cluckk
Well-Known Member
Today was the weirdest brew day. Like all brewers, I've had those brew days where nothing went right--today wasn't that bad but was weird. I was brewing a brown porter that was only supposed to be 1.041 OG. It was based on Jamil's Who's your Taddy and the grain bill was adjusted for my usual efficiency (about 85%) and my own tastes. I started by checking the calibration of my refractometer and pH tester. The pH tester would not calibrate until I removed and reinstalled the batteries. I got my water additions done, then found I had less Maris Otter than I thought and had to sub in 2.5 lbs of US Pale Malt. I made the changes in Brew Smith and Bru'n Water, and showed negligible change.
Then, even though I haven't missed a mash temp for almost a year, my mash that was supposed to be 152 came in at 144--what??!!! Before you ask, I was using a quality digital thermometer and the probe has only been used in two previous batches; I also preheated my mash tun. I boiled some water and got this added in and the temp brought up by about 20 minutes into a 60 minute mash. I added another 15 minutes to my mash (so it was a total 75 minute mash). I started lautering and noticed my numbers were quite high (I batch sparge everything these days). Once my sparge was done, with everything well stirred and blended my efficiency somehow came out as 105%--what?
All through the boils, my calculations showed what was supposed to be a nice session beer was somehow going to hit 1.061. I figured "What the heck, just finish it and enjoy what I get."
The boil ended dead-on my volume expectation (5.5 gallons) but was 1.055. Good, not too high for style. I double checked and this was the right figure. Of course this means my efficiency wasn't as high as earlier reading showed it to be. Of course, if I could get 105% efficiency I wouldn't complain--too bad I can't get my bank account to do that.
I won't complain though. I spent another day making good beer, so what is there to complain about? I just wish I could figure out what happened.
Then, even though I haven't missed a mash temp for almost a year, my mash that was supposed to be 152 came in at 144--what??!!! Before you ask, I was using a quality digital thermometer and the probe has only been used in two previous batches; I also preheated my mash tun. I boiled some water and got this added in and the temp brought up by about 20 minutes into a 60 minute mash. I added another 15 minutes to my mash (so it was a total 75 minute mash). I started lautering and noticed my numbers were quite high (I batch sparge everything these days). Once my sparge was done, with everything well stirred and blended my efficiency somehow came out as 105%--what?
All through the boils, my calculations showed what was supposed to be a nice session beer was somehow going to hit 1.061. I figured "What the heck, just finish it and enjoy what I get."
The boil ended dead-on my volume expectation (5.5 gallons) but was 1.055. Good, not too high for style. I double checked and this was the right figure. Of course this means my efficiency wasn't as high as earlier reading showed it to be. Of course, if I could get 105% efficiency I wouldn't complain--too bad I can't get my bank account to do that.
I won't complain though. I spent another day making good beer, so what is there to complain about? I just wish I could figure out what happened.
