Several 'issues' with a wheat beer I brewed. Toss or keep?

[nyrmc23]

I finally bought an outdoor propane burner to stop cooking on the stove. I shot for a three-gallon all grain Mosaic Pale Wheat.

I went with 4 gallons for the mash, thinking I'd lose my normal gallon or so between mash, boil and cooling. It being the first time I used the burner, my four gallons turned into about 1 into the fermenter.

That, plus me boiling at 60 mins instead of 40 (my mistake), leaves me wondering if I should keep letting this ferment or just scrapping and redoing it today. I'm curious how the ferment will go in such a big car boy. Too much head space?

Thoughts?

 

[cswant88]

You’re probably underestimated boil-off. A propane burner is pushing a lot more BTUs, that means more vigorous boils and higher boil off if you don’t control your heat input, or partially cover the kettle. Outdoor boil-off rates will also be different and can vary slightly with the weather. Then factor 1/8 gal loss per lb of grain, a less so for wheat malt.

The beer will ferment just fine in the large carboy. Your only worries will be oxygen in the vessel. The small fermentation may not be enough to completely purge the head space. Such a small volume of beer won’t be around long enough for it to be an issue. You’ll probably have to tip it to siphon off as much clear beer as you can get. If it’s really one gallon, you can expect to get 8-10 bottles (12oz)

I wouldn’t dump it though. May as well see what you end up with.

 

[dwhite60]

Might be a nice barley/wheat wine when it ferments out. I'd keep it. Ferment it out, bottle it, hang onto it.

SAVE YOUR NOTES! If it turns out nice you'll be glad you did.

All the Best,
D. White

 

[CascadesBrewer]

What is the gravity? You could top it up with a gal or two of water if the gravity is really high.

BTW, for a batch to get 5.5 gals into the fermenter, I shoot for 7 gals at the start of the boil (this is the volume at near boiling temps). I boil off about 1 gal, then shrinkage due to temp and trub left in the kettle take off about 0.5 gal. My starting mash volume is usually around 7.8.

You want a good rolling boil, but you don't have to over do it.

 

[nyrmc23]

Thanks for the tips. Yeah it was my first time using the burner, so I have to play with it. My biggest concern really was the head space in the carboy and the fact I used enough grains, hops and yeast for a three gallon but only got one.

 

[mongoose33]

Thanks for the tips. Yeah it was my first time using the burner, so I have to play with it. My biggest concern really was the head space in the carboy and the fact I used enough grains, hops and yeast for a three gallon but only got one.

If you have another carboy with which you can brew and ferment another beer, it's a no-brainer--keep it and see what you get.

If not....I personally would probably toss it, but it depends on what you want out of this. Home brewing should be fun, and we get to experiment if we want to.

In the meantime, what you might do is experiment with boiloff using only water. Fill to 4-gallons, heat to boil, and experiment with how fast you get boiloff.

BTW, there is increasingly a sense among some brewers that a boil approaching a simmer does less heat damage to the wort than a good rolling boil. There's a ton of stuff out there saying "good rolling boil" but people are starting to question that.

 

[cactusgarrett]

What is the gravity? You could top it up with a gal or two of water if the gravity is really high.

Second this. If this was truly a boil-off miscalculation, your recipe could be imbalanced. Not bad, per se, just imbalanced from what you were probably shooting for. Adding top off water (sterilized and cooled) could bring it back closer to what you were targeting.