First AG trouble

[Kirkwooder]

I brewed BeirMunchers "Cream of Three Crops" cream ale for my first all grain brew. I followed the recioe and started with a 7.5 gallon boil, boiled hard for 90 min, and instead of ending up with 5 gallons of 1.040 wort,I have a little less than 4 gallons of 1.076 wort.

Do I pitch and prey? Add water to bring it to 5 gallons? ad watter to get to the.040 mark? Go buy a 12 pack of Bud and sue them because there is less abv than stated on the bottle? Or drop back 115 yards and punt?

Any ideas?

 

[Chrisl77]

I would say to top up to 5 gallons and make a note on how much your boil off is.

 

[amandabab]

top up to 5 gallons and turn the burner down next time.

you'll nail down your boil-off

 

[Ticebain]

I say top up to 5 too. Who cares about your og being a little off. The extra gallon of water will drop it considerably but it might still be a little over target.

3.5 gals if boil off in 90 mins? That's pretty impressive, is your kettle about as big around as a truck tire and only 8 inches high? O I know, you are heating with nuclear fuel?

That's a TON of boil off. I might be lucky to get 2.5 gals in 90 mins

 

[Pratzie]

top off, but make sure u mix it well. Put it on ur knee and work it back and forth real good before u pitch. U wanna make sure the water u add to the wort mixes in and brings that gravity down uniformly or else u could end up with a weird mixture of fermented stuff alongside water.

Also what kinda yeast are u using? Dry? I'd rehydrate and pitch, if its a liquid, maybe consider throwing a starter on for 24 hours if possible and then pitch that. Just cuz ur looking at much higher OG even when u dilute it with the one gallon of water.

 

[Pratzie]

Also, i'd consider either a sight glass or a graduated wooden dowel so u can throw it in and see if ur good with a 60 minute boil or if u should go longer.

 

[cluckk]

Top off for this batch, unless you prefer the heavier brew. Before the next batch fill your kettle with water and boil down to test your boil off amount so you can adjust your volumes accordingly. For me, to get 5.5 gallons I start with 8 gallons for a 90 minute boil. For a 60, I start with just over 7 1/2.

Keep in mind that boil off can change some with the seasons--not a lot.

 

[Yooper]

I'd add water to get to the planned OG.

Here's why- the IBUs and hops are planned to balance out at a specific IBU/SG ratio. That fact that your SG is higher just means you got more out of the grain- it doesn't change the basic idea.

The first few AG batches may miss high or low, until you know your efficiency. For too high, adding water is the answer. For too low, adding some DME would fix that.

Recipes are all about balance, and having an underbittered 8.5% cream ale doesn't appeal to me! You only added enough hops for a 1.040 beer, so it'd be underbittered and underhopped- hence boozy and too sweet.

Adding 2.25 gallons of water to this now results in 6.25 gallons of a 1.049 beer, which is right in the ballpark. That's what I'd do!

 

[Kirkwooder]

Topped up to over 6 gallon mark, I hope its not too much for the carboy. Used a blow off and put the caboy in a tote just to be safe. The beer is now close to the 1.050 mark.

I read that Beirmuncher liked to boil this beer hard for 90 min.. I guess I could turn the heat down a bit on the next batch, I ran the burner wide open for the full 90, and it really rolled! I brewed out side and the wind was fairly steady, too.

I mixed very well, as I always airiate by swirling for a couple min. on my knee. I then pitched a rehydrated us-05. This will be the first time I've used this yeast, but everything I've heard about it has been good.

All in all it was a lot of work, but even more fun!!!! Even if this is totaly undrinkable I will do AG brewing from now on!

THANKS EVERYONE! I knew I could count on this crew!

 

[Yooper]

Not only will this not be undrinkable (a triple negative? What would my English teacher say!!!!!!), but it will instead be very very good and you'll wish you had made a larger batch!

I promise or my name isn't Yooper.

 

[Kirkwooder]

Yooper, this beer is looking a bit "chunky" , lots of sediment already. Is that normal?

 

[Yooper]

Yooper, this beer is looking a bit "chunky" , lots of sediment already. Is that normal?

Sounds like lots of break material, so that's a good thing. Better to fall out and leave a clear beer behind than to remain in suspension. So, I'd call it good.

But then, since I'm a "don't ask, don't tell" kind of girl, I'd cover the carboy and not look anymore! Fermentation appearance would make me worry, so I cover mine and can't see inside. I have one fermenter that is semi-opaque and today I saw krausen rising and got all excited. Then I remembered how I am, and just covered it and tried to forget about it! It's like I always say, "Fermentation ain't pretty!"

 

[Ticebain]

Re: us05


It's the sheez. I love that yeast. It's my goto. I've done and extract rye ipa. An imperial pils (I can't lager so I did ale yeast a a colder than usual temp, just left the basement window open for a month), a hef, ... With that yeast. Flavored always come out very clean and it really imparts a beer forward flavor, rather than adding flavors like a hef yeast or something. It can take pretty I high amounts of alcohol to. My pils ended at 8.25 and it was brewed in adverse conditions for the yeast

 

[Kirkwooder]

I think that I figured out how I was so far off. I measured my water and then mashed and sparged and assumed ( ass out of me for sure ) I had 7.5 gallons of wort in the boil. I never mesured the actual ammount of wort befor boiling. My missing volume must have been soaked into the grist.

 

[Ticebain]

Heh. Probably so!


That's why I was so surprised at the 3.5 boil off in my post yesterday. That would have had to be a hugely wide pot

 

[Yooper]

I think that I figured out how I was so far off. I measured my water and then mashed and sparged and assumed ( ass out of me for sure ) I had 7.5 gallons of wort in the boil. I never mesured the actual ammount of wort befor boiling. My missing volume must have been soaked into the grist.

Yes, that would do it!

I'd put a volume marking on a big stick or spoon and use that to gauge your volume.

When you mash, you can expect to lose about 1 gallon of water to 10 pounds of grain (actually, usually about 1.25 gallons). So, in a 15 pound grainbill, you'd normally "lose" 1.8-2 gallons of that original strike water. Then, you sparge up to your boil volume.

So, in this example, say you were using 15 pounds of grain and wanted 7 gallons of wort for your boil volume (typical amount to start with for me).

Using 1.5 quarts of water per pound of grain, you'd use 22.5 quarts of water in the mash. Call it 22 quarts, or 5.5 gallons.

You'd mash in with 5.5 gallons, but only get out about 3.75 gallons (or so). That means you'd want to use 3.25 gallons of sparge water to get to your 7 gallon boil volume.

So, you're going to need 8.75 gallons of water to make that 5 gallon batch. This is a guestimate/average for me, and your system may differ depending on the deadspaces and things in your system, but it's a good place to start.

It's important to measure your volumes, especially at first, because it helps you determine your efficiency (important for using recipes and adjusting them) as well as help you troubleshoot any issues you have. You'll also want to take a preboil SG (cool it to under 90 degrees first, and then convert with a table) and a post boil SG to make sure you're on track. Volumes are crucial for these readings.

 

[meltroha]

Not only will this not be undrinkable (a triple negative? What would my English teacher say!!!!!!), but it will instead be very very good and you'll wish you had made a larger batch!

I promise or my name isn't Yooper.

Impressive, go for a quad next time!