i think i turned my brown ale into a mild.

[dkm11b]

hello there, this is my 4th beer, and 2nd AG. i was going to try to make a brown ale, that is a mix of both english and american styles. i was aiming for something slightly sweet, and with a nice nutty/toasted taste. heres the recipe.
9lb maris otter
1lb victory
10oz C60
8oz pale chocolate malt
8oz honey malt
1oz fuggles @60
1oz fuggles @15
mashed at 155 (170 strike temp) in a new igloo cooler/mash tun i made.
sparged at about 168, did the normal boil.

heres where everything starts to ride the proverbial hand basket to hell. my OG was supposed to be 1.053 w/60% efficiency. it turned out to be 1.040. im pretty certain i screwed up the sparging, so ill have to tighten that down, though it was my first time sparging. so i checked it out, and i have something more along the lines of an english mild.....well ill take it! any advice on the sparging correctly is appreciated.

 

[FastAndy]

Was your pre boil volume correct? What happened the sparge that you think was the problem?

 

[dkm11b]

pre boil volumes were about 6 gallons, which is normal for me. the sparging for me was kinda confusing, so i didnt know how much water, and how long i should keep recirculating. i mashed with 3.5 gallons, and added enough sparge water to get to 6 gallons roughly.

 

[FastAndy]

Did you take into account that the Victory and chocolate would not convert? You probably would not get much outbid the crystal 60 either.

 

[dkm11b]

the specialty grains werent going to convert much, but 9lbs of MO should have done something,lol. im stumped because i actually tried to sparge, and got worse efficiency then my stout, which i didnt do any sparging with...oh well, the new brewer blues,lol.

 

[Odin_Brews]

The mash thickness looks good. Then like you say, I usually just sparge (normally twice) with enough water to get to my pre-boil.

Are you fly sparging or batch sparging? You might start simple with batch sparging, helps to get the process dialed in without having to worry about flow rates and other details

 

[dkm11b]

im pouring hotter water (180-ish) on my grain (in the mash tun), and draining it....is that batch or fly sparging?

 

[GilSwillBasementBrews]

You would want to take your first runnings after the mash. Measure the volume. Subtract that from your preBoil volume. That will tell you how much you need to sparge.
For batch sparging after you drain first runnings and add your water to sparge. Stir and let it sit for 10minutes or so to settle then vorlauf and drain runnings.

 

[dkm11b]

the pre and post boil volumes were fine, i used some calculator online to help with that. i will let my sparge water sit for longer next time, i think i might have rushed it. thanks for the heads up everyone.

 

[dkm11b]

strangest thing here. i pitched about 300ml of yeast slurry from a stout (1968 esb yeast) last night, and when i got home today, there was a "krausen" but it was thin, and not at all like im used to seeing. it was more like the head on a freshly poured beer then anything else. underneath it the beer is turning and churning, and i took a gravity reading, and its down to 1.020 already. is this normal for this strain? the stout fermentation was a violent affair,lol. is a D-rest recommended? thanks again for any and all help.

 

[zachattack]

the pre and post boil volumes were fine, i used some calculator online to help with that. i will let my sparge water sit for longer next time, i think i might have rushed it. thanks for the heads up everyone.

Are you stirring the crap out of it after you add the sparge water? Letting the sparge water "sit for longer" is only something that's important for fly sparging. But if you aren't stirring it, it'll be more like a really poor fly sparge.

D-rests aren't generally needed with ale yeasts, though a lot of us like to warm it up a couple degrees after the first week or so to ensure complete attenuation.

 

[dkm11b]

i actually poured the water in, and kinda let it sit there. so ya my sparging technique needs some fixing for sure, is sparge water temp crucial? and BTW the the yeast finally woke up, and are going to town right now, so thats good at least.

 

[zachattack]

The temperature isn't nearly as important as other factors. Keep working at it! The process is half the fun.

 

[dkm11b]

ok the mild is done fermenting, and the fg is 1.010. i tasted the hydrometer sample, and it was well....toasty. im used to tasting ipa/apa samples and knowing what to expect, but with this recipe i used a few malts that i never used before. is the victory malt going to mellow a little bit, or did i maybe use too much for the intended purpose (originally a brown ale).

 

[Yooper]

ok the mild is done fermenting, and the fg is 1.010. i tasted the hydrometer sample, and it was well....toasty. im used to tasting ipa/apa samples and knowing what to expect, but with this recipe i used a few malts that i never used before. is the victory malt going to mellow a little bit, or did i maybe use too much for the intended purpose (originally a brown ale).

A pound of victory malt is a lot. Typically, you want to use .5 pound or so in a 12 pound batch. It should mellow a lot, and once it's carbed up it may be far less toasty. Plus, "toasty" is nice in a brown. er, mild.

 

[dkm11b]

ok then, ill let it sit for another week, and then keg it up. thanks for the heads up.