Mid Mash Emergency

[guinnessface]

Folks, any help you can lend would be much appreciated....I'm in a bit of a jam

I'm in the middle of an AG attempt at an imperial red. I decided to try a 2 step infusion for the first time.

My grain bill was 14#, so I tried to dough in 3.5gal for a 30 min rest at 122deg. I got fairly close, but added almost another gallon trying to get to 122, so there it sat at 122 for about 30 min.

In an attempt to raise the temp to the mid 150s, I had to add another 2 gal of boiling water, which got it to 140. I tried boiling about .5 gallons of the runoff to raise the temp...no luck. Finally I had to add one more gallon of boling water to get the temp to the mid 150s.

So, now I'm stuck with about 9gal of grain and water combined for a 5 gal batch!

I was planning to vorlauf (sp?) and fly sparge, but I'm wondering if I should batch sparge what's left of the runoff.

Is there any way to save this mess? Any help would be much appreciated!

guinnessface

 

[passedpawn]

not a mess. Just drain then batch sparge until you have 6.5 or whatever you need for your boil. You're almost there!

 

[guinnessface]

Thanks, I drained most out and sparged a little to bring the temp up. It looks ok....the ph was 5.4, so I think most of it converted. I tend to freak out a little! I'll check the gravity in a bit to see if the "disaster" was averted