Back to the drawing board....or is it?

[crookedeyeboy]

Well I did a brew day last Weds after what seems an age without doing one. I used Beer Alchemy on my iPhone and sorted out the following recipe:

4.057 KG Halcyon PA Malt

Mount Hood 4.4% 100g @ 90 mins (or so!)
Mount Hood 4.4% 25g @ 20 mins
Mount Hood 4.4% 10g @ Turn off

Nottingham Yeast

OG @ 1036
FG @ 1009
ABV 3.6%

A further 20g of Mount Hood in the FV for the duration of fermentation.

All was going well until I came to filling the boiler. I had the following figures worked out:

4.057 malt X 2.5 (malt:liquor ratio) = 11 Lts of Mash Liquor
4.057 malt X 1.5 (Malt absorption) = 6 Lts Absorbed
Therefore I would have 5 Lts available to collect

I wanted 29 litres in the boiler therefore I assumed with the 5 I have already got I would need another 24 Lts sparged through to achieve correct final boiler volume of 29 Lts...

Still with me? Well this is how I THOUGHT it was going to work until after filling my under back bucket for a short while I kept tasting the wort, after what seemed a very short time maybe 20 mins or so the wort started to taste very thin and I couldn't detect any sugars left. At first I thought right this fly sparging malarky is now doing my head in, so I blamed it on that. I turned the tap off and gave the mash tun a good mix hoping to get those other pesky sugars out that my sparge arms had missed. HOWEVER upon doing so and leaving for a while, once I restarted the run off there were still no sugars to be found, again the wort tasted very thin and lacking in sweetness.

The result was that I had a boiler filled with 19 Lts instead of the preferred 29 Lts! I carried on regardless and thought of England. At the end of the boil, keeping in mind I have still added the hops at the rates I had worked out for 29 Lts!, I ended up with 14 Lts @ 1048 instead of 23 Lts @ 1036 to go into the FV.

The quandary was 'What to do now?' so thinking I had completely ballsed up the whole thing I connected the hose to the cold water tap and continued to fill the FV with cold water straight from the tap to liquor back and get a more accurate OG. Yep I had given up. I DID have HLT water spare but it was far too hot still to go into the FV this is why I used the cold water tap.

In the end I made myself 22 Lts @ 1036 bunged in the other 20g of Mount Hood with the Nottingham (which also did not want to get going) and left it to its own devices.

Whilst it sat in the lounge for the next couple of days I noticed the head die off quickly and thought 'oh well that must be the infection taking over!' and left it alone.
Today I thought I suppose I had better check the gravity. It was down to 1005!!!

Nottingham is fine in this weather and will quite happily go up to 28C before it even thinks its hot! So Im assuming that instead of it stopping early the attenuation had gone that quick I had missed it!

I put it into a secondary today and had a quick taste, I think Im on to a winner! At last i seem to have made something that is what Ive been after for agesh but with all the hiccups I dont think I will ever be able to recreate it!! ARghhhhhh

Any help on why the sugars ran out would be much appreciated. I have NEVER had this problem and am starting to think the malt was crap, but like I say Ive never had this issue before, Ive always had loads to go in to the boiler.

Thanks

[crookedeyeboy]

Thanks Chris I was just concerned as the 14 Lts was such small volume. In hindsight I may as well have just carried on sparging or used the HLT water.

I shall check my calculations too. I use the SG Correction doodah on Beer Alchemy so Im assuming its accurate. may have to have a look at my thermometers and hydrometer....

Thanks again

[crookedeyeboy]

checked my figures and had it down wrong!!

It was 14 Lts @ 1057

Whats the quickest way of working out how much to liquor back with?

[Eadweard]

Whats the quickest way of working out how much to liquor back with?

Check gravity, add liquor, stir, check gravity, add liquor, stir.. repeat as required.

Calculations have their place but some solid data has its moments too.

[crookedeyeboy]

Thanks Chris.

Eadweard: Thats what I did in the FV

[Aleman]

Current Gravity * Current Volume / Desired Gravity = Final Volume

Current Gravity 57
Current Volume 14L
Desired Gravity 36

57*14/36 = 22.1L (Or 22.1 - 14 = 8.1L to add)

QED

[crookedeyeboy]

Thanks Aleman I shall add to my brewing notes. Funnily enough 8 Lts is what I added!!

[coatesg]

while I kept tasting the wort, after what seemed a very short time maybe 20 mins or so the wort started to taste very thin and I couldn't detect any sugars left.

Recommendation: Use a refractometer here - you can easily measure the runoff at regular intervals to see how it's going.

And yes - I'll often collect all the sugar I want to (reaching 1008 on run-off) well before I have a full boil volume - I just add the wort back to water in the boiler and proceed as normal (it helps if you know how much water you need and are adding in the boiler so that the evaporation rate/starting& finishing volumes are about right).

[crookedeyeboy]

I have a refractometer I was just being lazy and I suppose I panicked a little when I could no longer taste sugar. I do remember at the time thinking I really should go and get the refractometer! Lesson learnt! Beers tasting lovely already BTW bet you any money I cant replicate it !