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narl79

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 15, 2013
Messages
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Location
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Hey guys im sitting here a bit confused on what happend with my brew. Its not bad it actually smells and taste great I just didnt think its possible to be so high. So heres the recipe

8lb 2 row
1 oz centennial @ 60 min
1 oz mt hood @ 10 min.
Us-05 yeast 2 weeks 5 days in primary
Ferm temp 2 days @ 66 the rest at 69_70.

Mash temp 152°

I got 4.5gl of wort and toped to 5.5 with water.

Pre boil grav 1.060 @ 70° the wort was 70° outside temp was -8... yes I was brewing when a winter storm came through and would not stop lol.
Og 1.055 @ 70°
Fg 1.004 @ 70° .... used 2 dif hydros.
Abv 7.33%

What I need help with is if anyone can tell me my efficiency as im just now trying to learn how to do this.

And also is it really possible to get that high of abv with such a small grain bill. I dont have beer smith yet im using an app I found and I dont know how accurate it is.

Thanks for any response if you need more data let me know

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Home Brew mobile app
 
I like brewers friend but you can play around with them and see what you like. I think brewers friend is my far the most user friendly.

Anyway something is wrong with your OG. If you measured you pre-boil OG with the 4.5 gallons that's 101% efficiency. If you measured it with the 5.5 gallons that's 123% efficiency. So you either added more than 8lbs or your gravity is off.
 
I like brewers friend but you can play around with them and see what you like. I think brewers friend is my far the most user friendly.

Anyway something is wrong with your OG. If you measured you pre-boil OG with the 4.5 gallons that's 101% efficiency. If you measured it with the 5.5 gallons that's 123% efficiency. So you either added more than 8lbs or your gravity is off.

I had a pre boil og of 1.060 with 6 gl to start and ended with 4.5 in the fermenter. Topped off to 5.5 after boil.

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Home Brew mobile app
 
Then it was even higher than 123%. I would check how you are doing your gravity or something. With that much grain 1.06 is literally impossible. Maybe your pot wasn't mixed really well when you took the sample. I'm sure the first runnings were greater than 1.06. Weird. I hope you figure this one out.
 
Let's figure 35 points per gallon for the 2 row, which is very reasonable. Your maximum extraction would be 35pts X 8lbs = 280.

For 6 gallons your gravity would be about = 280/6 = 1.047
For 5 gallons your gravity would be about = 280/5 = 1.056

So...your numbers really cannot be accurate. I suspect that the top off water was not mixed well and you were reading closer to the 4.5 gallon concentrated wort which would expect 280/4.5 = 1.062....very close to your reading.
 
That sounds reasonable. I knew something was up I just couldn't put my finger on it. Thanks for the input. I know what I did wrong to screw up my volumes and know how to correct it next time so I dont have to top off. So im going to chalk this one up as a good beer I have no idea what the true abv is.

Thanks helibrewer as ive been reading today about efficiency your math is spot on so I know how to do that as well. Thanks for the reply.

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Home Brew mobile app
 
Thanks helibrewer as ive been reading today about efficiency your math is spot on so I know how to do that as well. Thanks for the reply.

The numbers he gave you and the numbers i gave you are basically the same but please don't forget that those are based on perfect efficiency and it is very unlikely that you will get that. For example if you are building a recipe on your own i would be hesitant to say you are going to actually end up with 35 points per pound. You will end up with whatever your system efficiency is multiplied by the 35 points.

Just my two cents. Good luck.
 
Thanks kibler for clearing that up. As im still learning how to do the math for efficiency the only reading I should be using is the pre boil reading correct?

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Home Brew mobile app
 
The pre boil reading gives you your "conversion efficiency". You gravity in the fermenter gives you your "brew house" efficiency. Both are useful but I think the conversion one is the more important one.
 
Good deal thank you. I broke out palmers book and now its starting to make sense. Thanks again for the help.

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Home Brew mobile app
 
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