Stout Recap and Question

Discussion in 'Homebrewing' started by Lefty1881, Sep 11, 2012.

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  1. Lefty1881

    Lefty1881 Initiate (0) Dec 31, 2010 Florida

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    And now for the question.. We were shooting for 1.09ish and 5 gal and ended up with 1.07ish and extra wort =/ (which means I have to change the logo) ... Are we using too much water, not boiling aggressively enough - this keeps happening batch after batch, even after using chocolate with sugars in it. Thanks and enjoy the pics =D
     
  2. tngolfer

    tngolfer Initiate (0) Feb 16, 2012 Tennessee

    It sounds like extra wort. With some simple math you can figure out what your gravity would have been if all of your gravity points from your extra wort were in the main wort.

    Or it could just be that you overestimate your efficiency. I've come to the conclusion that I can only get to the upper 60 percents. I would love to say I get mid to upper 70s but no sense in bragging. Just learn your system.
     
  3. Lefty1881

    Lefty1881 Initiate (0) Dec 31, 2010 Florida

    Yeah, we had about an extra half gallon of wort. We keep ending up with that, and coming short on the OG. How do we balance that out? Or will changing the efficiency in beersmith even that out?
     
  4. pweis909

    pweis909 Grand Pooh-Bah (3,250) Aug 13, 2005 Wisconsin
    Pooh-Bah

    Can't you just change the starting volume of your beer recipes by adding 0.5 gallons, augmenting the malt accordingly so that you hit your target gravity?
     
    seanluvsbeer likes this.
  5. kjyost

    kjyost Initiate (0) May 4, 2008 Canada (MB)

    High gravity beers require a significantly long and hard boil to avoid having your efficiency plummet.

    I did a a double sparge to get ~60% efficiency for a 1.125 RIS, and that was ~8.5 gallons for a 5.5 gallon batch, so I boiled super hard (I have a wicked burner) for 2+ hours.
     
  6. itsjustzach

    itsjustzach Initiate (0) Oct 23, 2006 Ohio

    It sounds like you need to adjust the equipment settings in Beersmith to match your systems boil off rate. You probably have the estimated brewhouse efficiency set too high as well. If I were you I would go to your equipment profile in Beersmith and adjust the boil off rate until it has you collecting about .5 gal less into the kettle than it tells you to now. Then run a few of your recipes (I would use smaller and simpler ones than this imp stout) through an efficiency calculator such as this one to find a ballpark average of what efficiency your system gets. Make sure you're entering the actual volume you ended up with for each batch.
     
  7. Lefty1881

    Lefty1881 Initiate (0) Dec 31, 2010 Florida

    K thanks! I think it's time for a new burner and better number tweaking. Still excited to see how this comes out because it is wicked chocolatey!
     
  8. VikeMan

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

    If you ended up with 5.5 gallons instead of 5 gallons, and an OG of 1.070, then it's simple to figure out what your OG would have been if you had boiled away that last 0.5 gallons...

    ((5.5/5) x (1 - 1.070)) + 1 = 1.077

    If you were expecting 1.090, then your efficiency is not as high as you were expecting. (You got 86% of whatever efficiency you were expecting, i.e. 77/90) You say this is a recurring theme, but in your previous thread you said that you are getting the efficiency that Beersmith "predicts." But if this batch is representative, then you're clearly not. I suggest reading up on mash efficiency and brewhouse efficiency. Once you understand what they mean, you'll be able to figure this stuff out, or at least ask more targeted questions.
     
  9. Lefty1881

    Lefty1881 Initiate (0) Dec 31, 2010 Florida

    Had my efficiency set too high. Oh well, facepalm then have another beer and smile =D
     
  10. Homebrew42

    Homebrew42 Initiate (0) Dec 20, 2006 New York

    You shouldn't be guessing your efficiency and putting random numbers into your software, you should be calculating your efficiency based on the gravities you've been getting and using that to predict the efficiency of your future batches.
     
  11. Lefty1881

    Lefty1881 Initiate (0) Dec 31, 2010 Florida

    Got it, enjoy your day.
     
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