[Richard]

On your next batch you should measure the gravity and volume before the boil. You can decide at that time whether you need to add sugar or dried malt extract to bump up your gravity. The total amount of sugar remains fixed, although boiloff and dilution will increase or decrease the specific gravity. The easiest way to figure this is to deal wiith gravity points (GP = 1000*(SG-1)). A specific gravity of 1.040 is equal to 40 gravity points. If you have 4 gallons of wort with a specific gravity of 1.040 then the total amount of sugar you have is 40 gravity points times 4 gallons, or 160 gallon-points. If you dilute it to 5 gallons then you would have 160/5 = 32 gravity points or SG=1.032. If you boil it down from 4 to 3 gallons then you would end up with 160/3 = 53.3 points or SG=1.053. If you decide you need to increase the amount of sugar, table sugar has about 46 points per pound per gallon and DME has about 45 points per pound per gallon. If you have 4 gallons of wort and you want to increase the sugar content by 10 gravity points then you would add (10/46) pounds of table sugar per gallon or a total of 4*(10/46) = 0.87 lbs of sugar for the 4 gallons.

Most grains have something like 35-38 points per pound per gallon maximum sugar contribution, and a mash efficiency of between 70 - 90% is respectable. That means that with 6 lbs of grain in a 2.5 gallon batch you should get roughly (6*36/2.5)*.80 = 69 gravity points or SG = 1.069. If you ended up with SG = 1.040 then working backwards your mash efficiency was 40/(6*36/2.5) = 0.46 or 46%, which is pretty low. If your mash efficiency is this low next brew, then the most likely culprit is that your grain crush is too coarse. For BIAB you can crush very fine and get good extraction.

Another possibility is that your mash pH is wrong. I know you are in South SF, so you may be using Hetch Hetchy water like me. In that case I know that your mash pH will be way too high with that grain bill. You will need to add some acidulated malt or some phosphoric or lactic acid to improve your efficiency. My rough estimate is that you would have a mash pH of close to 5.8 and would need 3 oz of acidulated malt to bring that down o 5.4.

[redrocker652002]

On your next batch you should measure the gravity and volume before the boil. You can decide at that time whether you need to add sugar or dried malt extract to bump up your gravity. The total amount of sugar remains fixed, although boiloff and dilution will increase or decrease the specific gravity. The easiest way to figure this is to deal wiith gravity points (GP = 1000*(SG-1)). A specific gravity of 1.040 is equal to 40 gravity points. If you have 4 gallons of wort with a specific gravity of 1.040 then the total amount of sugar you have is 40 gravity points times 4 gallons, or 160 gallon-points. If you dilute it to 5 gallons then you would have 160/5 = 32 gravity points or SG=1.032. If you boil it down from 4 to 3 gallons then you would end up with 160/3 = 53.3 points or SG=1.053. If you decide you need to increase the amount of sugar, table sugar has about 46 points per pound per gallon and DME has about 45 points per pound per gallon. If you have 4 gallons of wort and you want to increase the sugar content by 10 gravity points then you would add (10/46) pounds of table sugar per gallon or a total of 4*(10/46) = 0.87 lbs of sugar for the 4 gallons.

Most grains have something like 35-38 points per pound per gallon maximum sugar contribution, and a mash efficiency of between 70 - 90% is respectable. That means that with 6 lbs of grain in a 2.5 gallon batch you should get roughly (6*36/2.5)*.80 = 69 gravity points or SG = 1.069. If you ended up with SG = 1.040 then working backwards your mash efficiency was 40/(6*36/2.5) = 0.46 or 46%, which is pretty low. If your mash efficiency is this low next brew, then the most likely culprit is that your grain crush is too coarse. For BIAB you can crush very fine and get good extraction.

Another possibility is that your mash pH is wrong. I know you are in South SF, so you may be using Hetch Hetchy water like me. In that case I know that your mash pH will be way too high with that grain bill. You will need to add some acidulated malt or some phosphoric or lactic acid to improve your efficiency. My rough estimate is that you would have a mash pH of close to 5.8 and would need 3 oz of acidulated malt to bring that down o 5.4.

Wow, great info there.  I measured the OG when I put the extra gallon into the fermenter, so maybe the wort that went in was higher before I added the water?  I am learning all this so any and all info is very useful.  I have already purchased my next recipe, but after that I am going to go back to this one I think and play around with it and see where we go.  I have some dry DME that I bought so I have that on hand.  I am still hopeful, I went into the closet to make sure the yeast had started doing it's thing and there is a nice smell of lemon/citrus fruity smell coming from the fermenter, so that is good.  I am off next saturday, so maybe I will put it in bottles then,  stick it in the fridge and see where I am in a few weeks.  I have an empty fridge in my shop that, if the bottles explode, not big deal.  LOL.  Anyway, I might throw the hops I have in Wednesday morning just to see what they do, but leave out the wood chips.  I never quite understood why there were there.  Thanks all for the info. 

On a side note, how do I check the water I am using?  Or is it better to go buy gallon bottles of Alhambra or similar for my next batch? 

[Richard]

Your municipal water supplier is required by law to produce a public water quality report, although that only gives averages and ranges for the relevant ions. You could also call your water supplier and ask where the water comes from. You can also get your water tested by Ward Labs (https://www.wardlab.com/). You can purchase pH meters for anything from $10 to $200. Amazon has a bunch of cheap ones.

If you have Hetch Hetchy water it is as good or better than any spring water you can buy at the store, and a hell of a lot cheaper. I can tell you what is in it if you find that is what you have.

[MNWayne]

You have an empty fridge in your shop?  That sounds like a temperature controlled fermentation chamber to me.  All you need is the temperature controlled part.  You can get an Inkbird ITC-308 on Amazon for $35. 

[redrocker652002]

Your municipal water supplier is required by law to produce a public water quality report, although that only gives averages and ranges for the relevant ions. You could also call your water supplier and ask where the water comes from. You can also get your water tested by Ward Labs (https://www.wardlab.com/). You can purchase pH meters for anything from $10 to $200. Amazon has a bunch of cheap ones.

If you have Hetch Hetchy water it is as good or better than any spring water you can buy at the store, and a hell of a lot cheaper. I can tell you what is in it if you find that is what you have.

Near as I can figure it is Hetch Hetchy. 

[redrocker652002]

You have an empty fridge in your shop?  That sounds like a temperature controlled fermentation chamber to me.  All you need is the temperature controlled part.  You can get an Inkbird ITC-308 on Amazon for $35.

It is a small dorm style fridge that holds about 12 cans on two shelves.  I don't think it is big enough to hold the bucket, but I am going to check. 

[denny]

I would skip dry hopping right now. Fine beer can be produced without dry hopping.  There are 2 types of dry hops, active ferment and post ferment.  Active ferment dry hops should be added when the yeast is about half way through the available fermentable sugars, and post ferment dry hops is done when the ferment is finished and you are about to cold crash and then keg or bottle.  But you can make a spectacular beer without dry hopping.  Get to that point first.  I just kegged an APA without any dry hops and it tasted really good, and it's not even carbonated yet.

I've been dry hopping since the kit I brewed for the first batch called for it.  It's no big deal.

[MNWayne]

Dry hopping carries a small risk of infection and/or oxydation.  Given the risks and the fact that exceptional beer can be made without dry hopping cause me to consider the practice an "advanced" step which might be avoided until all the basics are hammered out.  Walk before you run, just sayin.

[denny]

Dry hopping carries a small risk of infection and/or oxydation.  Given the risks and the fact that exceptional beer can be made without dry hopping cause me to consider the practice an "advanced" step which might be avoided until all the basics are hammered out.  Walk before you run, just sayin.

I've dry hopped more batches than not. For certain styles, it's pretty much as much of a requirement as using malt. I have never had any problems with in t, including that first batch.  I have never knlwnn anyone who had problems because of it.  Not that it can't happen, but it would seem that the chances of problems are very small.

[goose]

+1 on BrewBama, lots of good stuff there.  Red, I have been enjoying all your posts.  You sure have been brewing a lot, it's nice to see your dedication to the art.  I suggest you brew the exact recipe again and try to iron out all (or at least some) of the points of contention. Not that this first attempt will taste bad, but I guarantee the next batch will taste better.  Then do it again, and again.

This is great advice. Focus.  Brew the same thing over and over until you get it right, then analyze what you did that worked.

+1

[Richard]

Here is my water report from Ward Labs in June 2021. Your water should be similar. It is very soft, with almost no mineral content. To brew good beer I need to add calcium, sulfate and chloride and usually some acid (unless brewing a beer with lots of roasted grains).

pH = 8.7
Total Dissolved Solids = 37 ppm
Electrical Conductivity = 0.06 mmho/cm
Cations/Anions = 0.5/0.4 me/L

All numbers below are in ppm
Sodium   7
Potassium   <1
Calcium   4.3
Magnesium   <1
Total Hardness< CaCO3   10
Nitrate   < 0.1
Sulfate   1
Chloride   2
Carbonate, CO3   < 1.0
Bicarbonate, HCO3   15
Total Alkalinity, CaCO3   13
Total Phosphrous   < 0.1
Total Iron   0.02

[redrocker652002]

Quick update. Checked the fermenter this evening before I left.  Bubbling has lessened, but not stopped.  A burst of three or four every minute or two.  My plan, as of now, is to add the dry hops but not the wood into the fermenter on Wednesday either morning or afternoon depending on how tired I am.  Saturday I will try and bottle (my hope is that my bottling wand does not get full of particles like it did last time), and then put it back in the closet for a week or two.  Then, move it to the fridge to sit there for a week or two and go from there.  Does that sound like a decent plan? 

Another question just hit me.  The bottling wand I have got plugged up a few times with another beer I made a few weeks ago.  Is there any way to prevent this from happening with a much hoppier beer this time?  I am guessing I can try and move the wort to another bucket and try and bottle from there.  I have an extra bucket that I can quickly sanitize and use if needed. 

Also, I think the pellets will fit in the bung where the airlock is, so maybe if I can get them in there that way I will reduce the O2 input and try and save what might be a disaster of a batch.  LOL.  But, and it is a small hope, the smell coming from the fermenter is pretty good, like I am hoping it will taste.  LOL.  A small ray of hope.  RR

[BrewBama]

Try a hop bag to control hops from getting in the bottling wand.

[redrocker652002]

Try a hop bag to control hops from getting in the bottling wand.

Thanks.  I will give it a try.  Last time I got maybe a half bottle and the want blocked up.  I am wondering if there is some other way I can get some sort of screen between the bucket and the wand?  But I know air is going to be a big problem.  Still working on the kinks, but I will get it. 

[Richard]

I usually put my dry hops in a sack, but if I don't have a lot I leave them loose. A cold crash to 32-26 F for 48 hours will drop yeast and hops into a dense layer at the bottom of my fermenter and they stay there while I empty the beer out of the spigot. I have never had a spigot or bottling wand plug with hops.