Hairy Posted January 25, 2013 Share Posted January 25, 2013 Where to begin.... Crap efficiency' date=' ended up with ABV way lower than I wanted. Poor hop utilisation resulting in practically no bitterness at all. Still useless at separating trub when moving wort from boiler to FV. Possible contamination from a frozen coke bottle I use tochill the wort (as it leaked a bit). Oh and yes my hydrometer fell into the boiler and has now changed shape and is rendered useless. So essentially, I took several hours of my day making bland soft drink (assuming it's not infected). Have I forgotten anything? [crying'] A brew day where lessons are learnt is not completely wasted. I'm just trying to put a positive spin on it [biggrin] Do you know what you did wrong re efficiency and hop utilisation? Perhaps you could blend it with a strong IPA in the glass to make it a decent beer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canadian Eh!L Posted January 25, 2013 Share Posted January 25, 2013 Perhaps you could blend it with a strong IPA in the glass to make it a decent beer. This is what I was thinking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hairy Posted January 25, 2013 Share Posted January 25, 2013 Perhaps you could blend it with a strong IPA in the glass to make it a decent beer. This is what I was thinking. That's because you are a genius [biggrin] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canadian Eh!L Posted January 25, 2013 Share Posted January 25, 2013 Perhaps you could blend it with a strong IPA in the glass to make it a decent beer. This is what I was thinking. That's because you are a genius [biggrin] I know. That's what I was thinking.[roll][smile] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lotm Posted January 25, 2013 Share Posted January 25, 2013 Perhaps you could blend it with a strong IPA in the glass to make it a decent beer. This is what I was thinking. That's because you are a genius [biggrin] I know. That's what I was thinking.[roll][smile] Help! Infinite loop.... [crying] I have already made changes to my system so next time I have to do a non kit brew, things might improve. As far as hops utilisation goes, does boiling in hop socks affect it greatly? I use them as I am Crap at separating trub when moving wort from boiler to FV. I always try to give them plenty space inside the sock. As far as reaching higher gravity goes, I just going to have a bag of Dme on standby in case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted January 25, 2013 Share Posted January 25, 2013 I use a hop sock as well, and I've never noticed any problems with utilisation. It's a pretty big thing though so there's plenty of room for them. How do you go about doing the mash? Do you have a grain mill? If so, how fine do you crush the grains? I just crush my grains (I don't really know how to describe how finely[lol]) and throw them in the bag in the urn and usually get somewhere between 1040 and 1045 gravity pre boil. (5 - 6kg grain bill, pre boil vol around 32 litres.) This generally gives me high 1040s to low 1050s post boil gravity and around 25-26 litres into the cube. Next time I'm gonna try crushing the grains a bit finer to see if it ups it a bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hairy Posted January 25, 2013 Share Posted January 25, 2013 Lotm, good idea to have some DME handy. Efficiency aside, don't write the brew off yet. I find it hard to tell the bitterness of a brew pre-fermentation; there is just too much sweetness there over-powering it. A kolsch isn't an overly bitter beer so don't be surprised if the bitterness shines through as the yeast munch through the sugar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lotm Posted January 25, 2013 Share Posted January 25, 2013 How do you go about doing the mash? Do you have a grain mill? If so' date=' how fine do you crush the grains?[/quote'] I just doing partials (2-2.5kg) using a grain bag in the old Big W pot. I can't afford to upgrade my equipment at the moment, the keg setup has busted my budget and my balls ;-). I don't mill my grain myself, just get my LHBS to do the honours. Lotm, good idea to have some DME handy. Efficiency aside, don't write the brew off yet. I find it hard to tell the bitterness of a brew pre-fermentation; there is just too much sweetness there over-powering it. A kolsch isn't an overly bitter beer so don't be surprised if the bitterness shines through as the yeast munch through the sugar. Yeah, I'll wait and see how it goes. At least it doesn't taste infected. Soon I plan on posting my new system/recipe that I think will better suit my equipment (or lack thereof) and my dislike of chilling. Generally speaking I plan to bring the boil volume right down (still keeping suitable gravity for good hop utilisation), then adding this wort to the fermenter along with other fermentables, then diluting to the desired level. I'm pretty sure I have Beersmith doing what I want it to do. But I look forward to your critiquing of this system and voicing implications that a brew-pleb such as myself may have missed. Thanks for the advice, and the therapy. [happy] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hairy Posted January 25, 2013 Share Posted January 25, 2013 When you are ready, post your new procedures. I use the Big W pot to do partials (and an AG) but I mash in a cooler. I scored a 19 litre drink cooler so I added a ball valve and I use a bag. I also batch sparge so that helps with my efficiency. Worst case, if you find you have a poor efficiency just use more grain. A little extra doesn't cost much. I like to hear people's brewing procedures. The thing I like about brewing is that the outcome is the same but everyone has a different way of getting there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lotm Posted January 25, 2013 Share Posted January 25, 2013 When you are ready, post your new procedures. I use the Big W pot to do partials (and an AG) but I mash in a cooler. I scored a 19 litre drink cooler so I added a ball valve and I use a bag. I also batch sparge so that helps with my efficiency. Worst case, if you find you have a poor efficiency just use more grain. A little extra doesn't cost much. So you boil in a 19L? What's your boil volume generally? I read in another thread that you are moving towards nochill. How do you plan on transferring wort to FV? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hairy Posted January 25, 2013 Share Posted January 25, 2013 I currently boil around 14 litres and the stove does it pretty easily. I would lose 2-3 litres in evaporation and trub so about 11 litres in the FV after I chill. At the moment it is easier to chill given the volume of liquid. That is fine for partials and for AG I just dilute in the FV. I still need to fine tune that part [biggrin] I am getting a bigger pot with a ball valve and will brew/boil in the garage or on the patio. Then I will no-chill in a cube or jerry can. When I am ready I will just pour it into the FV, maybe through a strainer to help aerate it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrahamB8 Posted January 26, 2013 Share Posted January 26, 2013 That is fine for partials and for AG I just dilute in the FV. I still need to fine tune that part Do you have to add much more in the way of hops to allow for under utilisation when your diluting? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lotm Posted January 26, 2013 Share Posted January 26, 2013 Sorry my question should have been "How do you currently transfer wort to the cube?". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hairy Posted January 26, 2013 Share Posted January 26, 2013 Graham, last time I estimated what my boil gravity would be and worked out I needed to add an extra 20% of hops. It seemed to work fine. The very late additions I left the same. Lotm, I currently use 1/4 whirfloc tablet and whirlpool which settles the trub at the bottom of the pot. I gently pour it through a strainer into the FV trying not to disturb the trub (which isn't easy). I leave the last bit behind and if a little makes its way into the FV then it will settle out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted January 26, 2013 Share Posted January 26, 2013 Fermenter 1: K\xf6lsch flavoured Soft Drink [lol] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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