General Category > All Grain Brewing

first AG questions

(1/3) > >>

andrew000141:
i did my first AG on christmas, it was my LHBS moose drool clone. I did a 3 gal batch instead of a 5 gal because i only have a 5 gal kettle as of now. Anyways had a few questions.

1. the O.G. for the kid was 1.056-1.057 and i got 1.071, i batch sparged and there was roughly 7lbs of grain in the mash tun, the amount was scaled down from the 5gal recipe, i feel like thats a huge gap for just efficiency . Is there another factor im missing?

2. cleaning my mash tun was quite the endeavor how do you guys go about doing it?

3. how do i calculate efficiency? and if i was to make my own recipes what should i assume for most base malts ppg if it is unknown

my brew day actually went very smoothly besides for being shocked at my 1.071 gravity

tygo:
1.071 would be somewhere in the 82-87% efficiency range depending on the exact recipe.  That's on the high side but easily achievable, especially for a smaller batch.

Cleaning the mash tun is what it is.  I just lift and dump.  If there's too much grain to do that easily I shovel it out until it gets light enough.  Then I hose it out.

Base malts are in the 35-37 pppg range.

hopfenundmalz:

--- Quote from: andrew000141 on December 31, 2012, 09:07:45 pm ---
2. cleaning my mash tun was quite the endeavor how do you guys go about doing it?


--- End quote ---

If you ever have to scoop out the spent grains from a 7 bbl mash tun with no manway on the hottest day of the year in a hot brewhouse, the amount we deal with is "no problem". Just saying.

malzig:
1. It looks like NB calculated the OG on only ~70% efficiency.  If you got good conversion efficiency and the 85%+ lauter efficiency you would expect from a batch sparge of a malt bill that large, ~1.070 is reasonable (Edit: Sorry, Tygo, I see you already covered this while I was typing).  Also, efficiency measurements are dependent on very accurate gravity and volume measurements, so if you were off a bit on either of these you might get this gravity reading without such excellent efficiency. 

That is higher efficiency than most brewers get on their first mash, but it is what I would expect from my brewery.  Make sure that you have an accurate way to measure volume and check that your hydrometer reads 1.000 in water.

2. I turn my tun upside down into the compost bin then rinse it out with the hose (I use the handheld shower in the winter).  Takes about 2 minutes.  What made it so difficult?

3. For calculating mash efficiency (a result of combined conversion efficiency and lauter efficiency), it is best to use the actual potential of the grain, but most brewers don't usually have that information.  Most base malts have a potential of 36 points per pound per gallon, after correcting for moisture content.  Crystal and roasted malts are usually in the 29-34 range.  For an all base malt recipe, 36 is a good value to use for estimating efficiency.  For a recipe with a lot of specialty malts, 35 isn't a bad value for an estimate. 

Mash Efficiency = (gravity x wort volume) / (grain potential x weight)
(multiply time 100% if you want it in %)

For estimating the expected gravity of your beer, you take the potential of your grain and correct for your efficiency:
Gravity of beer = mash efficiency x (grain potential x weight) / volume

Edit: Kai's site will do a great job giving an understanding of mash efficiency and an effective approach for troubleshooting mash efficiency.

davidgzach:
Congrats on your first all grain!  If you got to 85% efficiency, well done!

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page