AG 5 HB Summer Lightning

[crookedeyeboy]

Going well so far. Hopefully today I get to work out loss issues and get some final figures!

Just waiting for the wort to come to the boil..

23 lt brewlength collected 28 litres for the boil which I assume is low but nevermind...at least with some figures I can work out my loss on boil today.

Aiming for 1049 but we shall see...

Stay tuned!

[OldSpeckledBadger]

If it comes out a bit short then top-up with water in the FV. Take your SG reading first though. You can use this plus the out-of-boiler volume to calculate your efficiency in Beer Engine.

[crookedeyeboy]

Thats what I was thinking of doing once I was finished...using a Mac tho will have to swap to the pc for the beer engine...is it easy to use?

[OldSpeckledBadger]

is it easy to use?

Very easy.

[crookedeyeboy]

Little video of the boil....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w900wvaZaC4

[OldSpeckledBadger]

That's quite subdued and controlled compared to my home-made botch of a boiler. I wouldn't dare fill mine that full.

[crookedeyeboy]

Help!! Ive now pitched the yeast and come out with what i thought was 23 litres at 1048...I was aiming for 1049 so not bad until....

I used this http://www.myhomebrew.com/hc0.html to correct the temp reading which was 34.5 degrees and it says the fv is at 1052...

What should I do...Ive only just thrown away the water I was saving as well!!! Should I boil the kettle and let it cool or just leave it be?!?!?!?

Thanks

[OldSpeckledBadger]

So it's come out a bit stronger than predicted. I don't see that as a problem. You can now calculate your overall efficiency and next time use slightly less malt if you want to hit 1.049. Remember that the quantities are based on an assumed efficiency of 75%, which is probably a bit conservative. Your beer will still taste great anyway.

[chris_reboot]

agreed. this is not a problem.

2 choices, leave it, and accept the abv will be higher than planned; or water down till it's the right OG that you want, this way you'll have slightly more beer.
Is there a bad point?

You seem to have got good effiency, so calculate, and apply to next brew.
if you're consistent now, you should be able to adapt recipes to take this into account, and your grain bill will be less.

if you're using GW's recipes, his starting point is a conservative 75%. sounds like you may be more in the 80% area perhaps.

[crookedeyeboy]

Well it looks like you were both right. Sod it, Ive got a lovely 23 litres that should come out at 5.2% as opposed to 5%.

I am very very happy that I think I may well have this efficiency thing cracked. I must have been somewhere near 80% today! Not bad for brew 5...

[crookedeyeboy]

This has been in bottle now for nearly two weeks...its not bad but a little lacking in flavour.
Is it just a green thing when all you can taste is malt? Or do you think it is the fact I was using some old dry hops??