pH, tannins, mashing, and bears...oh my!

[OnTheFlyBrewing]

Greetings all...great forum for information.

I looked at other threads regarding pH and tannins, but just want to make sure I'm reasoning this out correctly. So please don't flame me.

I'm new to brewing and jumped in with both feet. I purchased a 5 gallon Ss Brewtech electric brewing system along with two 7 gallon unitanks that have the full (heat & cool) FTS system. For cooling I added a glycol chiller.

I was brewing the Irish Red recipe found in this forum. I was distracted while trying to set the rate of wort flow from MT to BK and the sparge rate from HLT to MT which caused me to put too much sparge water in the BK. Should have been 5.75 gallons in BK, but I had about 7 gallons.

My solution was to boil the wort down to the 5 gallons batch size. When I checked the wort pH and OG (at ~20ºC), it was 5.2 and 1.06 (target OG was 1.059). I should also add that my sparge water was at 170ºF.

Does this indicate that I shouldn't have drawn off any more tannins than normal?

 

[RPh_Guy]

Does this indicate that I shouldn't have drawn off any more tannins than normal?

Right, I really doubt you'll have any tannin issues because the pH and temperature are within safe limits.

1.06

Always read s.g. to 3 decimal places.

It sounds like you've done your homework.
Hope the beer turns out well. Cheers!

 

[OnTheFlyBrewing]

Always read s.g. to 3 decimal places.

Understood. Old mathematician here, but yes...1.060.

Thanks,
Greg

 

[OnTheFlyBrewing]

More questions about my first brew...

It has been in the unitank for almost three weeks. Fermentation started within 24 hours, and was very active for about 2-3 days. Then it slowed down. When it was just a blurp of CO2 every minute or two (day 4?), I closed the blow off valve to start naturally carbonating. Tank pressure has built up to about 9 psi.

I should mention that I'm using a refractometer to take my measurements, and it was calibrated before reading. I took a sample thinking it should be close to the target FG of about 1.008. However, it is reading about 1.017. The temperature of the sample was about 68º, and the beer still has solids in suspension. It is quite hazy.

Any idea what would cause the high reading? Lack of fermentation, inaccurate reading (my error, or caused by cloudy beer), or...?

Thanks,
Greg

 

[RPh_Guy]

Refractometers do not read density correctly when alcohol is present. With variable accuracy, there are online calculators that can make a conversion.

In my opinion, the best way to determine when final gravity is reached (or target spunding gravity) is to do a Fast Fermentation Test (FFT).

FFT: When active fermentation starts, drain about 50-100mL into a sanitized jar or flask, cover with foil, and put it somewhere warm. It will complete fermentation faster because of the warmth and extra oxygen. You can then measure the FFT gravity to know the FG of your main batch beforehand.

 

[OnTheFlyBrewing]

FFT: When active fermentation starts, drain about 50-100mL into a sanitized jar or flask, cover with foil, and put it somewhere warm. It will complete fermentation faster because of the warmth and extra oxygen. You can then measure the FFT gravity to know the FG of your main batch beforehand.

I've read quite a bit, but I've never heard of that.

Thanks,
Greg

 

[RPh_Guy]

Most homebrewers follow the RDWHAHB philosophy rather than working toward making the best beer possible. The info you'll find from most sources is presented from that viewpoint.
I've learned the most from the low oxygen brewing community.