1st Attempt - Any Suggestions?

[Thegundog]

Two weeks ago I completed my first BIAB batch - brewed Biermunchers Centennial Blonde and utilized Brewers Friend to assist with the brew.

I hit the SG on the nose, however I was short on final product by .25 gallons (ended with 5.25 gallons versus 5.5)

If I had hit my ending volume at the 5.5 gallons how much would that have impacted the SG?

Kept the mash in the 149-152 range for 50 minutes and squeezed the grains.

Grains were single crushed by my LHBS.

One of my own observations to share, I boiled a little too hard in fear of having too much water at the end of the boil - this happened to me a few types with extract and it sucks. I'll make an adjustment on the boil strength with my next batch....

For my next brew session should I adjust my equipment efficiency in Brewers Friend? Am I close enough to leave things as is? or should I consider modifying something else?

Fermentation was quick and fast, hoping to bottle next weekend.

Suggestions and comments appreciated...

 

[madscientist451]

Relax, have a homebrew....a quart of wort isn't worth worrying about.
Be thankful that you hit some of your numbers.
On-line recipe calculators get will get you close to your desired finished product, being off by .25 of a gallon is pretty darn close.

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

Sounds like a normal brew day to me.
I've been low on water volumes before and just top off the fermenter with tap/bottled water before pitching yeast.

My suggestion would be getting a grain mill. Grains milled at LHBS are notoriously inconsistent.

 

[Soulshine2]

hitting OG/FG is the goal , volume ,not so much. enjoy your beer.

 

[Soulshine2]

I've been low on water volumes before and just top off the fermenter with tap/bottled water before pitching yeast.

any issues with that ....no infections?

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

any issues with that ....no infections?

I've only gotten a couple infections over the years and I guarantee it wasnt from topping off. Dont sweat the small stuff.

Oxiclean is your friend for easy cheap cleaning/sanitizing...miracle product. Havent bought Star San in ages

 

[wilserbrewer]

My suggestion, if you haven’t done so already would be to make some volume marks on your mash paddle or brew spoon to measure kettle volumes as you go, but a quart low is nothing to fret over. Even having only a couple marks at your pre and post boil volume is helpful as you can estimate fairly accurately off that...and can decide to sparge a wee bit, or adjust boil intensity.

Had you hit your ending volume, my guess would be that your gravity would have been about 4% lower, as you are about 4% low on volume...

About 1.6 gravity points on a 1.040 beer, day 1.042 ballpark

Next time you could consider starting with a quart more water, or boil off a bit less....

Rather than focusing on brewers friend try and focus on what’s actually in the kettle as you go and can make minor adjustments if needed

Also realize that the wort volume will shrink slightly when cooled, its only a few percent (4% iirc) but is noticeable and worth keeping a little extra volume in your kettle while measuring boil volume....about a quart for a 5 gallon batch.

 

[CascadesBrewer]

For my next brew session should I adjust my equipment efficiency in Brewers Friend? Am I close enough to leave things as is? or should I consider modifying something else?

Honestly, your numbers are crazy close for being your first BIAB batch. Yeah, I would suggest your tweak your water volume or boil vigor, and tweak your efficiency to match your actuals...though it will not make much difference.

Note that it is not a bad idea to measure your volume and gravity post-mash/pre-boil. It is kind of a pain since you have to cool the wort and adjust for the temp using a hydrometer. I just picked up a refractometer which should help with that. But...that will help you know your mash efficiency. Your overall/brewhouse efficiency will be some number lower than that, due to losses of wort at the different stages. It may help you spot obvious areas where you can improve efficiency. I suspect "single crushed by my LHBS" holds you back a bit.

The other option is to not worry about measurements and efficiency...and just try to come close to your target gravity and volume.