Super stoked.

[smitty8202]

So I am in the middle of my first all grain beer. I am making a 3 gallon batch of Bavarian hefeweizen. 2.8lbs 2 row 2.8lbs white wheat 1/4lbs rice hulls. Attempted it 2 weeks ago and mash temp was too low at 138. So I dumped it.

Today I took super hot tap water probably about a gallon or so and put it in the mash tun while my strike water was heating up. Heated strike water to 175 for a target mash temp of 153. I hit it spot on once grain was stirred well.

I vourlofed about 6 cups of wort till clear then ran the clear wort into the boil kettle. Got only half a gallon of wort. Heated up 3 gallons of sparge water to 200 and sparged at 170 for 30 mins. Vourlofed again and got 3.5 gallons of wort in the kettle. Heated up another 2 gallons to the same as above and is in the tun now. Hoping to get .5-1 gallon of wort. Looking to get 4.5-5 gallons of wort for the boil. As I am trying to figure out my boil off rates.

What do you think about my process and is there anything I should change. Unfortunately I can't take a hydrometer reading as I just found out it's broken. So winging it from here.

 

[kh54s10]

The first question is why did you dump the first batch? Yes that is low and you would get a very dry beer but???
The reason you got so little wort from the mash is that you started with too little water. Use 1.25 to 1.5 quarts to a pound of grain.
Other than that your method is not bad.

If you are doing a fly sparge you can heat more water than you will need, fill the tun to about 2 inches above the grain bed and drain as you add water, you keep the water 2 inches above the bed and adjust the flow both in and out so it takes 45 minutes to an hour.

If you are doing batch sparge you do not have to let the sparge sit for 30 minutes. Many will stir it up, let it sit 10 minutes, stir again, vorlauf then drain. You really don't even have to wait at all. You are basically just rinsing the sugars out of the grain bed.

You also don't need to do batch sparge in 2 steps. I do, but that is so I can get an accurate amount of wort into my BK without leaving much water in the grain.

The only way to know how well you did is 1) your volume into the fermenter. Did it equal what the recipe called for? 2) The original gravity of the wort going into the fermenter. If you missed your OG you will need to determine what needs to be changed so that you get the right numbers on the next batch.

Good luck. It seems you have a decent starting point for your all grain brewing.

 

[ricshayne]

never dump a beer until it is done, packaged, carbed and you are still sure you don't want to drink it. even then they make great gifts for people you don't care for

 

[joshesmusica]

never dump a beer until it is done, packaged, carbed, you have let it age in the bottles popping one open every once in a while to see if the flavor has developed, and you are still sure you don't want to drink it. even then they make great gifts for people you don't care for

ftfy

 

[smitty8202]

I dumped it cause I added 3 gallons of 200 degree water and the temp didn't go up at all. Lesson learned.

 

[IslandLizard]

Use the mash calculator at Brew 365. Mash in at 1.5 qt/pound of grist and you're golden. Since the grain absorbs quite a bit of your strike water (about 1 pint per pound), you will get less out than you put in, but the calculator corrects for that and gives you the right numbers.

Make sure to preheat the mash tun as you normally do. With above calculator, have your strike water 4-8°F higher than calculated (depending on your mash tun and how long you stir), since you lose heat while stirring the grist for those 3 minutes. Lay some aluminum foil directly over the mash and close the lid. Wait 60' stir, vorlauf, and lauter until empty.

For batch sparging (not fly sparging), sparge twice and split the calculated sparge volume into 2 equal amounts. Since the grain is now wet (hydrated) already, the volume you put in is what comes out.

 

[kh54s10]

I dumped it cause I added 3 gallons of 200 degree water and the temp didn't go up at all. Lesson learned.

???? 3 gallons of 200 degree water and the temperature didn't go up????

IMPOSSIBLE.

Still you would have had a dry beer but 138 is not so low that it would have been undrinkable... What a waste!

 

[55x11]

???? 3 gallons of 200 degree water and the temperature didn't go up????

IMPOSSIBLE.

Still you would have had a dry beer but 138 is not so low that it would have been undrinkable... What a waste!

Agreed. Not sure how many gallons of water you had to start. Let's say 10lb of grist, so 15 quarts, say 4G of water. And it's at 138. Then you add 3 gallons at 200, which is 62 deg. higher. Let's say 60deg.

Then the T has to rise 3*60/7 = 25.7 deg. This is just Physics. So you should have been at 163 or so.

I think you are not measuring at the right place, or not mixing it enough. Is it possible you poured from the top and measured at the bottom of the grain bed?