Major malfunction batch sparge!

Discussion in 'Homebrewing' started by Jay_Ulreich, Feb 26, 2014.

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  1. Jay_Ulreich

    Jay_Ulreich Initiate (0) Jan 15, 2014 Indiana

    ...So there I was... lol.
    Everything was going great. Heated up my sparge water and poured it in. I had to heat it in 3 separate pots. No big deal, they were all the same temp. I wanted to get them in there quick, my mash tun was in the garage, right off the kitchen. So I ran the pots in the garage and poured them in one by one. Went to grab my spoon to stir and, WTF? Wheres my water?
    OMG I LEFT THE VALVE OPEN!!!!
    Mash tun was EMPTY. Kettle was full. I panicked. My dad said fuck it, just pour the whole kettle back in the tun and let it sit for 10 minutes. Sounded crazy at the time.
    So I did.
    Temp was at 147. I have no idea what that will do.
    Boiled as normal, got the same exact gravity and volume as I did on Sunday.(Made the exact same recipe on Sunday) It even tasted the same.
    So, what did I just do? should I expect off flavors? Like I said, it tasted good. Same gravity as the one I made perfect the other day...
     
  2. FeDUBBELFIST

    FeDUBBELFIST Pooh-Bah (1,765) Oct 31, 2009 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah

    Sounds like your mash drained directly into your kettle? No big deal. You made the right decision to return the wort to the mash. With such a quick run-off, you would have left a lot of the sugars on the grain. Not to mention all of the protein and grain debris that would have wound up in your kettle without vorlaufing.

    Just count your blessings that the mash didn't drain onto the floor, which is where I thought this story was headed.
     
    #2 FeDUBBELFIST, Feb 26, 2014
    Last edited: Feb 26, 2014
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  3. TastyAdventure

    TastyAdventure Initiate (0) Nov 13, 2012 Kentucky

    Yep, count your blessings. You hit your OG. Like he said, more undesired bits of grain, but it will still be tasty. BIAB doesn't vorlauf...
     
  4. VikeMan

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

    This is neither a major malfunction nor worthy of an exclamation point. From a mash efficiency standpoint, since it sounds like you batch sparge, you probably didn't even need to return the wort to the mash tun (though it didn't hurt)...I imagine the grain bed got pretty well soaked with the sparge water before it had a chance to run off, unless you have a big horkin' ball valve. When I dump water into the tun for a batch sparge, it's fairly disruptive.
     
  5. JrGtr

    JrGtr Pooh-Bah (1,775) Apr 13, 2006 Massachusetts
    Pooh-Bah

    Yeah, it's a minor issue at worst... if it went all over the floor, then I would say it was major malfunction, exclamation ready and requiring a cry and a few beers to get over.
     
  6. FATC1TY

    FATC1TY Pooh-Bah (2,564) Feb 12, 2012 Georgia
    Pooh-Bah

    So you drained your first runnings, and left the valve open?

    Then allowed all your sparge water to run through the bed really fast?

    I doubt it was a huge deal.. Like stated, some grain bits without a vorlauf, and maybe a little less efficiency.

    I almost left my valve open the other week on the HLT as I was filling it up with hot water for the sparge.. that would have sucked.
     
  7. Jay_Ulreich

    Jay_Ulreich Initiate (0) Jan 15, 2014 Indiana

    I appreciate all of your responses. This was only my second all grain batch, so it was totally worthy of exclamation IMO :rolling_eyes: I still hit pretty close to my target gravity, and other than this misstep, my equipment/setup works wonderfully. Its funny because I took extensive notes during my first batch, and I wrote CLOSE THE VALVE really big in them, cuz I almost did the same thing then. Its happily fermenting away right now, so Im happy.
     
  8. EvoJoe

    EvoJoe Initiate (0) Jan 19, 2013 North Carolina

    I had to do something similar but i royally screwed up. I set up for a 5 gal batch and heated 7.5 gal of mash water. Put 4 in the mash let sit for an hour. Drained it. Put 3.5 in for 10 min drained it and realized i was about to boil only 5 gallons. Freaked out threw 4 pots of water on the stove and got a small flame to the 5gal in my boil kettle. After 20 min on stove i only got temps up to about 140. Threw one in at a time did a quick vorlaf and drain. never let it sit until i got my 7 gal to boil. My OG was supposed to be 1.082 for a dipa i measured 1.062. WHOMP WHOMP WHOMP... 53% efficiency. Then to make it better when It started to boil and i added my first ounce of hops for bittering BOOM boilover. After the hour boil put in the immersion chiller and cooled it to 75deg and pitched 2 packets dry yeast.... yeah never transfered it primary before pitching. Got down to 70 and transfered to primary. The sides of the kettle were cakes of hops and dry yeast.

    Within 12 hours the yeast went crazy. Reached FG of 1.016 in 2 days. Since i was dry hopping i put the entire primary bucket in the fridge for a day. Transfered to Secondary, added an ounce of pellets and put it away.

    Will probably be the worst beer ever but learned everything not to do haha
     
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  9. Jay_Ulreich

    Jay_Ulreich Initiate (0) Jan 15, 2014 Indiana

    Hey everybody, my beer turned out great. Only thing is, it only got down to 1.020 (OG 1.060) Used WLP002. It was done fermenting in like 3 days, krausen dropped like a hammer, consistent gravity 4 days in a row, I even tried to rouse some of the yeast just cuz Ive never had a beer ferment that fast!

    It fermented at 164-5 and then after 2 days of it sitting there at 1.020, it said 159-60, so thats when I moved it to a warmer area for 2 days. Nothing. Im pretty sure from what Ive read that its a good yeast, and ferments fast. While it tastes better than the same beer I brewed with 1056 in it(that one got down to 1.012), Im just wondering if my "major malfunction" could be the reason why it didnt ferment all the way??

    Both beers (same recipe, just diff yeast, fun experiment) taste great, same methods same everything, except for when I left that valve open... If theres any information you may need further to help answer my question, ask away. Any and all responses are appreciated. Thanks, and Cheers!
     
  10. VikeMan

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

    I don't know what FG you should have expected (not enough information), but 1056 is more attenuative than WLP002. Throw in a little measurement error (maybe) and you might be right in the ballpark.
     
  11. Jay_Ulreich

    Jay_Ulreich Initiate (0) Jan 15, 2014 Indiana

    Beersmith says gravity after primary 1.018, then it says gravity after secondary 1.011... I dont normally do a secondary. And I think thats weird that it would even drop 7 points just from putting it in secondary, although its possible I suppose because of the yeast moving around.... Hmmm. Maybe Im where I should be then. Oh well, its not a big deal, its still a tasty beer. I really like the wlp002s taste better than the 1056.
     
  12. FATC1TY

    FATC1TY Pooh-Bah (2,564) Feb 12, 2012 Georgia
    Pooh-Bah

    Don't pay any attention to that crap. BS isn't all that awesome for figuring out FG. You aren't getting 7 points in secondary.
     
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  13. Jay_Ulreich

    Jay_Ulreich Initiate (0) Jan 15, 2014 Indiana

    Yeah, that certainly seemed weird as hell to me. I dont like using software, specifically because of things like this. Making me think that it must come out exactly like the program tells me it should. Dont get me wrong, I like BS, its a really cool program, but it makes me more OCD than I already am haha. Thanks man
     
  14. FATC1TY

    FATC1TY Pooh-Bah (2,564) Feb 12, 2012 Georgia
    Pooh-Bah


    Once dialed in, it rolls with you and you can learn well, and learn the process, but I see too often people get tied to a software and can't brew without it. Other than giving me a ballpark expected OG for my needed volume, I don't need it. I know generally where a beer should, or would finish at. Sometimes it's higher, and sometimes lower.

    Don't take too much worth on the FG. Sometimes I get it right on, and it figures it out. Other times, I'm a couple points off and wonder why if it was something I did. Calculating the attenuation, I'm right in line of where the yeast should have put me, so it's always pretty good to go double check it before taking BS for it's word.
     
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