Hi
I am looking for some guidance...
I have now done 2 full grain brews, neither of which were resounding successes and are not yet drinkable. I have an extremely effective counterflow wort cooler, I use my boiler as a mash tun with a 10" spinning sparging arm, my efficiency is around 60%, I have found an extremely helpful forum & web site, I have a soon to be converted cornie and a plastic keg and use a pad to heat my fermenting bin.
What do I do now? Where should I concentrate to improve my efficiency? When you guys were in a similar position, what did you do? I fancy trying Hefe so I have a more immediate beer to drink or should I try and perfect one type of beer? Where should I next look to improve my gadgets (is a separate mash tun necessary?)?
Really not sure and would love some advice.
Regards
Pete
What next?
What did I do after I made my first couple of all-grain batches? Drank beer 'till I fell over, to be honest. 
First thing is to wait for your first batch to be properly matured and ready to drink so that you can judge whether you need to tweak the recipe to get the kind of balance you want, and what (if anything) is lacking in the brew(s) you already made. You need to set up a feedback loop to help steer you towards improvement, rather than stabbing in the dark.
As far as efficiency is concerned, there are several areas where you could lose extract - you need to have a look at each stage of your process from the crush of the grain to the run-off from the boiler. Compare your processes with what others do, and try to look for possible improvements.
Oh, and ask questions here, of course.
First thing is to wait for your first batch to be properly matured and ready to drink so that you can judge whether you need to tweak the recipe to get the kind of balance you want, and what (if anything) is lacking in the brew(s) you already made. You need to set up a feedback loop to help steer you towards improvement, rather than stabbing in the dark.
As far as efficiency is concerned, there are several areas where you could lose extract - you need to have a look at each stage of your process from the crush of the grain to the run-off from the boiler. Compare your processes with what others do, and try to look for possible improvements.
Oh, and ask questions here, of course.
Hi Pete,
I cannot really give you any guidance as I am, like you, new to all grain (done only three so far and none ready for tasting), but by following a recipe and getting near identical OG's/litres, my efficiency is around the 70-75% mark, I don't know whether it's necessary but I use a separate mash tun in the form of the popular cool box design with a copper slotted manifold, it holds 65'C over two hours no problem, then use a spiny sparge 8.5" arm. So maybe you would like to try that approach, I also have a smaller Ritchies boiler I use soley for a HLT, simply as I find that an easier option. HLT on top of the fridge, mash tun on the bench, collection vessel (ferm. bin so you can see how much you've collected) on the floor. My three tier setup!!
IMO, as long as your beer is good, tasty and drinkable, I wouldn't worry about efficiency at the moment, 60% is good anyway for a start. Quality not quantity mate. and as it's been said on here many times 'grain is cheap' so why worry
BTW my cfc works mega-efficiently also!! especially with the temp of water a the moment!!
and I'm hoping that the forum that you're talking about is this one!!
it's the business!!!
I cannot really give you any guidance as I am, like you, new to all grain (done only three so far and none ready for tasting), but by following a recipe and getting near identical OG's/litres, my efficiency is around the 70-75% mark, I don't know whether it's necessary but I use a separate mash tun in the form of the popular cool box design with a copper slotted manifold, it holds 65'C over two hours no problem, then use a spiny sparge 8.5" arm. So maybe you would like to try that approach, I also have a smaller Ritchies boiler I use soley for a HLT, simply as I find that an easier option. HLT on top of the fridge, mash tun on the bench, collection vessel (ferm. bin so you can see how much you've collected) on the floor. My three tier setup!!
IMO, as long as your beer is good, tasty and drinkable, I wouldn't worry about efficiency at the moment, 60% is good anyway for a start. Quality not quantity mate. and as it's been said on here many times 'grain is cheap' so why worry
BTW my cfc works mega-efficiently also!! especially with the temp of water a the moment!!
and I'm hoping that the forum that you're talking about is this one!!
it's the business!!!
-
Totem
-
Kev.
-
crow_flies
- Hollow Legs
- Posts: 358
- Joined: Fri Oct 20, 2006 11:51 am
- Location: Winterton-on-Sea
I've found my biggest improvements to quality have been through improving water quality (filtering / removing chlorine effectively and reducing carbonates to match the beer style.
My son and I just cracked open a bottle I made probably a year ago and compared it with a barrel which is just drinking - the bottle tastes like 'home brew' the other tastes like beer.
Other than that this forum is fantastic for reading how others are doing things improving each step of my own process.....
/CF
My son and I just cracked open a bottle I made probably a year ago and compared it with a barrel which is just drinking - the bottle tastes like 'home brew' the other tastes like beer.
Other than that this forum is fantastic for reading how others are doing things improving each step of my own process.....
/CF
-
Frothy
-
Pete
-
PieOPah
One thing to note when fly sparging is that it should be done slowly. When done slowly
a) it gives the sugar time to dissolve
b) doesn't disturb the grain bed so the flow is even rather than channeled
Also with fly sparging you should sparge until your runoff reaches a specific gravity (1.010 IIRC) rather than a specific volume. Personally I have never understood why you do this as you may end up with way more wort than you need. This wort is then wasted (what can you do with it if you don't need it?)
a) it gives the sugar time to dissolve
b) doesn't disturb the grain bed so the flow is even rather than channeled
Also with fly sparging you should sparge until your runoff reaches a specific gravity (1.010 IIRC) rather than a specific volume. Personally I have never understood why you do this as you may end up with way more wort than you need. This wort is then wasted (what can you do with it if you don't need it?)
-
Andy
- Virtually comatose but still standing
- Posts: 8716
- Joined: Fri Nov 18, 2005 1:00 pm
- Location: Ash, Surrey
- Contact:
PoP - if you collect the volume you need for boiling + topping up then there's no need to continue sparging! Of course you could collect the extra wort, boil it up, cool it and put into plastic bottles in the freezer for use as starters in the future...Also with fly sparging you should sparge until your runoff reaches a specific gravity (1.010 IIRC) rather than a specific volume. Personally I have never understood why you do this as you may end up with way more wort than you need. This wort is then wasted (what can you do with it if you don't need it?)
Dan!
-
PieOPah
That makes sense. I assume then that the 1.010 is just the guide for when you should stop to ensure you don't leech tanins? I would like to give Fly Sparging a go - just need to get me that 3 tier set up!Andy wrote: PoP - if you collect the volume you need for boiling + topping up then there's no need to continue sparging! Of course you could collect the extra wort, boil it up, cool it and put into plastic bottles in the freezer for use as starters in the future...
-
Andy
- Virtually comatose but still standing
- Posts: 8716
- Joined: Fri Nov 18, 2005 1:00 pm
- Location: Ash, Surrey
- Contact:
You got it - if you continue sparging in an attempt to reach a volume and the gravity goes too low (1006-1010 is usually quoted) then apparently undesirables can be rinsed out of the grains and impart unpleasant flavours into the end product. As grain is cheap then upping the grain bill makes this situation "manageable" 
Dan!
-
DJP
Absolutely. For my last few brews I've used about 5 litres less sparge water than usual and then topped up the boiler to the normal volume with plain water. It's improved my beers no end and, what's more, it has made hardly any difference to the OG.
I conclude that the last 4 or 5 litres of the sparge often yields surprisingly little in the way of usable extract - and runs a disproportionate risk of extracting undesirable tannins.
I conclude that the last 4 or 5 litres of the sparge often yields surprisingly little in the way of usable extract - and runs a disproportionate risk of extracting undesirable tannins.