Help! How can I fix this? (time sensitive)

[r8rphan]

So I brewed up a 10G batch of a Stone IPA clone..

Here is the recipe I used:

This is Ed's recipe...

Single infusion 60 minutes at 153 degrees.

10.5# Pale
1# Munich
1# Crystal 20L

1 oz. Warrior 60 minutes
1 oz. Centennial 15 minutes
1 oz. Centennial 5 minutes

Dry Yeast - Safale US-05

O.G. 1.066
F.G. 1.010

Dry Hop with 1 oz. Centennial.

Calculating this out... this should be 66 x 11G = 726 GU

So I based my recipe on my last efficiency of 75% and added a pound of 2 row

22# 2 row @ 38 GU = 835 GU possible
2 lb munich @ 35GU = 70GU possible
2 lb crystal 15L @ 35 = 70 GU possible
Total GU @ 100% = 975 GU

975 GU x .75 (eff) = 731.25 GU

I took a reading in both carboys @ 65 degrees and it 1.050! (550 GU = 56% efficiency!)

I have 'no' idea what happened... It was my second attempt at fly sparging, so perhaps I experienced 'channeling'..

Anyways, the stuff is sitting in carboys.. What can I do? I don't have any DME, but I do have 7 4oz packets of priming sugar... Can I somehow use that to bring the OG up?

I haven't pitched yeast yet.. I'm figured I'd post this first...

 

[Hammy71]

At this point I guess I would just settle for the 1.050 and call it a night. I usually come in slightly lower when doing 10 gallon batches, but not by that much. Did you do a preboil gravity? In hindsight the importance of that can not be dismissed.

 

[r8rphan]

Naw... This is the first AG batch in which I didn't... Figures.. the smoothest brew day I ever had... I knew things were going 'too' well!

 

[r8rphan]

So if I pitch the yeast and skip the dry hops... what IBU will I come in at?
Or will this be too bitter to even drink?

I used
2 oz warrior @ 60
2 oz centennial @ 15
2 oz centennial @ 5

 

[r8rphan]

What would happen if I did a super high Gravity malt only brew of say three gallons or so, and fermented it separately, then added it in with this stuff when I transferred to keg?

Or maybe 5 Gallons of a high gravity beer, and then combined everything into three cornys, and then dry hopped?

Is that even worth considering?

 

[Snowhere]

Hmmm, I wonder what if you re boiled the everything to reduce it to say a 7 or 8 gal size? I don't know what would happen to the hop oil already in suspension as if you would lose some or just concentrate the IBUs? It would raise your OG to be more in style of what you are looking for with out having to add anything. And since you havn't pitched the yeast yet, I do not think any harm would be done. Either way, you would learn a lot from this batch.

 

[r8rphan]

I went ahead and pitched the yeast...

Here's what I'm gonna do, and I'd like some feedback on this if possible...

I'm gonna brew another batch of this stuff sometime between thursday and saturday of this week...... this time 5 gallons...

I'm gonna shoot for an OG of 1.088-90 by using the original recipe, but adding another 4-5 lbs of 2 row.. Gonna batch sparge this one and figure out what went worng with my mash later...

I'll let the existing batch sit on the yeast for 3 weeks, and the 5G batch for two to two and a half weeks...

Then I'll pour one third of the high Gravity batch in each of three carboys, and split the existing 10 G batch between them, a third in each... This 'should' put everything 'in the ball park'...

Then I'll dry hop all three cornys and let them sit at room temp for two to six weeks... (or more)..

This is sort of a reverse partigyle brew...

I'm thinking that the end result should taste 'something' like what I was after today.... I can't think of any reason why this would ruin the beer.. can you?

What do you think? Anyone ever tried anything like this?

I'm tired, and I need a couple homebrews before I clean up the kitchen some what and roll out this batch of spent grain doggie cookies and shove em in the oven...

 

[sjbeerman]

I did a fly sparge for my first AG batch and ended with 55% efficiency. I'm sure my low efficiency was due to it being my first AG batch. I then tried batch sparging the next time and increased my efficiency to 68% and reduced my brew day by 1 hr. My most recent was a single batch sparge and I got 76% efficiency. After that, no more fly sparging for me!

 

[r8rphan]

That's it then.. It has to be channeling...

 

[Runyanka]

True that... I went from fly sparging to batch sparging with the help of a pump to recurculate mt wort and im hitting 73% this way. IMO fly sparging is hard with 10g batches in a cooler.

 

[r8rphan]

True that... I went from fly sparging to batch sparging with the help of a pump to recurculate mt wort and im hitting 73% this way. IMO fly sparging is hard with 10g batches in a cooler.

LOL.. I tried it because batch sparging 10G batches was hard in a cooler....

 

[r8rphan]

Anyone have any comments on my idea for a fix? I could really use some input from the 'experts' here...

I was just thinking that I'll probably need to pitch two packs of yeast instead of one for the fix-it beer, considering the gravity.. or will one pack be enough for a 5G batch of 1.088-90 beer?

 

[Snowhere]

What's so hard about sparging in a 10 gal cooler? I use the same rig on my 10g as I use on my 5g with great success. I average 80 to 90% efficiency with fly sparging. The key is to lauter with a moderate to slow rate. You are more likely to experience channeling with a braid then a false bottom due to the flow characteristics.

For the yeast, I have always used 1 pack for my 6gal batches, just expect a longer fermentation. Nowadays, I make my own starters from my yeast bank, so I have solved that problem that way.

 

[r8rphan]

What I don't understand, is that I did an 'emergency' fly sparge on my last batch (long story), and got 75%.. I do it on purpose this time, and get 50%?

Last time the sparge took 30 mins to do, this time it took 40.. I used 5.2 on both batches.. I don't get it... I use a copper manifold and was careful not to have any slits within 2" of the cooler walls...

Maybe it my method of fly sparging.. I placed a plastic colander upside down on top of the grain, and then just set the hose on it's side on top of the colander.. then drained 'very' slow...

 

[Hammy71]

What your proposing is a 'blend'. Big breweries do it all the time. I've done it with success. Go for it. It takes a lot of sampling to get the ratio right, but that's part of the fun.

 

[r8rphan]

What your proposing is a 'blend'. Big breweries do it all the time. I've done it with success. Go for it. It takes a lot of sampling to get the ratio right, but that's part of the fun.

Thanks man.. What are the odds that I can still make a real clone out of this SNAFU?

 

[weirdboy]

Nobody has pointed out yet that 12.5 pounds of grain is a bit light for a 10 gallon batch? That's a 5 gallon batch grain bill. I hope you doubled it...

 

[lastsecondapex]

Nobody has pointed out yet that 12.5 pounds of grain is a bit light for a 10 gallon batch? That's a 5 gallon batch grain bill. I hope you doubled it...

If you read the OP, he used 26# of total malt, the grain bill is correct

 

[r8rphan]

Yes, I doubled evreything, as stated in the recipe I used (in the original post).. I even added a pound of 2 row to make up fr the difference of the recipe givers efficiency and mine..

well, the efficiency I 'expected' to have anyways..

I used 26 lbs of grain in the mash and added 6 oz of hops..

and came out with an OG of 1.050... obviously, something went wrong with the mash..

If I can fix it with a second 'strong' version 5G batch, then I will have only wasted about 4 lbs of grain in the process..

 

[weirdboy]

Oh yeah somehow my eyes just glazed over that section. I guess because the original recipe is bolded but that one is not.

 

[r8rphan]

Oh yeah somehow my eyes just glazed over that section. I guess because the original recipe is bolded but that one is not.

I thought about bolding it, but didn't.. As usual, trust my first instincts... I'll go back and bold it..

 

[r8rphan]

You know, I was planning on brewing an APA that I like after this, and taking one of the 5G batches and experimenting with real banana in it..

Having three cornys of this stuff after the fix will allow me the breathing room to experiment on one of them... If I like it, I can still experiment with one of the APA batches... tweaking it from what I learned in the IPA..

 

[r8rphan]

I think I know what I did wrong with my mash.. This was my very first attempt at fly sparging 'on purpose'...

I only stirred the mash once at the very beginning.. I probably should have stirred it again (and let it settle), just before I started draining...

I'd be interested in hearing how you guys who fly sparge in cooler tuns, approach stirring during the mash...

Also, I was just thinking, I don't need to get this make up batch perfect.. I just need to make it significantly bigger than the intended OG.. then measure it after the boil, and use that data to figure out how much to blend in order to hit the target with 10G of it..

considering that I'm now planning to use the remaining 5G to experiment with fruit anyways, it's not important that I hit the gravity perfectly with that batch...