Topping off carboy

[ncoutroulis]

I have question about this, as well as the overall technique of brewing.

Here's what happened.

Mashed grain in 1 gal of water.

At the same time, i was heating up between 3-4 gals of water in my 5 gallon brew kettle.

after the mash, i poured it into the kettle, added the malts and noticed that the level was way too close to the top—so i took a bowl and scooped out some of the liquid to bring down the level...

i know this wasn't right, so what SHOULD i have done?

when i transferred to the carboy, i was considerably under the 5 gal mark, so i topped off with tap water.

i know this wasn't right, so what SHOULD i have done?


and how will/could this effect the beer?

thanks

 

[adamdillabo]

I can't help you but I'll give you a head start on things the pros will want to know.

What was the recipe?
Did you take hydrometer readings?
Are you fermenting 5 gallons of beer in a 5 gallon carboy?

 

[ncoutroulis]

I can't help you but I'll give you a head start on things the pros will want to know.

What was the recipe?
Did you take hydrometer readings?
Are you fermenting 5 gallons of beer in a 5 gallon carboy?

Thanks

Recipe was a partial mash brown ale:

-about 1lb grain
-1 can liquid malt extract
- 4lbs dry malt extract
-hops

took reading, it was about 1.060—little high probably

Fermenting 5 gals in a 5 gal carboy

 

[photobru]

You said you mashed in 1 gallon of water, so why were you adding malt again to the kettle? Next time you can just mash all your malts together, even steeping grains, and then avoid the problem of overfilling your kettle.

Second case, you should have added water you had boiled and cooled ahead of time. You could possibly have contaminated your batch by just adding water straight from your tap. Seeing as you weren't doing a full boil they should have included this step in the recipe.

 

[adamdillabo]

Blow off tube or airlock?

Tap water shouldn't make a big deal. Slight risk of infection I do it and have had no problems biggest thing would be adding chlorine and chloramine(sp)

 

[ncoutroulis]

You said you mashed in 1 gallon of water, so why were you adding malt again to the kettle? Next time you can just mash all your malts together, even steeping grains, and then avoid the problem of overfilling your kettle.

Second case, you should have added water you had boiled and cooled ahead of time. You could possibly have contaminated your batch by just adding water straight from your tap. Seeing as you weren't doing a full boil they should have included this step in the recipe.

Thanks

Here is a pic of the carboy now. i think its actually even under the 5 gallon capacity.

 

[photobru]

Sorry, I guess you were referring to your malt extract when you said malts? Definitely don't mash that!

Next time what you'd want to do is try to figure out your boil off rate (I personally get around 1 gallon per hour) and that will help you predict how much water you'll need to add later. If you're getting 1 gallon of wort from your mash and you assume 1 gal/hr boil off, you can then heat up 2.75 gallons of water in the kettle, giving you a total of around 4 gallons after adding your extract. This will boil down to 3 gallons after 60 min meaning you need at least 2 gallons of pre-boiled and cooled water to get your full 5 gallons.

 

[ncoutroulis]

Sorry, I guess you were referring to your malt extract when you said malts? Definitely don't mash that!

Next time what you'd want to do is try to figure out your boil off rate (I personally get around 1 gallon per hour) and that will help you predict how much water you'll need to add later. If you're getting 1 gallon of wort from your mash and you assume 1 gal/hr boil off, you can then heat up 2.75 gallons of water in the kettle, giving you a total of around 4 gallons after adding your extract. This will boil down to 3 gallons after 60 min meaning you need at least 2 gallons of pre-boiled and cooled water to get your full 5 gallons.

Thanks

by looking at the amount of water in the carboy, did i add too much?

How will this effect the brew?

thanks again

 

[photobru]

I think you'll be ok. If the fermentation starts reaching the airlock you should switch to a blowoff hose though.

If you added too much you'll have a lighter beer and lower than expected ABV. Was your 1.060 gravity reading before adding the water? Because the water will have lowered it.

 

[kh54s10]

Did you have any directions? It sounds like it is an extract with steeping grains and not a partial mash. What were the grains mashed/steeped?

If so I would think you would steep in a gallon or two then boil 3-4 gallons, cool and top up with water to 5 gallons.

If you have 5 gallons of wort that is a 6.5 gallon carboy. Or you only have about 4 gallons of wort if it is a 5 gallon carboy. You can mark your carboy with a Sharpie by adding a gallon of water, make a mark, add another, make a mark etc. Then you will know how much you got.

Words of advice: Do not carry the carboy with the handle you have unless it is empty. And even then be very careful. If full you risk breaking the neck off the carboy.

Depending on the recipe 1.060 might be high or it might be low.

Read up on using a blow off tube. You have a good amount of headspace so you might not have a problem but I always start with a blow off tube, just in case.

Looks good so far. Unless that was supposed to be a pale ale.

 

[ncoutroulis]

I think you'll be ok. If the fermentation starts reaching the airlock you should switch to a blowoff hose though.

If you added too much you'll have a lighter beer and lower than expected ABV. Was your 1.060 gravity reading before adding the water? Because the water will have lowered it.

The OG was after the water was added, so hopefully it won't be too light.

thanks

 

[ncoutroulis]

Did you have any directions? It sounds like it is an extract with steeping grains and not a partial mash. What were the grains mashed/steeped?

If so I would think you would steep in a gallon or two then boil 3-4 gallons, cool and top up with water to 5 gallons.

If you have 5 gallons of wort that is a 6.5 gallon carboy. Or you only have about 4 gallons of wort if it is a 5 gallon carboy. You can mark your carboy with a Sharpie by adding a gallon of water, make a mark, add another, make a mark etc. Then you will know how much you got.

Words of advice: Do not carry the carboy with the handle you have unless it is empty. And even then be very careful. If full you risk breaking the neck off the carboy.

Depending on the recipe 1.060 might be high or it might be low.

Read up on using a blow off tube. You have a good amount of headspace so you might not have a problem but I always start with a blow off tube, just in case.

Looks good so far. Unless that was supposed to be a pale ale.

Thanks!

the grains were Munich and Caramel. this is supposed to be a Brekle's Brown ale clone.

I'm pretty sure this is a 5 gal carboy—can you tell by looking at how many rings are around it? all images i've seen show this many, and that's what the shipping slip showed as well. I'm pretty sure i don't have 4 gals, its got to be more than that in there.

and thanks for the advice on NOT using the carrying handle...HOW should i move this when full???

thanks again

 

[kh54s10]

Thanks!

the grains were Munich and Caramel. this is supposed to be a Brekle's Brown ale clone.

I'm pretty sure this is a 5 gal carboy—can you tell by looking at how many rings are around it? all images i've seen show this many, and that's what the shipping slip showed as well. I'm pretty sure i don't have 4 gals, its got to be more than that in there.

and thanks for the advice on NOT using the carrying handle...HOW should i move this when full???

thanks again

If it is a 5 gallon carboy you don't have much, if any, more than 4 gallons in it. I don't know that the number of rings around mean anything. They may have the same number of rings on both 5 and 6.5 gallon carboys. Different manufacturers will do it differently.

For moving the carboy, get a plastic milk crate and put it in there. Or there is a webbing carrier called a BrewHauler. I think. But be very careful, those things are too easy to break. I only use plastic fermenters.