jaybird789 said:
Tom: Thanks, my first runnings were amazing! The right SRM very sweet and tasted fantastic. I ran 16 cups back in to clear the grain bed and then went to my sparge. I did forget to place a tube long enough to reach the bottom of my brew pot so it did splash but that should not have an effect on gravity (just guessing). Since I made my profile in BS, and calculated for a full five gallons, it did say to add water (after sparge) to achieve final volume of 5.75 gal. I had to add 8 cups of water to do that. Would that have set it off? I'll double check my boil pot for trub loss in my equipment profile. It is a 12 gallon kettle with a bent copper tube manafold. Yesterday after I used my wort chiller, There was 16 cups left before the siphoning effect ended. I easily got six gallons of wort. I stopped just at the crest of the carboy to allow for head space. One other question? I did use a plate to "press" down my grains for wort after my sparge. (I did it four times) is that a bad idea? Sorry for the long post but thanks for the help. Jay
I'm guessing you didn't take a gravity reading of your first runnings? Since your first runnings aren't diluted by your sparge water, it is a good measure of you CONVERSION efficiency. See here:
http://braukaiser.com/wiki/index.php?title=Troubleshooting_Brewhouse_Efficiency
I don't fly sparge, so I can't really help there. Everything I've read agrees with what Mark says, though....90 minutes.
There's nothing wrong with squeezing the grain, but its some work, for very little return....I'd rather use more grain and water and not bother.
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The following is a bit off topic, but its in response to your statement: "it did say to add water (after sparge) to achieve final volume of 5.75 gal."
I NEVER add water to achieve a specific volume of wort. I add water or DME to adjust my GRAVITY. Actually, I adjust my gravity POINTS (total sugars). If my volume is low then I will add water + DME to get volume and gravity to the expected level. But, if my volume is HIGH, then I will only add DME to get my points correct and then boil longer to get to my desired post-boil gravity.
In order to make the beer you planned on making, its your post-boil gravity that matters. Not your pre-boil. Your preboil gravity is only a stop along the way. Don't get me wrong, you can't fix a volume that is off by double or something....but, if you have an extra 1/2 gallon, another 30 minutes of gentle boiling won't make much difference in the final beer.
So, my procedure is this:
Say my targets are the following:
preboil: 1.050 @ 8.0 gallons
postboil: 1.062 @ 6.5 gallons
90 minute boil @ 1 gallon / hour.
1. Ensure that I have the correct amount of sugar pre-boil. (SG - 1)*1000 * volume = points. Add DME to adjust points upwards as needed. If total points is too high, then remove the appropriate amount of wort, to get the points down to the correct number.
Instead of my planned values I get: 1.050 @ 7.75 gallons
(1.050 - 1)*1000 * 7.75 = (0.050)*1000 * 7.75 = 50 points/gallon * 7.75 gallons = 387.5 points
I should have gotten 50 * 8 = 400 points. So, I need 13.5 more points. DME = 46 points per pound (per gallon). 13/5/46 = 0.29 lbs = 4.75 oz.
Now I have 400 points of sugar, but only 7.75 gallons of wort. 1.052 @ 7.75 gallons
2. Ensure that I have enough volume to boil-off for my desired time (90 minutes if using pilsner malt, 60 minutes otherwise...@ 1 gallon per hour boil-off). I add water if its too low.
Add 1/4 gallon of water. 1.050 @ 8.0 gallons.
3. Calculate my boil-off duration based on 1 gallon per hour. If I have too much wort, then I just plan to boil down until I hit my planned pre-boil volume.
Suppose instead I'd had: 1.047 @ 8.5 gallons = 400 points. my points are right, but I have too much water. I need to boil-off 1/2 gallon extra. That takes me 30 minutes. I have a sight gage on my kettle, and I can simply boil down until I hit the 8.0 gallon mark.
Suppose in step 1, I'd had: 1.055 @ 8.5 gallons = 467.5 points. Now I have too much sugar, and too much water. I need to remove 67.5points. 67.5/55 = 1.20 gallons. So, I remove 1.2 gallon of wort (and set aside, but keep just in case I need it later). Now I have my 400 points, but I only have 8.5 - 1.2 =7.3 gallons of wort. I need to add 0.7 gallons of water.
I guess that's long way to say...don't just blindly follow instructions like "add water to achieve a volume of XXX". You can, and it will make beer, but it will always be a different beer than your recipe describes. The above procedure, is hard to explain in words...but, easy to do on paper. Most of the time I can do it in my head...but, generally use paper anyway to avoid the "Doh!" moments.