Did I screw up my 2nd all gain

[fowlplay]

Ok everyone, get ready to laugh. I am new to the brewing world. My first beer came out pretty good. So I did more research and was pumped to try again. I got everything together and started my brew day. Everything went well but in all my excitment I forgot to batch sparge. So I only collected my first runnings and my mash out wort. I then started boiling and discarded my grains. After full boil and cooling I moved to my primary and realized I was WAY short on my final volume. I scrambled and boiled some water and topped off about a gallon worth of water. I was still low on my 5 gallon target but called it good and moved forward. Is this batch botched? I can't believe I forgot such a critical step.

 

[BrewKnurd]

Depends on how you define botched. If botched = different from how it was intended, then yes, it is definitely botched. If botched = ruined, then it is almost certainly not botched.

Basically, you just got less our of your grain than intended, so a low efficiency. The gravity will probably be different, although its possible that the reduced sugars recovered combined with an overall lower volume combine to give you pretty close to the right gravity.

 

[eastoak]

you did a no sparge brew, many people do that intentionally.

 

[soup67]

I predict it will be the first or second best AG beer you ever made. Seriously, I bet it will be awesome.

Sometimes I think CharlieP should have added a "SD" (slow down) to the RDWHAHB. I know a lot of my brewing mistakes would have been prevented if I have just stopped and thought things through for a few minutes. The wort is not going to go bad.

I've been there and made the exact same mistake, rushing to move forward rather than thinking think about the volume I just collected and asked "Where are the other 3 gallons going to come from?"

 

[Bobby_M]

you did a no sparge brew, many people do that intentionally.

Well yeah, but they do it with enough mash liquor to get their full preboil volume so it's not really the same.

 

[copyright1997]

While we are here, can anyone point me to good threads to read if I wanted to do a first runnings / second runnings set of beers? Also, anyone got some hints/tips as to what recipes I might take a crack at using this technique?

 

[nicegut]

Search for "double-W RIS" I made this and pulled a huge RIS (1st) and then a small quaffable stout with the "2nd" runnings. The small stout is all gone and the RIS is in a long resting stage......

 

[JonM]

You mean a partigyle? Search for that. That might be what you're after.

 

[copyright1997]

Thanks for the links! (I am now busy reading about parti-gyles). I've been wanting to do one ever since I listened to "Brewmaster’s Art: The History and Science of Beermaking" in which this technique (as well as a number of other things) are mentioned.

 

[DrMaltyVonHopenstein]

You are fine and the beer definitely isn't botched. Just don't expect it to come out like the description on the recipe (assuming). I'm sure it will taste good - but keep an open mind in terms of style.

Given the dozens of screw-ups possible for a new brewer, this is a no risk flub. Ultimately, you just missed some extra sugars/gravity from not rinsing the grain, so nothing really vital was messed up. You have fermentable wort, hops, yeast (and hopefully sanitation) - so you have beer!

You might thing about having a check-list or workflow. I used a step-by-step checklist for my first few brews to make sure I did everything I was supposed to. After about 8 years it is second nature. Seriously, I can go months without brewing and not miss a beat. (I tend to binge brew - every week for a while to stock up)

 

[Dynachrome]

I didnt catch what your original gravity was. If you are interested - it gives you a method to tell how much alcohol your beer contains.

 

[fowlplay]

Thanks for everyones quick replies. Sounds like I didn't make a catastrophic disaster, I just might change the profile a bit. As far as original gravity. . . I didn't measure it because I thought that topping off the water would throw it out of whack. I read somewhere that it takes a long time for water and wort to mix.(Don't know if thats true) Fermentation went crazy, and I moved it into a secondary after 7 days measuing a SG of 1.010.

 

[Dynachrome]

You just mix the water in thoroughly and take a sample. I haven't done top-off water. I just ferment what comes out of the mashtun.