Another batch, another question

Discussion in 'Homebrewing' started by butterygold, Jun 21, 2020.

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  1. butterygold

    butterygold Devotee (343) May 12, 2020 Spain

    I don't know if this is a valid measurement, (and obviously a hydrometer is more reliable) but the wort had a nice, dark color and looked 'thick'. The gravity sample tasted good. I would like to think that it is a measurement error somehow and that I'm not going to end up with a session IPA.
    I used a metal 'chef thermometer' to take readings. I checked about an hour into the mash and it was still reading 152. The kettle is really thick and I put the lid on it as soon as the bag was in. I don't know how I could get a more accurate reading.
    The crushed grain was finer than it has ever looked - husk, small chunks and a lot of powder.
    As MrOH pointed out, if I didn't account for the grain absorption, I may have ended up with 6 gallons at boil time. I have some back issues and my wife and son were not around to help me out, so it was hard for me to hold the bag and squeeze by myself. In fact, when I emptied it into a trash bag, there was some nice, dark liquid (2 cups?) in the bag when I went to throw it out. I don't know if this loss is inevitable.
    I buy all my supplies online, and I trust the guy who sends me the grain and hops. He seems pretty meticulous. I have never weighed the grains, but it would be easy to toss a 2 pound bag onto the scale.
    I could live with 59% efficiency. 45 is a hard pill to swallow.

    In any case, it's bubbling away in the basement. We are already in the 90s where I live, so I am pretty happy to have quickly cooled the wort, pitched and that everything seems to have worked out. Only the FG will tell. I am hoping for something that at least gives me a 5.5% ABV.

    Thanks for all the effort.
     
    #21 butterygold, Jun 22, 2020
  2. butterygold

    butterygold Devotee (343) May 12, 2020 Spain

    Sounds like a better way to go about this.
     
    #22 butterygold, Jun 22, 2020
  3. riptorn

    riptorn Pooh-Bah (1,776) Apr 26, 2018 Georgia
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    If your 10-gallon brew/BIAB kettle has a valve you could do the opposite as well. (consider installing a valve if it doesn't have one)
    Add "X" gallons of water to the kettle and mark the dowel. Drain off 1 gallon and mark it. Drain off another gallon and mark it. Add remaining markings along the length of the dowel according to VikeMan's suggestion
    While the kettle is level, begin draining the last gallon until it stops because it's at/below the valve.
    Measure the amount left in the kettle and you can use that in recipe calculators as the "kettle dead space", which the amount left in the kettle when running off to the fermentor.
     
    #23 riptorn, Jun 22, 2020
  4. VikeMan

    VikeMan Grand Pooh-Bah (3,067) Jul 12, 2009 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah

    By chef themometer, I assume you mean a bimetal, dial type thermometer. Some are pretty accurate. Some are horrible. Some can be easily calibrated. Some not. You could check the accuracy by testing in a crushed ice water bath and with boiling water.

    I would recommend verifying before brewing. Scales used by brewers and by suppliers can vary pretty widely in accuracy. A couple years ago, I consulted with a local nano that had a sudden unexplained large increase (they thought) in mash efficiency that had them doubting their recipe build process. It turned out that their main grain scale was way off and they were using more grains than they thought.
     
    #24 VikeMan, Jun 22, 2020
  5. MrOH

    MrOH Grand Pooh-Bah (3,995) Jul 5, 2010 Virginia
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah

    Math don't lie. It's all dependent on how accurate your inputs are.

    Also, I learned a long time ago to not rely on anyone else to help with homebrewing. Don't ever expect your wife or son to help you in the future. I get some help from my old lady, but it is minimal, at best, even though she definitely enjoys the fruits of the labor.

    Have you read How to Brew yet?

    However, it sounds like you got some beer going, and as long as you enjoy it, that's what matters.
     
    #25 MrOH, Jun 22, 2020
  6. VikeMan

    VikeMan Grand Pooh-Bah (3,067) Jul 12, 2009 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah

    @butterygold You might want to consider acquiring some brewing software. Once you populate it with your own equipment/process parameters, it does the heavy calculations for you. Trying to wing it or use other peoples' rules of thumb (based on their own equipment/process) usually leads to frustration.
     
    #26 VikeMan, Jun 22, 2020
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  7. riptorn

    riptorn Pooh-Bah (1,776) Apr 26, 2018 Georgia
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    #27 riptorn, Jun 22, 2020
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  8. butterygold

    butterygold Devotee (343) May 12, 2020 Spain

    Thanks for all the advice.
    I will check out the spreadsheet.
    A measuring dowel is also in the future.

    And as MrOH said, I have some kind of beer going on in the basement. What's bubbling out of the airlock smells good and I just might have an unintentionally sessionable IPA for this summer.
     
    #28 butterygold, Jun 23, 2020
    riptorn, MrOH and VikeMan like this.
  9. butterygold

    butterygold Devotee (343) May 12, 2020 Spain

    Hope everybody had a great fourth. I certainly did. Had some mail order Modern Times, Founders Centennial and other local IPAs and lagers, and guests overwhelmingly preferred my homebrew hefeweizen (or at least that's what they told me).

    Anyway, bottled the IPA in question today and the final gravity was 1.012, which gives it an ABV of about 6.2% - not bad for a summer IPA. It smells, looks and tastes great. Let's see if it doesn't oxidize, as my last two IPAs have done. I held off on the ascorbic acid, as there are conflicting opinions out there as to whether it helps or actually harms your beer.

    All-in-all it looks like it could be one of my best brews to date. Thanks again for all the advice!
     
    #29 butterygold, Jul 5, 2020
    Last edited: Jul 5, 2020
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