I think i officially had the worst brewday yet. I have a pretty good idea of where i went wrong but was hoping i could get some feedback to confirm.
I set out to brew a 6 gallon batch of IPA with a grain bill of 16 Lbs. Things started out on the wrong foot when my LHBS mis-read my chicken scratch and instead of 3.5 Lbs Munich Malt I got 5.5. I didn't notice this until later so i was short on strike water.
I use a 5 gallon bucket with false bottom as my mash tun and decided that since this was going to be a big beer and i wanted to make sure i maxed out my efficiency i did 2 small mashes and combined them in one pot. The first mash was perfect, I hit my target pre-boil gravity of 1.059. after the first mash was completed i started the second, and right away noticed that i didn't have enough strike water. I waited for the temp to settle and it was too hot (160 and i wanted 154) so i added some cool water to bring it down and thin out the mash a bit. It may have dropped to about 152 or 150. I sparged into my kettle and collected about 31 or 32 quarts total from both mashes. the temp during the 2nd sparge was 144, and even though i don't trust my thermometer that much i can be sure it was too low. I took a gravity reading while the wort was heating up and it was somewhere around 1.052. after boiling for 90 minutes i was only at 1.059 (target OG was 1.069) and about 2 quarts under 6 gallons.
I'm sure my sparge temp had a great deal to do with the low gravity of the 2nd mash. How much effect would not having enough strike water have on my efficiency? As long as i get the temp close, does it matter how thick or thin the mash is?
To be honest by the end of this very long brewday i wasn't too accuarte with my hydrometer readings...i already knew it was screwed so I just wanted to get this thing cooled and in the primary. I thought i was being smart with doing 2 mashes but maybe it's too much to control...and in hindsight i could have fit the whole thing into my mashtun.
totally bummed about this one...what a waste of grains! I know this is long, but if someone actually reads it all and has some advice, or needs more info please help!!! thanks all
I set out to brew a 6 gallon batch of IPA with a grain bill of 16 Lbs. Things started out on the wrong foot when my LHBS mis-read my chicken scratch and instead of 3.5 Lbs Munich Malt I got 5.5. I didn't notice this until later so i was short on strike water.
I use a 5 gallon bucket with false bottom as my mash tun and decided that since this was going to be a big beer and i wanted to make sure i maxed out my efficiency i did 2 small mashes and combined them in one pot. The first mash was perfect, I hit my target pre-boil gravity of 1.059. after the first mash was completed i started the second, and right away noticed that i didn't have enough strike water. I waited for the temp to settle and it was too hot (160 and i wanted 154) so i added some cool water to bring it down and thin out the mash a bit. It may have dropped to about 152 or 150. I sparged into my kettle and collected about 31 or 32 quarts total from both mashes. the temp during the 2nd sparge was 144, and even though i don't trust my thermometer that much i can be sure it was too low. I took a gravity reading while the wort was heating up and it was somewhere around 1.052. after boiling for 90 minutes i was only at 1.059 (target OG was 1.069) and about 2 quarts under 6 gallons.
I'm sure my sparge temp had a great deal to do with the low gravity of the 2nd mash. How much effect would not having enough strike water have on my efficiency? As long as i get the temp close, does it matter how thick or thin the mash is?
To be honest by the end of this very long brewday i wasn't too accuarte with my hydrometer readings...i already knew it was screwed so I just wanted to get this thing cooled and in the primary. I thought i was being smart with doing 2 mashes but maybe it's too much to control...and in hindsight i could have fit the whole thing into my mashtun.
totally bummed about this one...what a waste of grains! I know this is long, but if someone actually reads it all and has some advice, or needs more info please help!!! thanks all
