Collecting enough volume without going below 1.008?

[ziggy13]

My last few brews my runnings ended up below 1.008 in order for me to collect enough volume. The beers have all turned out good and my efficiency has been good as well, so I'm not too worried about it. I am curious though, as everything I've read said to stop collecting the runnings once it hit 1.010 or 1.008. If I would have stopped then I definitely would not have collected enough volume according to how much volume I lose during the boil off.

Do you guys worry more about volumes, or the final runnings gravity? I have never tasted the astringency that happens when you extract the tannins from the grain by sparging too much, even though I'm letting it run until I get my desired volume.

Also, for those of you doing fly sparging, when do you measure the gravity of your runnings? I've been doing it right at the beginning, once again at about 30 minutes and then once again when I'm right about where my pre-boil volume needs to be.

Any insight is much appreciated!

 

[mabrungard]

I used to stop runnings at 1.008 and sometimes had a hint of astringency in my beers. That degree of sparging is too close to the edge in my opinion. I now stop at 1.012 (3 Brix). The astringency is gone.

 

[BackAlley]

I used to stop runnings at 1.008 and sometimes had a hint of astringency in my beers. That degree of sparging is too close to the edge in my opinion. I now stop at 1.012 (3 Brix). The astringency is gone.

Martin do you a acidify your sparge water?

 

[billl]

The 1.008 is just a guideline, not a rule. Somewhere around there, your PH may well be rising enough to start causing issues - but that is obviously dependent on a lot of things.

As a practical matter, 1.008 wort is virtually just water. For every gallon of it you collect, you add literally only 1 point of fermentables to your SG. Since the benefit is so little and there are some potential risks, most people don't try to ring the last few drops of wort out of the tun.

 

[mabrungard]

Martin do you a acidify your sparge water?

My sparging water is RO and its very low alkalinity does not really require acidification. However, it would only take a drop or two to drop it's pH under 6. For those of you with more alkaline water, acidifying the sparging water is imperative to help avoid tannin and silicate extraction.

 

[ziggy13]

So would it be in my best interest to stop sparging a little earlier and then top off the kettle with some good old h2o?

I'm not noticing any astringency or off flavors, in fact the beer has been turning out exactly how I want it. I'm more focused on dialing in my volumes of liquid and improving efficiencies.

 

[acidrain]

Are you hitting your OGs?
If you're running out of sugars before you hit your volume, you need more sugars (more grain).

 

[gwapogorilla]

My last few brews my runnings ended up below 1.008 in order for me to collect enough volume. The beers have all turned out good and my efficiency has been good as well, so I'm not too worried about it. I am curious though, as everything I've read said to stop collecting the runnings once it hit 1.010 or 1.008. If I would have stopped then I definitely would not have collected enough volume according to how much volume I lose during the boil off.

Do you guys worry more about volumes, or the final runnings gravity? I have never tasted the astringency that happens when you extract the tannins from the grain by sparging too much, even though I'm letting it run until I get my desired volume.

Also, for those of you doing fly sparging, when do you measure the gravity of your runnings? I've been doing it right at the beginning, once again at about 30 minutes and then once again when I'm right about where my pre-boil volume needs to be.

Any insight is much appreciated!

Are you using beersmith? If so, it sounds as if you need to change the amount of water the grain is absorbing. Open Beersmith and click tools, then options, then advanced. Then just make your adjustment.

 

[ziggy13]

double post...

 

[ziggy13]

Yes gwapogorilla, I am using Beer Smith. How do I determine exactly how much my grain is absorbing?

acidrain, I am getting pretty close to my OG's. My last brew my pre-boil OG actually turned out to be higher than Beer Smith estimated it would be. Then my post boil OG actually turned out to be lower than Beer Smith estimated. I believe I need to get my evaporation rate dialed in. I did a boil off test and in 90 minutes I boiled off 2.25 gallons, so that's what I put in my equipment profile. In practice I don't think it's possible to achieve quite that vigorous of a boil for the whole 90 minutes with a batch of wort vs. a kettle full of just straight water.

 

[dyqik]

Stop the sparge at 1.010, and add plain water to the kettle to hit your pre-boil volume. Then adjust the preboil gravity with DME if necessary.

 

[gwapogorilla]

Yes gwapogorilla, I am using Beer Smith. How do I determine exactly how much my grain is absorbing?

acidrain, I am getting pretty close to my OG's. My last brew my pre-boil OG actually turned out to be higher than Beer Smith estimated it would be. Then my post boil OG actually turned out to be lower than Beer Smith estimated. I believe I need to get my evaporation rate dialed in. I did a boil off test and in 90 minutes I boiled off 2.25 gallons, so that's what I put in my equipment profile. In practice I don't think it's possible to achieve quite that vigorous of a boil for the whole 90 minutes with a batch of wort vs. a kettle full of just straight water.

Well, if you keep track of all of your volumes, it's not too difficult. Otherwise, it's kindov' a guess. In my instance, I was falling about 3 beers short of the full 53 bottle goal. So, I bumped up my grain usage until my "total water needed" increased by .25 gallons....which is 3 beers.