Today is the day I pop my cherry!

[neggs]

Hi Everyone,

Quick question

When you get close to a 1006 reading while sparging, do you then just need to top the bolier up with treated water?

Currently ive about 4 gal in the boiler and its getting close to 1010.

Cheers.

[jamesb]

Well you should stop sparging at that point.

Whether you want to top up with water or not depends on the gravity of the wort you've got in the boiler. You may find that you've collected 4g at your target gravity (unlikely) or you will need to top up with water.

Remember to adjust your gravity readings for temperature.

[neggs]

Well you should stop sparging at that point.

Whether you want to top up with water or not depends on the gravity of the wort you've got in the boiler. You may find that you've collected 4g at your target gravity (unlikely) or you will need to top up with water.

Remember to adjust your gravity readings for temperature.

Cheers. I started to panic a little then

[Andy]

Regarding the power thing it's not a good idea at all to run two elements off the same ring main! Some people plug one into the downstairs ring and the other into the upstairs ring (via a suitably rated extension).

Good luck with the brew though

[Shoit]

Are you batch or fly sparging? If you are batch sparging do you still need to worry about the gravity? Also when you say you need to stop at 1006 is this the temp adjusted reading?

Kev

[Robdog]

I must be lucky as i had both elements running off and extension lead plugged into one socket. I may do it different next time and invest in a long extension lead and have one running form upstairs and one from downstairs.

[neggs]

Are you batch or fly sparging? If you are batch sparging do you still need to worry about the gravity? Also when you say you need to stop at 1006 is this the temp adjusted reading?

Kev

hi Kev,

ive batched sparged and i managed to pull nearly 27l from it before hitting 1006. I didnt adjust the temp for the reading. I'll do this next time. How do I adjust it?

Its boiling at the moment, with 30 mins to go

[Shoit]

I didnt adjust the temp for the reading. I'll do this next time. How do I adjust it?

Its boiling at the moment, with 30 mins to go

I think this thread should be helpful viewtopic.php?f=6&t=9794 As far as I know you would normally add points to the reading you took depending on the temp of the wort. I wouldn't worry about it at the moment though! You've probably got enough on with your first brew.

I was only asking as I thought that with batch sparging you added enough water to the mash tun in 2 batches to give you your desired amount of wort minus hop absorption, evaporation etc... I'm confused as to whether you need to worry about the gravity of the wort when batch sparging.

Anyone else help out with answers??? - i think neggs may have enough on at the moment!

Kev

[neggs]

Finished! What a long day! I need a beer

Final reading now cool is 1045, which seems good to me.

Thanks for your help during the day! I learnt a lot today, but mainly how easy it is! Right, now to ask R Lass to clean up for me

[delboy]

Hey neggs you need to change that signature, you are no longer an all grainer in waiting

[neggs]

Hey neggs you need to change that signature, you are no longer an all grainer in waiting

Done!

[Parva]

Hey neggs, congrats on your first brew. If you didn't correct your hydrometer readings for the final runnings you probably ended up near 1.018. I usually end up around this region and it doesn't bother me. It essentially means that you could extract more from the grains and either end up with more beer or use less grain but I'm happy to use a little more grain and be inefficient rather than risk ruining a brew by extracting tanins.

[boingy]

Of course you need a beer, and why not....

Just make a mental note to get your next brew on well before you drink this one. It's awful to have a beer free period between brews....
Sparging is something that gets more efficient as you get used to your particular setup. Sounds like you did just fine. Gratz!

[softlad]

Sounds like another worthwhile but long days brewing. Glad it all went well in the end

Regarding the power thing it's not a good idea at all to run two elements off the same ring main! Some people plug one into the downstairs ring and the other into the upstairs ring (via a suitably rated extension).

Is it ok to power the elements off two adjacent street lights ?

[Horden Hillbilly]

Well done there neggs, no doubt that this will be the first of many, enjoy your ag brewing!