When to add Mango

[natural]

Hey,

I made a Mango Wheat beer. Simple, 5.5lbs of 2 row and 5lbs of wheat with wyeast 1010. It's in the fermenter now. How long should I let it sit without fruit before dumping the trub and adding in fresh mango?

I also missed my mark on gravity. I was looking for the 1.050 range and hit 1.042. Any ideas on what that might be from? I didn't do such an aggressive boil so i'm assuming I didn't boil off as much as I should have, as well I maybe didn't crush my grains very well. I have been playing with my lousy corona mill and trying to preserve as much husk as possible which seems to have ruined my efficiency.

 

[JimRausch]

Add the mango puree after 7-10 days. Fermentation will kick back in, so leave it for another week-10 days.
As far as your lower-than-expected OG, you probably know the answer: 3. instrument not reading correctly, 2. incorrect volume, and the #1 reason poor crush.

 

[natural]

Add the mango puree after 7-10 days. Fermentation will kick back in, so leave it for another week-10 days.
As far as your lower-than-expected OG, you probably know the answer: 3. instrument not reading correctly, 2. incorrect volume, and the #1 reason poor crush.

So if my crush is the issue, I can mill it a lot more and adjust it before it even becomes a flour but the husk doesn't typically remain intact very well. From what I understand that has a negative effect in some way? Is it just harder to filter out and keep out of your fermenter? I'm lost there.

I'd rather crush it more and get a better efficiency, no?

 

[mongoose33]

Crush might have something to do with it, but I'll bet it's something else. At what temp did you do your mash? What was your mash pH? Did you stir your mash at all?

I've recently switched to a coarser crush; I was doing .020 on my Barley Crusher for a BIAB setup. Very fast conversion, typically 90 percent or more by 30 minutes.

Now, I'm doing a 3-roller mill crush at .035. It takes longer for the starch to gelatinize and be converted to sugar by the enzymes. Early on, I was alarmed that I was only at something like 1.024 at 30 minutes whereas with the finer crush, I'd be at about 1.048 or so.

But I followed Charlie Papazian's famous acronym, RDWHAHB, and waited out the entire 60 minutes. Guess what? Full conversion, or at least consistent with what I'd always had w/ the finer crush.

*************

The moral of the story, IMO, is that unless your crush is VERY coarse, something else is to blame. I found that stirring gently at 15- and 30-minutes made a big difference in how conversion progressed, so that may be part of it. Your mash temp may be off or perhaps your mash pH. If you're not focused on water at all, that may be part of it right there.

So--need more details.

 

[natural]

Crush might have something to do with it, but I'll bet it's something else. At what temp did you do your mash? What was your mash pH? Did you stir your mash at all?

I've recently switched to a coarser crush; I was doing .020 on my Barley Crusher for a BIAB setup. Very fast conversion, typically 90 percent or more by 30 minutes.

Now, I'm doing a 3-roller mill crush at .035. It takes longer for the starch to gelatinize and be converted to sugar by the enzymes. Early on, I was alarmed that I was only at something like 1.024 at 30 minutes whereas with the finer crush, I'd be at about 1.048 or so.

But I followed Charlie Papazian's famous acronym, RDWHAHB, and waited out the entire 60 minutes. Guess what? Full conversion, or at least consistent with what I'd always had w/ the finer crush.

*************

The moral of the story, IMO, is that unless your crush is VERY coarse, something else is to blame. I found that stirring gently at 15- and 30-minutes made a big difference in how conversion progressed, so that may be part of it. Your mash temp may be off or perhaps your mash pH. If you're not focused on water at all, that may be part of it right there.

So--need more details.

I do seem to be losing mash temp a lot, so I preheated my tun, just a 6 gallon cooler, added the grain it wasn't to temp, Added some hotter water to bring it up to target mash temp, closed it, and when I drained it out I was at 146 form 152? Maybe this is where i'm having the issue.

 

[mongoose33]

I do seem to be losing mash temp a lot, so I preheated my tun, just a 6 gallon cooler, added the grain it wasn't to temp, Added some hotter water to bring it up to target mash temp, closed it, and when I drained it out I was at 146 form 152? Maybe this is where i'm having the issue.

Are you insulating the mash tun with anything? I wrap mine in an old quilt to hold temp. Being at the low end is going to focus enzymatic effects on creating more fermentable sugar, so I don't see that as the issue.

You didn't mention water. How are you addressing that? Just using your tap water? Adjusting for pH at all? How about stirring? Are you doing that?

There are several things that could be going on here, perhaps all at the same time.

 

[natural]

Are you insulating the mash tun with anything? I wrap mine in an old quilt to hold temp. Being at the low end is going to focus enzymatic effects on creating more fermentable sugar, so I don't see that as the issue.

You didn't mention water. How are you addressing that? Just using your tap water? Adjusting for pH at all? How about stirring? Are you doing that?

There are several things that could be going on here, perhaps all at the same time.

Ah yes,

Tap water which in the past (2 years ago) I didn't ahve an issue with with brewing. Same city, same water.

I was stirring. I stirred everything up while checking the temps, stirred again while sparging as well.

I did have a lot more wort then I typically would after a brew, so i'm assuming my boil played a large factor in it. I have a 7 gallon conical and the froth was to the brim, it died down a bit but I definitely ended up with more wort then intended. It is likely a combination of all of these things.

I just found I got like 60% efficiency which is awful haha.