first AG

[saskman]

Well I did it. with a few set backs I brewed a dort. Beersmith says the pre-boil should be 1.040 mine was 1.032
OG of 1.052 mine was 1.040
what will this do to the outcome of the beer? also I might be a tad short on the 3 gallon mark.
only starting off with baby steps................

[BrewDog]

First, congratulations- making the jump to AG is a big step.
Your beer will be thinner bodied and a bit lower alcohol than you planned. No big deal. Very, very, very few people's first AG batch goes perfectly.

You probably sparged too quickly (if you fly sparged), or if you batch sparged, you sparged using only 1 water addition. Next time, split your sparge water into multiple additions (2 or 3) and do the drain, add water, stir, recirc, drain sequence multiple times using the smaller volumes of water. There is a reason (physics related) that the muliple smaller batches will extract more sugars than 1 big water addition.

Let us know how it turns out, and congratulations again.

HTH-

[Mad Scientist]

Congrats on the step to AG.

Why not post you process and recipe, so we can help you improve a bit.

[saskman]

not sure how to post the recipe besides typing it all out but just a short break down

I added the following to my mash/tun after I heated it.
4.40 Lbs Prairie malt 2 row
2.20 Lbs Vienna malt
mashed in with 2.2 gallons @ 163F
held mash at 152ishF
Vorlauf the wart until clear the drained into brew pot
added 2.5 gallons @ 168F let sit 10 min
at this point I forgot to Vorlauf and went straight to brew pot
I the boiled for 60 min adding my hop schedual.
I dont have a chiller so I used ice and snow.
once chilled to 75F I funneled it into carboy and added yeast.

[BrewDog]

Yep, you added all of your batch sparge rinse water in 1 shot. Next time split that into 2 separate 1.25 gallon addition/stir/drain steps and your efficiency will climb.


HTH-

[saskman]

and I could have done that cause I use 2 pots on the stove well live and learn, I have enough grain to try it again later. and thanks for the advice.

[markaberrant]

Originally posted by BrewDog
Yep, you added all of your batch sparge rinse water in 1 shot. Next time split that into 2 separate 1.25 gallon addition/stir/drain steps and your efficiency will climb.


HTH-

Wouldn't the 2nd sparge have a very low OG, and risk introducing astringency/tannins? I've always done a single sparge and gotten 65-75% (depending on grain bill), and I've never heard of anyone doing multiple sparges with normal gravity beers for the reason I stated.

[BrewDog]

Mark-

No, the gravity doesn't get that low. I've done as many as 3 batches and the gravity was still above 1.010.

[markaberrant]

Originally posted by BrewDog
Mark-

No, the gravity doesn't get that low. I've done as many as 3 batches and the gravity was still above 1.010.

Well that's something to keep in mind I guess. Thanks for the tip!

[saskman]

Transfered to secondary today SG was 1.007 tasted the sample and can really tast a "grainy" taste