Spike Complete System

[daveerickson]

Just I set my mash tun temp to be the same as my mash rest temp on the "Mash" tab and it seems to accurately predict my strike water remp

Awesome. Thank you.

 

[Gibberoni]

How did you all mount up your control panel to the wall? I am trying to thing of a good way to mount it, but want to see what others have done, before I start to drill holes in my wall! haha.

 

[daveerickson]

How did you all mount up your control panel to the wall? I am trying to thing of a good way to mount it, but want to see what others have done, before I start to drill holes in my wall! haha.

I used this TV mount.

Everstone TV Wall Mount Fit for Most 26"-60" TVs Dual Articulating Arm Full Motion Tilt Swivel Bracket 14" Extension Arm,LED,LCD,OLED& Plasma Flat Screen TV,Curved TV,Up to VESA 400mm,HDMI Cable https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075YQRSBF/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_PSteDb5DK1RWB

 

[Gibberoni]

Thanks for that!

 

[juggabrew]

How did you all mount up your control panel to the wall? I am trying to thing of a good way to mount it, but want to see what others have done, before I start to drill holes in my wall! haha.

I also used a TV mount that swivels, different style from Dave’s. You could screw a piece of plywood to the studs and then the panel to that. Same as your electrical panel is usually mounted. I original thought it would be super helpful to have the panel swing out when brewing but it’s not really necessary. When I move from my over priced shack in Denver I’ll just mount it to the wall and then use my tv mount for my tv.

 

[Gibberoni]

I ended up using the mount that @daveerickson suggested, and it works great. The only thing I cannot figure out is how to keep the panel from leaning downwards on those brackets. The main bracket that holds it to the wall is sturdy, i put my entire weight on it and its not going anywhere (found all 4 studs). Its the bracket that actually holds the control panel. It has the ability to tilt, but every time I get it straight, set and tightened to the point I fell I will break the bolt, a few hours later I come back and its tilted down again

 

[daveerickson]

I ended up using the mount that @daveerickson suggested, and it works great. The only thing I cannot figure out is how to keep the panel from leaning downwards on those brackets. The main bracket that holds it to the wall is sturdy, i put my entire weight on it and its not going anywhere (found all 4 studs). Its the bracket that actually holds the control panel. It has the ability to tilt, but every time I get it straight, set and tightened to the point I fell I will break the bolt, a few hours later I come back and its tilted down again

That's a total bummer. I'm not having that issue with the mount. I cranked down pretty hard on both sides, the hex and the phillips. Do the fasteners loosen when it leans?

 

[awoitte]

Yeah sorry I didn't explain it well.

The point I was trying to make is:

If you are heating your strike water in a separate vessel and then transferring it to your mash tun and then adding grain, you have to heat your strike water high enough to account for the temperature losses from the transfer and the mash tun itself in addition to the grain.

If you heat your strike water directly in your mash tun using your HERMS coil, you only have to account for the temperature loss to the grain, so the temperature needed is much lower (especially if you mash thin, which I do at 2qt/lb)

So here's an example of how I do it.

I heat the strike water in my mash tun. I want a mash temp of 150, I only have to have the strike water heated to 156 (and my HLT set to 158). It takes awhile to get the temps that close, but I usually just switch it on and go have breakfast or something and give it an hour or so to heat up and reach equilibrium.

As soon as I mash in I shut off the HLT element but keep the HLT recirculation pump on. When I mash in, my mash temp hits 150 as planned. I let it sit for 10 minutes to set the grain bed. During that time, the HLT water has dropped about 4 degrees and is now at 152. So I flip on the pumps and start recirculating my mash and set the HLT temp to 154 (which accounts for the temp loss through my hoses). The mash temp stays in the 150-151 range and the HLT temp slowly rises to 154 and holds my mash temp constant. I adjust the temp of the HLT up or down as needed.

Honestly it doesn't matter one bit, and the way you're doing it is perfectly fine - just different strokes

This may be a personal problem for me as when I connected my recirculating coil inside my HLT I put it (probably) too high, so when I transfer water into my mash tun (5-8 gallons), the water drops down low enough to where half of the HERMS coil is no longer submerged in the water. Which means I then need to add more water (and possibly turn the burner on again) just to get it back up to the right temp. I didn't even think of initially heating my water to mash w/ the boil kettle, but I think that's a good solution for my problem. I've also found that I typically need to heat my water more than just 7-9'F higher than desired mash temp (if I'm mashing at 154 I try to get it to about 168'F). I think the main reason for this is due doing 5 gallon batches in a 20 gallon vessel. Cheers to the brainstorming though, learned something new to try for my next brew day!

 

[dan46nbrew]

I just received my Spike turnkey system and I am very impressed. I did quite a bit of reading about various brands and even though I was expecting a high quality system it has surpassed my expectations. The fit and finish really couldn't be better and I'm pretty picky. They are also very fast to respond by email. I hardly ever write reviews about products I purchase but these guys deserve it. I'm still setting it up and will post back after using it, but so far I'm very happy about the purchase.

 

[Gibberoni]

That's a total bummer. I'm not having that issue with the mount. I cranked down pretty hard on both sides, the hex and the phillips. Do the fasteners loosen when it leans?

TBH I didnt even notice the phillips screw. I took the control panel down, straightened it up, tightened all the bolts and screws and now it is staying! Thank you sir!

 

[sicktght311]

Jumping in here regarding mash temp vs strike temp vs hlt temp.

While i don’t have the spike system, I have practically the same system homebuilt.

I don’t bother with the whole strike temp to predict final mash temp thing. I just fire up my system, set it to my mash temp (say 152), fill my hlt, and then fill my mash water in the mash tun, and recirc through the Herms coil. Once everything has heated all the way up to 152 and sat there for about 10 mins to ensure everything is at stable 152 temp, I shut off the pumps and dough into the mash tun. Temp prob drops into the mid 140s, I give it a couple minutes to settle, and then I start recirculating and within a couple minutes I’m back up to 152. I figure the under 10 minutes or so not at 152 exactly isn’t making a huge deal and I’ve never had a problem hitting my numbers

 

[daveerickson]

Excellent!

TBH I didnt even notice the phillips screw. I took the control panel down, straightened it up, tightened all the bolts and screws and now it is staying! Thank you sir!

 

[Gibberoni]

So I have now done 3 brews on this system and I think I have a feel for it. The thing I cant figure out though, is my efficiency. I am constantly getting into the 40-50% range, and this is just awful! I was hitting 80% with my cooler and batch sparge method. I cannot figure out what I am doing incorrectly.

I fly sparge for about 45 minutes at a very slow rate, keeping ~ 1" of water above the grain bed and still have issues.

The APA that is in my signature was supposed to be a double IPA, but when I did a gravity on the post mash/preboil and it was 1.050 instead of 1.072... I decided to switch to an APA mid brew and adjusted the hops. It finished out at 5% abv... not what I was wanting!

To preface, I am using grains crushed from the LHBS. This is the same crush I was getting when using the old system and getting close to 80%, so I do not believe it is the crush. I might order my next brew from Midwest or AIH to see if that makes a difference. Or I might just buy a monster mill and start to crush myself....

Any tips to help increase this efficiency on this system? What is everyone else running?

 

[Zenmeister]

I was having the same problem, but not as bad, and figured it out my last session. When I was fly sparging, I was keeping about a half inch of water on top of the grain bed, and slowly pumped the mash/wort into the boill kettle. Problem is, I did not measure my sparge water, but kept slowly pumping water to the mash tun long after I should have stopped. So, when you are done sparging, how much water do you then drain out of the MT? If it is much more than a gallon, then you are adding too much water to the sparge.
This was my problem, and I sort of feel guilty for assuming you would make the same mistake, but I just wanted to post it here initially.

 

[daveerickson]

I have been having this same low efficiency issue for 2 sessions.

First session I chalked up to new system, and a Corona style mill that I couldn't really dial in.

Second session I milled with a cereal killer at .045 and got 1.065 when I should have had 1.083... I dumped several gallons out of my mash tun that had gravity in the 1.030 range, so it seemed I was converting fine and not sparging correctly.

My plan this weekend is to stop sparging into the mash tun once I was a half to a full gallon over what is called for by Beersmith and see where that gets me.

I'm glad to hear others have experienced what I'm seeing, and fixed it with similar methods to what I came up with. I'll post back after Saturday with results. [emoji1696]

 

[Gibberoni]

I think you all are both correct. Both times I have sparged past what I was told by Beersmith, most likely diluting the wort. I will do the same my next session. Ill keep an eye on the sparge water level and stop when I hit what beersmith says. I will give it a go this weekend!

 

[Zenmeister]

I think you all are both correct. Both times I have sparged past what I was told by Beersmith, most likely diluting the wort. I will do the same my next session. Ill keep an eye on the sparge water level and stop when I hit what beersmith says. I will give it a go this weekend!

That's exactly what I did last time. Beersmith said to sparge with 8.25 gallons of water, so I took the volume of my HLT to 20 gallons because then I knew to reduce it to 11.75 gals for the sparge. My only problem was that I did not calculate for grain absorption, hose loss, etc, so the 8.25 gals was not enough, and I was about a gallon short. Minor problem, tho, as I sparged another gallon to the wort and let it drain thru. I hit my numbers exactly!

 

[itsnotrequired]

i only look at sparge volume to make sure i have enough water and to calculate salt additions. i like to have the hlt coil fully submerged during the mash and unless brewing a super high gravity beer, that is plenty of water for the sparge. just keep running into the bk until you hit the pre-boil volume and then stop, regardless of how much liquid is left in the mt or in the hlt.

 

[Gibberoni]

I thought of doing that @itsnotrequired, but then I look at all that water still on top of my grain bed and see all that sweet wort I could be missing!!! I just cant do it!

 

[itsnotrequired]

I thought of doing that @itsnotrequired, but then I look at all that water still on top of my grain bed and see all that sweet wort I could be missing!!! I just cant do it!

but you shouldn't be missing any wort by that time, it should be essentially clean water. if you account for grain absorption, false bottom dead space, hose loss, etc., you should have more than enough sparge water if you keep the hlt coil submerged during the mash. once you hit the pre-boil volume in the bk, it doesn't matter if there is no visible water in the mt or if there is 6" of water above the grain bed. anything else running into the bk at that time is basically just lowering your gravity, you've already rinsed everything you are going to get.

bigger beers are a different animal, where you push the mt to the limit of the amount of grain that can physically fit in the thing. you're going to have efficiency losses there, no way around it due to kettle volume limitations.

 

[jready]

i only look at sparge volume to make sure i have enough water and to calculate salt additions. i like to have the hlt coil fully submerged during the mash and unless brewing a super high gravity beer, that is plenty of water for the sparge. just keep running into the bk until you hit the pre-boil volume and then stop, regardless of how much liquid is left in the mt or in the hlt.

This is pretty much what I do. After 30 plus batches I can pretty much eyeball the amount in the BK and know when to cut it off.

 

[itsnotrequired]

This is pretty much what I do. After 30 plus batches I can pretty much eyeball the amount in the BK and know when to cut it off.

i don't eyeball in the bk, that pre-boil volume is a function of boil length and hop/miscellaneous additions, get the volume from beersmith. i always do 10 gal batches and have the same boil off rate each time, bump the volume up a bit if i am adding a bunch of hops, either in the bk or the fermenter. same deal for hour boil vs two hour boil, need more volume.

what i don't do is look at the hlt or mlt and run the exact volume of sparge water that beersmith calls for. by default, i am probably pretty close but in practice, i just run the hlt dry, even if i may not need the extra gallon or so for the sparge. the extra water doesn't mean anything since it doesn't make it into the bk anyway.

 

[augiedoggy]

I was having the same problem, but not as bad, and figured it out my last session. When I was fly sparging, I was keeping about a half inch of water on top of the grain bed, and slowly pumped the mash/wort into the boill kettle. Problem is, I did not measure my sparge water, but kept slowly pumping water to the mash tun long after I should have stopped. So, when you are done sparging, how much water do you then drain out of the MT? If it is much more than a gallon, then you are adding too much water to the sparge.
This was my problem, and I sort of feel guilty for assuming you would make the same mistake, but I just wanted to post it here initially.

as mentioned above, if you are gravity draining and fly sparging it really shouldnt matter how much liquid is left since the sugars will drain at the same rate with the liquid as they would if there wasnt more water on top still.. one thing I have found that makes a big difference here is the rate at which you fly sparge... I do what the above post suggests and my brewhouse efficiency is 91% on my 3 vessel rims setup and 85% at the brewpub with a larger version of the same design implementation.

 

[augiedoggy]

I thought of doing that @itsnotrequired, but then I look at all that water still on top of my grain bed and see all that sweet wort I could be missing!!! I just cant do it!

whether those sugars are left in the grain or left in the liquid at the end doesnt matter since they arent in the correct amount of sparge water either way and most are left behind the difference should really be minimal. sparging slower is the best way to ensure they disolve into the sparge water your using.

 

[augiedoggy]

I have been having this same low efficiency issue for 2 sessions.

First session I chalked up to new system, and a Corona style mill that I couldn't really dial in.

Second session I milled with a cereal killer at .045 and got 1.065 when I should have had 1.083... I dumped several gallons out of my mash tun that had gravity in the 1.030 range, so it seemed I was converting fine and not sparging correctly.

My plan this weekend is to stop sparging into the mash tun once I was a half to a full gallon over what is called for by Beersmith and see where that gets me.

I'm glad to hear others have experienced what I'm seeing, and fixed it with similar methods to what I came up with. I'll post back after Saturday with results. [emoji1696]

you should be able to go much tighter on the cruch.. I use a credit card on my ck for .030 and I recirculate without using any rice rulls... the key is I go slow at around 1.5-1.8gpm flow rate. this nets 91% BH efficiency. my system is a homemade 3 vessel setup but that shouldnt matter much.

 

[Gibberoni]

you should be able to go much tighter on the cruch.. I use a credit card on my ck for .030 and I recirculate without using any rice rulls... the key is I go slow at around 1.5-1.8gpm flow rate. this nets 91% BH efficiency. my system is a homemade 3 vessel setup but that shouldnt matter much.

The brew this weekend I will do both things that seem to be noted in these recent posts.
1) Only sparge with the correct amount of water. Once I have sparged with the right amount, shut off the HLT->MLT pump. Then let the MLT pump to the BK until its completed. This should net both accurate starting boil volume, as well as OG.

2) Recirc more slowly. Right now I am running wide open when I recirc. I will throttle down.

Something I was reading in other posts was to also stir the mash at the midway point? I know this will disturb the grain bed, but if I am going to recirc for another 1/2 hour... it should be okay? Does anyone else do this?

 

[augiedoggy]

The brew this weekend I will do both things that seem to be noted in these recent posts.
1) Only sparge with the correct amount of water. Once I have sparged with the right amount, shut off the HLT->MLT pump. Then let the MLT pump to the BK until its completed. This should net both accurate starting boil volume, as well as OG.

2) Recirc more slowly. Right now I am running wide open when I recirc. I will throttle down.

Something I was reading in other posts was to also stir the mash at the midway point? I know this will disturb the grain bed, but if I am going to recirc for another 1/2 hour... it should be okay? Does anyone else do this?

the recirc speed is your biggest issue at wide open your very likely experiencing a lot of channeling in the bed. there is ZERO need for fast flow here. It only hurts.

stirring 1/2 way wont hurt and might help if you are getting channeling.. ive done it both ways with no noticable effect.

 

[TheMadKing]

you should be able to go much tighter on the cruch.. I use a credit card on my ck for .030 and I recirculate without using any rice rulls... the key is I go slow at around 1.5-1.8gpm flow rate. this nets 91% BH efficiency. my system is a homemade 3 vessel setup but that shouldnt matter much.

This

The mash recirc flow rate has a much bigger effect than the sparge flow rate. If get channeling during your mash you're effectively only mashing the grain that's in the channel walls and there's nothing to sparge.

Yesterday I brewed an amber ale and ended up hitting 80% efficiency for the first time on my spike system with a crush size of 0.040 and the slowest flow rate I could coax out of my pump. It was barely trickling.

Apparently the guy that told me to increase my crush size was an idiot. But he said it so confidently!

 

[augiedoggy]

This

The mash recirc flow rate has a much bigger effect than the sparge flow rate. If get channeling during your mash you're effectively only mashing the grain that's in the channel walls and there's nothing to sparge.

Yesterday I brewed an amber ale and ended up hitting 80% efficiency for the first time on my spike system with a crush size of 0.040 and the slowest flow rate I could coax out of my pump. It was barely trickling.

Apparently the guy that told me to increase my crush size was an idiot. But he said it so confidently!

This is where my small speed control dc pump shines being able to do lower flow rates without whipping the hell out of the wort.. (pro setups often use vfd drive pumps here)

 

[Gibberoni]

the recirc speed is your biggest issue at wide open your very likely experiencing a lot of channeling in the bed. there is ZERO need for fast flow here. It only hurts.

stirring 1/2 way wont hurt and might help if you are getting channeling.. ive done it both ways with no noticable effect.

Well I hate to say but today was the same issue.. I was finishing up our bathroom remodel as I was brewing so I did not stir the mash, but I did mash as slow as possible. Tried to hit a 1.041 post mash, and hit 1.030... I sparged the exact amount that I was supposed to from beersmith (6 gals, this was a 7 gal batch). Ended up with a 1.035 OG on a 1.043 target OG... not happy.

I guess next brew I will stir and see if I am just channeling. I also need to get those things that let me drip water from multiple places and see if that helps.

 

[mongoose33]

the recirc speed is your biggest issue at wide open your very likely experiencing a lot of channeling in the bed. there is ZERO need for fast flow here. It only hurts.

stirring 1/2 way wont hurt and might help if you are getting channeling.. ive done it both ways with no noticable effect.

I've had luck with that. I turn off the pump, stop the RIMS, and gently stir. Then back on with the pump, then when the flow is good, turn on the RIMS again.

 

[augiedoggy]

Well I hate to say but today was the same issue.. I was finishing up our bathroom remodel as I was brewing so I did not stir the mash, but I did mash as slow as possible. Tried to hit a 1.041 post mash, and hit 1.030... I sparged the exact amount that I was supposed to from beersmith (6 gals, this was a 7 gal batch). Ended up with a 1.035 OG on a 1.043 target OG... not happy.

I guess next brew I will stir and see if I am just channeling. I also need to get those things that let me drip water from multiple places and see if that helps.

Those are really low numbers. Are you still crushing course or have to made it any finer yet? the crush size can make a large difference

 

[daveerickson]

Following up on this weekend's brew session. I was targeting 1.049 and hit 1.047, which is 75% efficiency. I'm quite happy with this result compared to previous methods where I was hitting 50ish%.

I milled at .045 and mashed with my pump wide open, a riptide if that makes any difference, for 90 mins. My HLT with temp measured from a tee on the outlet set to 152, and my MT also measuring from a tee on the outlet staying about 148. Then I ramped up to 168 in the HLT which took about 15 mins, and I held it there for another 10 mins which got the MT up to about 162.

I then routed the MT to the BK at a slow rate, took a good 45 mins to an hour to fill 12.75 gallons. Beersmith suggested an additional 7.25 gallons sparge, and I added 8 gallons from the HLT before cutting off my addition. While sparging I kept a consistent MT volume until I stopped adding. I ended up sucking air from the MT right when I had collected my target volume, so I'm glad I added the additional 3/4 gallon.

I still feel like channeling is a possible reason for the conversion rate not being higher. Do the SSBT manifolds work well? I'm concerned about lowering the mash flow rate since I already loose 4 degrees in the MT, am I worrying about nothing? Maybe I'm not channeling and I should reduce my crush, maybe to .040 and see how it does with everything else the same?

At the end of the day I breathed a huge sigh of relief to get a conversion rate improvement, but I still see room for improvement. I've really enjoyed learning this system over the past couple of months, so much more enjoyable than propane.

 

[Gibberoni]

Those are really low numbers. Are you still crushing course or have to made it any finer yet? the crush size can make a large difference

That will be my next step. I need to get my own mill. I will work on getting wife approval for a grain mill!

 

[augiedoggy]

Following up on this weekend's brew session. I was targeting 1.049 and hit 1.047, which is 75% efficiency. I'm quite happy with this result compared to previous methods where I was hitting 50ish%.

I milled at .045 and mashed with my pump wide open, a riptide if that makes any difference, for 90 mins. My HLT with temp measured from a tee on the outlet set to 152, and my MT also measuring from a tee on the outlet staying about 148. Then I ramped up to 168 in the HLT which took about 15 mins, and I held it there for another 10 mins which got the MT up to about 162.

I then routed the MT to the BK at a slow rate, took a good 45 mins to an hour to fill 12.75 gallons. Beersmith suggested an additional 7.25 gallons sparge, and I added 8 gallons from the HLT before cutting off my addition. While sparging I kept a consistent MT volume until I stopped adding. I ended up sucking air from the MT right when I had collected my target volume, so I'm glad I added the additional 3/4 gallon.

I still feel like channeling is a possible reason for the conversion rate not being higher. Do the SSBT manifolds work well? I'm concerned about lowering the mash flow rate since I already loose 4 degrees in the MT, am I worrying about nothing? Maybe I'm not channeling and I should reduce my crush, maybe to .040 and see how it does with everything else the same?

At the end of the day I breathed a huge sigh of relief to get a conversion rate improvement, but I still see room for improvement. I've really enjoyed learning this system over the past couple of months, so much more enjoyable than propane.

Your losing 4 degrees while recirculating? you will lose a bit (usually 1-2 degrees) from the hoses which is normal but this should be fairly easy to compensate for and its best to shorten the hoses to reduce this. also make sure but temp probes are reading the same and adjust the offset if needed. honestly if your recirculating without dialing the flow down, with a 15" false bottom you have to be getting some serious channeling rice hulls or not.
I use a regular bayou classic kettle with false bottom which is thinner than the spike stuff and even when recirculating at 1.5gpm on my flow meter I can still maintain and stepmash fine (with 91% efficiency and a 1.030 crush and no rice hulls)

at the brewery we use a riptide for recirculating thru a 28" wide false bottom and flow rate is 4-5gpm depending on mash...(85% average there)

 

[TheMadKing]

Well I hate to say but today was the same issue.. I was finishing up our bathroom remodel as I was brewing so I did not stir the mash, but I did mash as slow as possible. Tried to hit a 1.041 post mash, and hit 1.030... I sparged the exact amount that I was supposed to from beersmith (6 gals, this was a 7 gal batch). Ended up with a 1.035 OG on a 1.043 target OG... not happy.

I guess next brew I will stir and see if I am just channeling. I also need to get those things that let me drip water from multiple places and see if that helps.

Just to clarify, are you saying you sparged with 6 gallons of water for a 7 gallon batch? meaning you mashed with 2 gallons or so?

 

[TheMadKing]

Your losing 4 degrees while recirculating? you will lose a bit (usually 1-2 degrees) from the hoses which is normal but this should be fairly easy to compensate for and its best to shorten the hoses to reduce this. also make sure but temp probes are reading the same and adjust the offset if needed. honestly if your recirculating without dialing the flow down, with a 15" false bottom you have to be getting some serious channeling rice hulls or not.
I use a regular bayou classic kettle with false bottom which is thinner than the spike stuff and even when recirculating at 1.5gpm on my flow meter I can still maintain and stepmash fine (with 91% efficiency and a 1.030 crush and no rice hulls)

at the brewery we use a riptide for recirculating thru a 28" wide false bottom and flow rate is 4-5gpm depending on mash...(85% average there)

That matches what I've seen with regard to temp loss. I have a 4 degree delta between HLT temp and HERMS return temp when the riptide is at full flow (when I'm heating strike water). But when I slow the flow down to a trickle for the mash, I have a 0-1 degree delta between the HERMS return and the HLT temperature but the flow rate is so slow that it takes a long time to raise the mash temp if I'm doing a step mash using the HERMS. So for a step mash, I normally will crank the flow rate up during the step and then when I hit temp, drop the flow rate back down and stir the mash vigorously to re settle the grain bed.

 

[Gibberoni]

Just to clarify, are you saying you sparged with 6 gallons of water for a 7 gallon batch? meaning you mashed with 2 gallons or so?

I was a mash with 7.5 gallons strike, and 6 gallons of sparge. Including the hose losses, ended with ~10.5 in the kettle (10 was target). 1 gallon of boil off for 60 minutes, 2 gallons of trub leaves me with 7 gallons into the fermenter.

 

[TheMadKing]

I was a mash with 7.5 gallons strike, and 6 gallons of sparge. Including the hose losses, ended with ~10.5 in the kettle (10 was target). 1 gallon of boil off for 60 minutes, 2 gallons of trub leaves me with 7 gallons into the fermenter.

Got it, that's just way different from my numbers so I wanted to confirm, but sounds fine as long as your grain bill is accounting for that

 

[Gibberoni]

Got it, that's just way different from my numbers so I wanted to confirm, but sounds fine as long as your grain bill is accounting for that

I have the 20 gallon system (not sure what you are running) so that could account. I usually do 14 gallon batches, but all my kegs are filling up. I need more friends.