1st AG Brew: 25th August 2008

[dr_bob]

Temperature in the boiler (with 5gal of sparge water in it) is nudging 80c, so I'll ease off with the thermostat and try and maintain it around 78-80c until the mash is finished at 15:38 and the sparging can begin.

I'm not looking forward to the sparging - I wish I'd bought a sparging arm, because standing here with a hose sprayer is going to be tedious!

[fraserjaxx]

You should just scrape in there mate.Once you know your gear you will be able to adjust things to suit(as you have indicated).I use an old fermenting bucket with a sleeping bag round it and have done so for a year of brewing without feeling the need to upgrade.I lose about 2 degrees over 2 hours but do it indoors so things are a bit warmer.
Looks like you're in control there mate goood luck with the next stage,I am off to batch sparge my brew now.
Are you batch sparging yourself or fly sparging ?

[dr_bob]

Erk, i think it's all going a bit turbo :/

The liquor which is running off into the boiler from the tun is looking very, very cloudy and there's a fair amount of grain in there too.

Help?!

[Grahame]

Don't worry about it, it is OK if the runnings are not clear going into the boiler, and a small bit of grain will be OK, it should get filtered out when you run of from the boiler into the FV. If you want to be doubly sure, run it through a sterilised sieve on its way to the FV.

G

[dr_bob]

Ok. I've done sparging now, but I'm a bit worried again.

I appear to have way more than 5 gallons in my boiler now - more like 7-8G. Is this right? Have I buggered up the sparge?

What I did was, transfer the 5gal i heated up in the boiler to the FV, then put the FV above the tun, and the boiler below the tun. I put the thin straining mesh on top of the tun, and I then poured off a couple of jugs of cloudy wort from the tun and added them to the top of the tun, and then began running the wort off into the boiler whilst spraying the top of the tun with water from the FV. I only have a boiler and a FV, so I'm having to swap and reuse vessels where I can. Have I done this right?

[fraserjaxx]

You should catch the first few litres in a jug and return to the top of the grain when running off and repeat this until it runs clearer.If it is not too late you can still do this,but as QA says don't worry this is not a big problem.Keep going and get this first brew under your belt mate and learn from it for your next.

[dr_bob]

Help! I'm pretty sure i've screwed this right up. :/

I have about 7-8G of wort in the boiler, when I wanted 5G and the hydrometer reading in there is about 1005

How do I fix this, or have I buggered it beyond all repair?

[Grahame]

I usually have about 30L in my boiler to make 23L, which is a bit more than a gallon extra, did you check your gravity of the runnings when collecting?? I only batch sparge, I find it a lot easier maybe give that a go next time?

Anyway, don't worry too much, just crack on and get it finished, it is amazing how robust beer brewing is, very little can mess it up big time

G.

[Grahame]

A gravity of 1005 at at least 70C (which I am guessing your wort is at) is still around 1.026 adjusted and that will increase a lot when you evaporate during the boil - don't worry everythins is going swimmingly

G.

[fraserjaxx]

Just carry on with your boil and maybe boil a bit longer to reach your target OG .Don't stress things will be ok mate it's a learning curve that you on at the moment,I am sure your will end up with a good result.

[dr_bob]

A gravity of 1005 at at least 70C (which I am guessing your wort is at) is still around 1.026 adjusted and that will increase a lot when you evaporate during the boil - don't worry everythins is going swimmingly

G.

Thanks for the vote of confidence, queenaudio! I shall proceed and see how it pans out.

I didn't take hydrometer readings during the sparge, which is stupid really, as I have my notes here telling me to do just that. :/

Nearly up to the boil now

[dr_bob]

Boil underway since 16:45, bittering hops in. Some East Kent Goldings to be added in the last 15. We'll see what happens.

[fraserjaxx]

Have a beer and reflect on things while your wort is boiling Bob.Like QA has said it would take a mighty FU to ruin things and it looks like you are on the home straight now fella.When this brew is done you will know your kit and be more comfortable next time.Welcome to the darkside !!

[dr_bob]

Have a beer and reflect on things while your wort is boiling Bob.Like QA has said it would take a mighty FU to ruin things and it looks like you are on the home straight now fella.When this brew is done you will know your kit and be more comfortable next time.Welcome to the darkside !!

Aye, I'm sinking a beer now. I still think this batch is gonna be shot though - the hydrometer reading is now 1000, after half an hour of the boil. Oh well, you live and learn!

[Grahame]

Don't worry about the gravity during a boil, your hydrometer is calibrated somewhere around 22C and at higher temperatures, you need to adjust the reading upwards. e.g 1.044 @ 60C is 1.059 at 20C. There is a formula on here somewhere that will do this for you, or you could get beersmith to do the hardwork for you. Either way, I can guarantee your gravity will be much higher at yeast pitching temperature

G.