So if you stop fly sparging at 1.010... how do you get to a higher OG?

[Horseflesh]

I'm making the transition to AG and the more I read, the more confused I get.

Say I have a mash of 10 lbs of grain, with 1.25 qt water per pound. I let it sit, and then start fly sparging until I read 1.010 on the hydrometer.

Now I have some amount of wort at 1.010 pre-boil, but what if my recipe calls for 1.050?

 

[twallin]

You ate forgetting 2 things, one you have to temp correct when checking gravity at sparge temps and 2 when you boil boil water off the sugar stays so essentially you are raising gravity that way

 

[Yooper]

I'm making the transition to AG and the more I read, the more confused I get.

Say I have a mash of 10 lbs of grain, with 1.25 qt water per pound. I let it sit, and then start fly sparging until I read 1.010 on the hydrometer.

Now I have some amount of wort at 1.010 pre-boil, but what if my recipe calls for 1.050?

You won't have very much wort at 1.010. The first runnings from the mash may be something like 1.080, and as you sparge the runnings will get less and less sugar in them.

You can stop way before you get to 1.010, if you've already reached your boil volume by then. I normally find that my runnings are still in the 1.020+ range when I've reached my boil volume.

 

[pdxal]

The runnings coming out of the mash tun start at a higher gravity, then gradually decrease in gravity. Stop sparging when you hit 1.010 is what people are talking about. If you keep sparging at a lower gravity you run the risk of extracting tannins/off flavors from the malt.
If you follow a calculator to determine grain bill and mashing you should end up with the gravity you are shooting for if you follow the correct process. Many recipes, though, call for collecting 6-7 gallons of wort and boiling down (when you are boiling with hops) to concentrate them to reach the OG.

 

[TANSTAAFB]

You don't collect until all the wort is 1010. You STOP collecting when the runnings are weak, around 1010. What you collect at the beginning will be much higher gravity and unless you are making a big beer you probably wont get down to the 1010 range. Run through the appropriate calculated amount of water and you should hit your numbers. This is part of the reason I prefer batch sparging...I dump in X # of gallons and let it run out!

 

[TANSTAAFB]

Too slow!

 

[Horseflesh]

You won't have very much wort at 1.010. The first runnings from the mash may be something like 1.080, and as you sparge the runnings will get less and less sugar in them.

OH. Duh. That makes perfect sense. Thanks guys.

I think I need to invest in Beersmith.

 

[TANSTAAFB]

OH. Duh. That makes perfect sense. Thanks guys.

I think I need to invest in Beersmith.

Worth it at twice the price! I can't even imagine doing those calculations by hand!

 

[MindenMan]

Brew Mate is good too. I don't know if Beersmith has any Black IPA settings but, BM does. There are a few free calculators to choose from: again Brew mate, QBrew, Brewtarget. There may be more than that, but I like the more graphic one, Brewtarget. I use them all at different times for different beer types. Good luck with your research.

 

[Horseflesh]

I ended up with Beer Smith and have been getting closer to the numbers every time. Every batch, even the first, has turned out OK though even if the numbers weren't spot on. It has also tasted a lot better than extract!

 

[L3g3nd]

So i started my blueberry weat ale. Boiled ,steeped, used hops, all good amounts, rolling boil for 60 mins then added the things and turned off and warmed for another 45, moved to cold water in fermenter ,temps went to 120 f then dropped my dried yeast in(has about 5 bags of blueberrys, good amount of sugars) . Capped and waited about 10 days. My first readings are only 1010 gravity. Thia seems very low. Any tips on what im doing wrong.

 

[Doctor_M]

You put your yeast in at 120f? I don't really use dry yeast but that seems really high.

Also what was your og? Right now you only mentioned your final gravity. Sounds like you may be a bit confused.

 

[L3g3nd]

Yeast dies at 140 right ? It makes a difference? Recommend liquid yeast?

 

[Doctor_M]

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/what-temp-should-wort-when-adding-dry-yeast-435586/

And here's a thread (with calculator link) on how to figure out abv
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/how-calculate-abv-18255/