OP
OP
Mk010101
Well-Known Member
Kaiser -- The recipe called for a OG of 1.060 in 5 1/4 gallons. It had 7 1/2 pounds of LME and steeped the following grains:
1/2# Crystal 120
1/2# Chocolate Malt
1/2# Black Roasted Barley
1/2# Flaked Oats
I figure steeping should have given me .003 gravity, so at worst, my SG should have been around 1.055-58.
Well it came in at 1.047 (temp adjusted) in only 5 gallons. I mixed it really well before I took the gravity reading. I did leave maybe two-three cups of wort in the boiling pot because there was just too much trub in it. I had a strainer, but the last time I used it, it didn't do that great of a job keeping most of the trub out. Maybe I shouldn't have cared and put it all in and not worried about the little bit of trub that would end up in the fermenter. My concern was that I used the pacman yeast and I wanted to save it and not have to wash it as much at the end of fermentation. That, plus what I read about not getting a lot of break material into the fermenter.
So I think my main problem was those last few cups left in the boiling pot plus maybe bad efficiency of the steeping grains. If the color of the beer is supposed to be black to jet black, then I know I didn't get a good steep because it is more dark brown in color.
The instructions didn't say how much wort I should have after cooling--only to start with 2 1/2 gallons, steep in that then add the extract. I did remove (temporarily) 4 cups of liquid after I steeped. I added the extract and got it to a boil. About 15 min into the boil I added back those 4 cups of water that had been steeped. I don't think I could have lost anything in that either, but maybe I did??? I did remove these 4 cups (again temporarily) so that when I got the wort back to boiling it would boil over.
1/2# Crystal 120
1/2# Chocolate Malt
1/2# Black Roasted Barley
1/2# Flaked Oats
I figure steeping should have given me .003 gravity, so at worst, my SG should have been around 1.055-58.
Well it came in at 1.047 (temp adjusted) in only 5 gallons. I mixed it really well before I took the gravity reading. I did leave maybe two-three cups of wort in the boiling pot because there was just too much trub in it. I had a strainer, but the last time I used it, it didn't do that great of a job keeping most of the trub out. Maybe I shouldn't have cared and put it all in and not worried about the little bit of trub that would end up in the fermenter. My concern was that I used the pacman yeast and I wanted to save it and not have to wash it as much at the end of fermentation. That, plus what I read about not getting a lot of break material into the fermenter.
So I think my main problem was those last few cups left in the boiling pot plus maybe bad efficiency of the steeping grains. If the color of the beer is supposed to be black to jet black, then I know I didn't get a good steep because it is more dark brown in color.
The instructions didn't say how much wort I should have after cooling--only to start with 2 1/2 gallons, steep in that then add the extract. I did remove (temporarily) 4 cups of liquid after I steeped. I added the extract and got it to a boil. About 15 min into the boil I added back those 4 cups of water that had been steeped. I don't think I could have lost anything in that either, but maybe I did??? I did remove these 4 cups (again temporarily) so that when I got the wort back to boiling it would boil over.
