My First AG - a post mortem

[Skarekrough]

So last night I tried my hand at AG and something went wrong. I don't think RDWHAHB is going to fix this one. But I would appreciate any input as to what went wrong.

I did a modified version of Deathbrewer's 2-stage stovetop AG process with 3.81 gallons of water in the first kettle and 3 gallons in the second. I used 12# of grains.

I mashed in and steeped at 151 degrees on the first kettle for 90 minutes with only minor temperature issues. Stirred three times and kicked the heat over twice for a few minutes to counteract typical heat loss.

After that I did ten minutes in the second kettle with the strike temp at 185 degrees.

I took a reading and the hydrometer didn't budge off the bottom of the wine thief. I took a taste sample and it was sweet.

Soldiering on I combined the two and started my boil. That went fine, I lost a little over a gallon as was expected, cooled and got it into the fermenter.

I took another reading....nothing. Wouldn't budge off the bottom.

I figured I'm here so I packed it up and pitched my yeast.

I'm at a loss as to figure out what went wrong. From my reading everything should have gone fine. I had minor issues on the second kettle with overflow, but nothing that should affect the end result in such a dramatic way.

I spent the night tossing and turning trying to figure out what I did wrong.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[phenry]

That sounds like more of a hydrometer problem than AG problem. Were you cooling your samples before taking your readings? Also, enough liquid in your testing tube? Try your hydrometer out in ~60*F water and see if it reads 1.000.

 

[sasquatch_steve]

I'm no expert, but I cant imagine no sugars got into your wort. Perhaps there is something wrong with your hydrometer? I'd take a test sample to your LHBS or a brew buddy's and get another reading.

 

[Skarekrough]

Yep...it was a hydrometer issue. For some reason the Wine Thief I have was messing with it. Not sure how but I went and put the hydrometer in it alone and sure enough it's ay 1.050.

Now OG should have been 1.063, but all in all, I'm not going to complain about that when it could have been much worse.

 

[Pappers_]

Congratulations on your first all-grain, Skare!

 

[asterix404]

Aye, you will get the 63 soon, but it sounds like you worked another kink out of your process! Good job! It took me about 10 batches of all grain before I worked out most of the problems. Good luck and keep brewing!

 

[bottlebomber]

Now OG should have been 1.063, but all in all, I'm not going to complain about that when it could have been much worse.

BIAB is notoriously low efficiency. I did it a couple times, then went straight for the cheap and easy 10 gallon rubbermaid MLT. Love it.

 

[Beezy]

BIAB is notoriously low efficiency. I did it a couple times, then went straight for the cheap and easy 10 gallon rubbermaid MLT. Love it.

Waiting for all the 90% eff BIAB guys to cuss you out lol. BIAB just seems more trouble than it's worth. Cooler style batch sparging is easy and won't cost you much more. I looked at BIAB as maybe the easier cheaper way too at one point but the more I looked into it... Glad to have my cooler mash tun. Great, now the BIAB guys will be after me *hides*

 

[thughes]

BIAB is notoriously low efficiency. I did it a couple times, then went straight for the cheap and easy 10 gallon rubbermaid MLT. Love it.

Really? Where did you get that information?

I get 81-83% with my BIAB/no-sparge 5 gallon batches and 90-93% with my BIAB 2 pot/stove top 2.5 gallon rig.

 

[thughes]

Waiting for all the 90% eff BIAB guys to cuss you out lol. BIAB just seems more trouble than it's worth. Cooler style batch sparging is easy and won't cost you much more. I looked at BIAB as maybe the easier cheaper way too at one point but the more I looked into it... Glad to have my cooler mash tun. Great, now the BIAB guys will be after me *hides*

Nah, you do your thing, I'll do mine. We both end up with beer, I just finish sooner and have less cleanup to do.

 

[bottlebomber]

Nah, you do your thing, I'll do mine. We both end up with beer, I just finish sooner and have less cleanup to do.

I think MLT is WAY less cleanup. I take my MLT, dump it into the yardwaste bin using its nice sturdy handles, spray it out, and im done with it. And try making big beer such as a barley wine using that system. You might find that grain bag to be Wee Heavy

 

[thughes]

I think MLT is WAY less cleanup. I take my MLT, dump it into the yardwaste bin using its nice sturdy handles, spray it out, and im done with it. And try making big beer such as a barley wine using that system. You might find that grain bag to be Wee Heavy

I don't have a MLT to clean; everything is done in one vessel. A simple rope and pulley rig makes easy work of hoisting a bag if I do a large grain bill but I prefer session beers so 12-15 lbs is easy to handle. (You still have to lug the MLT full of that heavy Barley Wine grain bill using the "nice sturdy handles", I roll the garbage can under my bag, dump it, and roll the can out to the curb).

Like I said, we all end up with beer at the end of the day and how we get there is not important. The point of my first post in this thread was simply to dispel the myth that BIAB is "notoriously low efficiency". Done properly it is at minimum as efficient as cooler MLT/double batch sparging (which is how I brewed my first 150+ gallons).

 

[bottlebomber]

A simple rope and pulley rig makes easy work of hoisting a bag if I do a large grain bill but I prefer session beers so 12-15 lbs is easy to handle.

Done properly it is at minimum as efficient as cooler MLT/double batch sparging

If 15 pounds of grain is only providing you with a "session" beer, you may want to reconsider your efficiency calculations... I just did a brew yesterday, 14 pounds of grain got me 5.5 gallons of 1.070 wort. I probably could have gotten 1.075 but I was in a hurry and shut the sparge off after I had collected 7 gallons. Im expecting 7% abv

 

[thughes]

15# of grain gives me way more than a session ABV:

Last brew was 6# 2row, 5# Pilsner, 1# Munich (that's only 12# total), 150 mash for 90 minutes and 10 minute mashout at 168, got pre-boil volume of 9 gallons at 1.041 for @ 83% extract efficiency. OG of 1.061 (5.5 gal) and finished at 1.012 for 6.7 ABV (a little bit more than a session ale). Sounds like we're both getting about the same eff out of our systems.


A typical session beer (ESB, brewed Saturday):

8# MO
.5# toasted MO (350 degrees for 15 minutes)
.5# flaked barley
.25# C120

BIAB/no sparge starting with 8.5 gallons water. 90 minute mash at 151, 10 minute mashout at 168. Pre-boil volume of 8 gallons @ 1.037, that's extract efficiency of @ 83%. 5.5 gallons of 1.047 into fermenter (with Wyeast ESB that should finish @ 1.012 and give me 4.7 ABV.....a nice session beer).


What's wrong with my math?

 

[thughes]

If 15 pounds of grain is only providing you with a "session" beer, you may want to reconsider your efficiency calculations... I just did a brew yesterday, 14 pounds of grain got me 5.5 gallons of 1.070 wort. I probably could have gotten 1.075 but I was in a hurry and shut the sparge off after I had collected 7 gallons. Im expecting 7% abv

What was the gravity of the 7 gallons pre-boil (extract eff)? I assume that you fly sparge, correct? I am NOT trying to start a pissing match, I just like comparing methods/results with other brewers in order to learn as much as I can.

 

[thughes]

I also stress the use of pre-boil volume/gravity for relevant efficiency calculations because there are too many variable to determine true extract efficiency post-boil. Equipment losses, volume shrinkage due to cooling, wort loss due to accidental boilover, etc, are all factors that affect this calculation.

 

[bottlebomber]

15# of grain gives me way more than a session ABV:

Ok well when you said 12-15# I figured you were talking grain for a session beer. Definitely not ideal. But your numbers seem good, im not about to step up to the pissing line, but I did try BIAB several times and I like this way better. To each their own, right?