Another first all grain brew day

[smitty8202]

Ok so as the title states. First all grain. so i have 5.10lbs of grain. 2.8lb 2row 2.8lb white wheat malt .4lb rice hulls. think i did the math right on the total weight. i am making a 3gal batch bavarian hefeweizen. Mash water volume is 2 gallons at 164 mash for an hour vourlof drain to kettle then sparge with 3.3 gallon at 170 for about 20 mins or so then vourlof drain to kettle and hopefully i should have about 4.5 gallons for my boil. since this is my first all grain and i need to figure out my losses i am putting probably more than i need in the kettle for the boil. any advice on my process?

 

[nDub]

Maybe 154F mash? 164F is a little too hot, unless you want a lot of unfermentable sugar. Sounds good otherwise.

 

[normonster]

Looks good. Might have a little extra wort but that better than too little

 

[normonster]

Maybe 154F mash? 164F is a little too hot, unless you want a lot of unfermentable sugar. Sounds good otherwise.

If he strikes at 164 he should get close to 154. If not, stir like crazy.

 

[smitty8202]

Water going into the mash tun will be 164 my target mash temp is 153/154. I'm using a 1.35qt per pound as to have a little thinner mash to hopefully prevent a stuck mash as I have read that large wheat grain bills it can happen pretty easily

 

[bbohanon]

Looks good. Might have a little extra wort but that better than too little

I would agree..I used to strike in at 10-15 deg above target temp in a pre-heated cooler and after grain additions and some serious stirring, it would settle right at 152-155. Its alot easier to bring the temp down with some cool water than have to add hot water and bring it up to temp.

Good luck and let us know how it turns out!

 

[JordanKnudson]

Ok so as the title states. First all grain. so i have 5.10lbs of grain. 2.8lb 2row 2.8lb white wheat malt .4lb rice hulls. think i did the math right on the total weight. i am making a 3gal batch bavarian hefeweizen. Mash water volume is 2 gallons at 164 mash for an hour vourlof drain to kettle then sparge with 3.3 gallon at 170 for about 20 mins or so then vourlof drain to kettle and hopefully i should have about 4.5 gallons for my boil. since this is my first all grain and i need to figure out my losses i am putting probably more than i need in the kettle for the boil. any advice on my process?

2.8lbs 2-row + 2.8lbs white wheat = 5.6 total grain (and then your 0.4 lbs rice hulls)

Not trying to be pedantic, just making sure that you took that into account when formulating your recipe. If not, you're going to overshoot your gravity (might not be a big problem, though). Also going to affect your water volumes and strike temp a bit.

 

[smitty8202]

2.8lbs 2-row + 2.8lbs white wheat = 5.6 total grain (and then your 0.4 lbs rice hulls)

Not trying to be pedantic, just making sure that you took that into account when formulating your recipe. If not, you're going to overshoot your gravity (might not be a big problem, though). Also going to affect your water volumes and strike temp a bit.

So that would be 6 lbs of grain? I'm horrible at math especially with measurements. If 6lbs it should be about 2 gallons strike water and 3.3 gallons for the sparge. I may do 3.5 for the sparge to make it easier. Will be putting everything into beersmith as well.

 

[Schol-R-LEA]

It would be 5.6 lbs of malt (there are no fermentables in rice hulls, of course), with a total weight of grain and hulls of 6 lbs. If you aren't good with math, you'll definitely want to use BeerSmith 2 or something similar, as it would take that worry away entirely.

 

[smitty8202]

Ok thanks. As far as the sparge is 3.5gal at 170 sound about right

 

[smitty8202]

Just put my strike water in the mash tun strike water was 163 and I under shot the temp by 10 degrees. It's at 143 needs to be at 153. Heating up a half gallon of water to put in there hoping it brings the temp up

 

[normonster]

148 will be fine dude...don't over do it. Lower means drier which to me is better.

Crazy that it dropped so much though

 

[normonster]

Next time run the strike water into the cooler, let it settle, then back to kettle for a reheat and then back to cooler.

BTW, what you got going there is a step mash...common practice of mashing up from lower to higher. It's going to be good if you can avoid a boil over...and even then will be just fine.

 

[smitty8202]

Couldn't get the temp up. Added almost a gallon of 200 degree water and it didn't move a degree. So I just dumped it and am going to try again next weekend.

 

[theseeker4]

Couldn't get the temp up. Added almost a gallon of 200 degree water and it didn't move a degree. So I just dumped it and am going to try again next weekend.

Something is wrong there. There is no way adding that much almost boiling water didn't increase the temperature... Either your thermometer is inaccurate, you didn't stir we'll enough, or you added it so slowly your heat loss equaled your heat addition. Describe your equipment and process in some detail and people on here can help you.

 

[JordanKnudson]

Couldn't get the temp up. Added almost a gallon of 200 degree water and it didn't move a degree. So I just dumped it and am going to try again next weekend.

Aw man! You shouldn't have dumped it! 148F is still a perfectly serviceable mash temperature. You would just favor the beta-amylase a bit more at that temp, meaning a highly fermentable wort -- not a bad thing! It might have dried out a bit more than you had hoped, but it would have been a pretty small difference, and you'd have had a perfectly good beer. Don't let little kinks in the process get to you -- I know as homebrewers we are perfectionists, but it's pretty rare to have a perfect brew day where at least one little thing doesn't go amiss. That's part of the learning process -- and sometimes you like what comes out of the "mistakes" even better.

 

[SmokeyMcBong]

So I just dumped it and am going to try again next weekend.

Noooooooooooooooo...


Say
It's
A
Lie

Say it.

 

[Rhaop]

Something is wrong there. There is no way adding that much almost boiling water didn't increase the temperature... Either your thermometer is inaccurate, you didn't stir we'll enough, or you added it so slowly your heat loss equaled your heat addition. Describe your equipment and process in some detail and people on here can help you.

This, stir until your arm hurts then stir some more, then check with a calibrated thermometer

 

[smitty8202]

My mash wasn't at 148 it was at 143 and then got down to 140 by the time I added the extra water. I have this http://www.midwestsupplies.com/fermenters-favorites-insulated-mash-lauter-tun.html 10gal

 

[TechyDork]

My mash wasn't at 148 it was at 143 and then got down to 140 by the time I added the extra water. I have this http://www.midwestsupplies.com/fermenters-favorites-insulated-mash-lauter-tun.html 10gal

Do you have the 7 or 10 gallon?

that cooler should hold temps really well. Next time boil up a gallon of water, or just use hot tap water and dump it in the mash tun and put the lid on. Leave it in there while you heat up your strike water.

then dump it out before you add your strike water.

pre-heating the tun should really help you hit your temps.

as a previous poster said aim for strike water 10-15 degrees warmer than your mash temp. it's easier to cool it off than warm it up.

also double check your thermometer to make sure it is calibrated and reading properly.

 

[Rhaop]

One tip i could say is heat your strike water to a few degrees above desired strike temp and close the tun lid for at least 5min to preheat the whole tun you could lose 4-5 degrees just from heating the mash tun, if you overshoot your strike temp you can always add a couple ice cubes before doughing the grain

 

[TechyDork]

My mash wasn't at 148 it was at 143 and then got down to 140 by the time I added the extra water. I have this http://www.midwestsupplies.com/fermenters-favorites-insulated-mash-lauter-tun.html 10gal

Do you have the 7 or 10 gallon?

that cooler should hold temps really well. Next time boil up a gallon of water, or just use hot tap water and dump it in the mash tun and put the lid on. Leave it in there while you heat up your strike water.

then dump it out before you add your strike water.

pre-heating the tun should really help you hit your temps.

as a previous poster said aim for strike water 10-15 degrees warmer than your mash temp. it's easier to cool it off than warm it up.

also double check your thermometer to make sure it is calibrated and reading properly.

 

[smitty8202]

Do you have the 7 or 10 gallon?



that cooler should hold temps really well. Next time boil up a gallon of water, or just use hot tap water and dump it in the mash tun and put the lid on. Leave it in there while you heat up your strike water.



then dump it out before you add your strike water.



pre-heating the tun should really help you hit your temps.



as a previous poster said aim for strike water 10-15 degrees warmer than your mash temp. it's easier to cool it off than warm it up.



also double check your thermometer to make sure it is calibrated and reading properly.

It's a 10 gal mash tun.

 

[TechyDork]

It's a 10 gal mash tun.

I am trying to remember how big my cooler was for 5 gallon batches. I am just thinking that there may be a lot of air space in that cooler when doing 3 gallon batches.

I could be wrong.

 

[smitty8202]

There is. thinking about finding some styafoam and wrapping it in duct tape or something and fitting it just wide enough to fit in the tun and act as an insulator.

 

[Gonefishing]

Smaller coolers don't cost a lot...why not just get one of those to use when you make 3 gallon batches? I'll bet it's cheaper than dumping a batch.

 

[JordanKnudson]

My mash wasn't at 148 it was at 143 and then got down to 140 by the time I added the extra water. I have this http://www.midwestsupplies.com/fermenters-favorites-insulated-mash-lauter-tun.html 10gal

Whoops! You did say 143, that was my mistake. Nonetheless, 143 is still within the working range (albeit toward the low end) for beta-amylase. You could have just left it for two hours or so and then gone ahead -- I'm certain you would have gotten conversion, as this has happened to me before as well.

As for the next time, I agree with folks on here. Figure out your strike temp based on your equipment, and preheat your mash tun by putting the hot strike water in the empty tun and then reheating the water to get it back up to temp. I would add to this that you should get a simple iodine test kit to test for conversion. If this situation were to repeat itself, you'd have a very easy way to determine whether you could still get beer out the other side.

 

[normonster]

Couldn't get the temp up. Added almost a gallon of 200 degree water and it didn't move a degree. So I just dumped it and am going to try again next weekend.

OMG dude. Never dump if you have an empty carboy and some dry yeast. Never. If I knew you were going to do that Id have posted my phone number for you to call so I could talk you down!

Tomorrow you should order a floating thermometer from Morebeer so you KNOW your temps are what you think.

That and preheat the cooler.

 

[pricelessbrewing]

Disagree with the floating thermometer. If you need a new one, but an rt600c from thermoworks.

Preheat the cooling, anI make sure you adjust your strike temp to account for heating up the grains.