I've brewed about a dozen beers on this system from brewhardware.com:
https://www.brewhardware.com/product_p/biabpackagepremium.htm
No real problems until the last batch, brewed last week, which was to be a Belgian Quad following this recipe:
https://shop.theelectricbrewery.com/pages/belgian-dark-strong-ale-quadrupel
...scaled using Brewfather to a 5.5 gal batch size, account for my boil-off, etc.
I noticed by the start of the boil that the wort was darker than I'd expected, given that I'd used only Pilsner malt (Briess, if it matters). At some point during the boil, I noticed an off smell which I didn't at the time identify as burning/scorching, but now suspect that's what it was. And once I transferred my wort to the fermenter and went to clean the kettle, I noticed a lot of burned-on residue on the heating element. And then a gravity sample taken this afternoon smells definitely burnt.
I don't want to dump the beer, but that probably isn't avoidable. But more than that, I want to figure out what happened so I can keep it from happening again. A few maybe-relevant observations:
https://www.brewhardware.com/product_p/biabpackagepremium.htm
No real problems until the last batch, brewed last week, which was to be a Belgian Quad following this recipe:
https://shop.theelectricbrewery.com/pages/belgian-dark-strong-ale-quadrupel
...scaled using Brewfather to a 5.5 gal batch size, account for my boil-off, etc.
I noticed by the start of the boil that the wort was darker than I'd expected, given that I'd used only Pilsner malt (Briess, if it matters). At some point during the boil, I noticed an off smell which I didn't at the time identify as burning/scorching, but now suspect that's what it was. And once I transferred my wort to the fermenter and went to clean the kettle, I noticed a lot of burned-on residue on the heating element. And then a gravity sample taken this afternoon smells definitely burnt.
I don't want to dump the beer, but that probably isn't avoidable. But more than that, I want to figure out what happened so I can keep it from happening again. A few maybe-relevant observations:
- The grain bill consisted of just under 20 lb of Pilsner malt in 10 gal of water.
- I double-milled the grain, first at 0.045" and then at 0.020", the same as I've done with the last several batches without issue.
- Recirculation was on throughout the mash, including the "whirlpool" surrounding the heating element.
- This recipe calls for a protein rest at 131°F, which I don't ordinarily use.
- The wort looked distinctly cloudy during this step, but was light in color.
- This is the first recipe where I've used significant amounts of Pilsner malt.
- Efficiency was lower than expected, even compared to my last brew, a clone of Sam Adams Double Bock with a pre-boil gravity of 1.075, which had a mash efficiency of 73%. This recipe expected a pre-boil gravity of 1.065, and had a mash efficiency of 67%.
- Mash pH was within a few points of expected at 5.54.