouth this time and did a slow trickle from my MT. I only got 1.25 Gallons of first runnings. I assume I left a LOT of wort in there. Now i have a 6 gallon sparge. 3 on fist, 3 on second. I got my 7.25 gallons of wort. Everything I thought was fine till I was cleaning out my MT. There was 1.25 gallons of wort left in the MT. Should I have siphoned the first runnings more? I didnt do it this time bc I figured I was sucking out tannins.