First All-Grain tonight - Question

[psymonkey]

So I built the Rubbermaid 10 Gallon Beverage Cooler MLT based on the amazing post on this board. I then watched a video by Hokie Brew on Youtube that was an overview of the process. Anyway, my pre-boil volume was higher than what Beersmith indicated it should be and my gravity was estimated to be 1.049 and I've ended up at 1.054 @ 60 degrees F.

What does that mean? Obviously the OG will be a better indicator..does it just mean that my efficiency was higher than the 75% I've got in Beersmith? Setting up the sparge was confusing to me, but I used a fly sparge instead of a batch sparge. Could that be the difference? I was expecting to need to have DME on hand for my first AG attempt

What a great process AG is..I feel accomplished already, thanks to the good folks of this board

 

[passedpawn]

First, chill and have a beer. Second, repeat. You're doing great. You missed your numbers, but not by much. You are going to have a great beer, don't worry.

There are a bunch of reasons why your OG was higher than expected. Maybe efficiency. Maybe a measurement error. You will end up with a 5.4% beer instead of a 4.9%, which is really insignificant.

Congrats on your first AG. I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess that your AG beer will be your best one yet.

Cheers!

 

[psymonkey]

Thanks passedpawn! Believe you me, I was having plenty of homebrew

I wasn't actually worried, quite to the contrary actually. I was excpecting to miss the gravity on my first AG, not exceed it.

One major lesson was learned last night though!! I have a new brewpot as well with a spigot and thermometer. Long story short, the wort chiller was pressed up against the thermometer probe and I read the temperature as 75 when it was actually 84. I didn't realize this until it was too late. I opted not to put the chiller back in as I didn't feel comfortable with sanitizing it..I always boil it as there's just too much surface area.

Needless to say I didn't pitch until 12 hours later since the new brewpot doesn't fit in the sink due to the spigot.

Anyway, thanks again!! I'm greatly looking forward to next weekend and my second AG batch complete with a touch of familiarity with the process.

 

[tre9er]

We sanitize wort chillers in bucket of star San usually no problem. You could take kettle to tub and ice bathe it, too...next time

 

[tre9er]

I'm wondering...does anybody use star San as a spray for such "emergencies"?

 

[dkennedy]

I'm wondering...does anybody use star San as a spray for such "emergencies"?

I do, although my chiller is usually sanitized in the boil for a few minutes, a trusty spray bottle of star-san is never far away

 

[psymonkey]

Same here. The chillers always make me uncomfortable from a cleaning and sanitation standpoint. There's just so much surface area, much of which is a touch difficult to get at. I like to boil it for at least five minutes for good peace of mind. With the wort already at that low a temperature, I didn't think it was worth the risk. I just put the lid on and waited..and waited..slept, and then transferred