First off, I corrected my BeerSmith equipment profile. I reduced the Lauter Tun Deadspace to 0, because this parameter doesn't apply to BIAB brewing. I reduced the Lost to Boil Trub and Chiller to 0.2 quarts, because I'm not really sure what to put here, but I know I don't lose half a gallon to trub.
Finally, I measured the boil-off to be a little less than a gallon when I boiled three gallons, which came out to be about 30%. Mash Tun Volume is 24 quarts and Mash Tun Weight is 9 lbs.
Hopefully, these more accurate parameters should give me a more predictable brew day!
The recipe:
Style: English IPA TYPE: All Grain Recipe Specifications -------------------------- Batch Size: 11.00 qt Boil Size: 15.75 qt Estimated OG: 1.063 SG Estimated Color: 12.5 SRM Estimated IBU: 38.3 IBU Brewhouse Efficiency: 65.00 % Boil Time: 60 Minutes Ingredients: ------------ Amount Item Type % or IBU 6 lbs 2.1 oz Pale Malt, Maris Otter (2.5 SRM) Grain 86.00 % 4.0 oz Biscuit Malt (19.0 SRM) Grain 3.51 % 4.0 oz Crystal/Caramel Malt -120L (120.0 SRM) Grain 3.51 % 4.0 oz White Wheat Malt (3.1 SRM) Grain 3.51 % 4.0 oz Crystal/Caramel Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM) Grain 3.48 % 15.00 gm Northern Brewer (MoreBeer 2011) [8.60 %] (Hops 29.8 IBU 19.00 gm Goldings, East Kent (MoreBeer 2011) [7.20 %Hops - 20.00 gm Fuggles (MoreBeer 2011) [5.10 %] (10 min) Hops 8.5 IBU 4.00 gm Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) (Mash 60.0 min) Misc 1 Pkgs Nottingham (Danstar #-) Yeast-Ale Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Medium Body Total Grain Weight: 7.13 lb ---------------------------- Single Infusion, Medium Body Step Time Name Description Step Temp 60 min Mash In Add 9.97 qt of water at 165.1 F 152.0 F Notes: ------ Note: Add only 10 qts at first, but I add up to 2 more of hot sparge water for raising temp. Consider heating some water to boiling for this instead of using sparge temp water. Mash in 170 oven. Stir every 20 minutes. Sparge twice with about 1 gallon each time. Mash longer than 60 minutes if iodine test doesn't show full conversion. Try mashout to raise efficiency - either heat up or use hot water. If you have very soft water, you may optionally add 7g of gypsum and 7g of chalk. (I will try just adding 4g, 1 tsp, of gypsum for now) You may substitute Danstar Nottingham for the WLP013. If using a yeast with lower attentuation (like WLP002) and making a high gravity IPA, dry out the beer by adding corn sugar or mashing at a lower temperature. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I subbed Nottingham for the WLP013 London Ale Yeast because I had it on hand.
The main event:
Things went bad before I even started. I checked my freshly milled sack of grain when I got home to find that it was VERY badly crushed. It consisted of 90% whole grains.
Solution?
I took a rolling pin and a 1 gallon zip lock and pounded that grain into submission, half a pound at a time. It took forever and I tore through 3-4 bags. The crush was very uneven, so I did it twice. I was sweating by the end of it. The result was an uneven grain crush with lots of flour and whole grains, but at least it was better than what I started with
To reduce the number of mash variables from last time, I mashed on the stove again. I used a ratio of 1.4 qts/lb and mashed for about two hours while I waited for my friend to get himself showered and come over. I did several iodine tests to make sure conversion was done.
An iodine test involves taking a sample of clear wort from your mash kettle and putting it on a white plate (not paper!). Add a few drops of 1-2% iodine and mix it up. If the mixture turns out very light and clear, that means the iodine didn't react with starch and you have full conversion. This is harder to do with dark beers, and you'll need to use less wort and consider placing the wort + iodine on a piece of white chalk.
Here's the thing to know about the iodine tests: it only tells you how much available starch has been converted to sugars. Thus, if you have an uncracked grain kernel, the water will not properly penetrate and convert the endosperm inside of it. If you have lots of uncracked grains, you could pass the iodine test and end up with very low efficiency anyway.
Anyway, on to the sparge. I decided to try something different this time. I split the 168 F sparge water in half and repeated the sparge process from last time twice. I measured 65% efficiency this time, which is better than last time despite the awful grain crush.
Here's a reminder of the process:
* Remove the bag and drain it with a rolling pin over the kettle, using a cooling rack or collander
* Pour the first runnings into a bucket
* Put the grain bag into the mash kettle with half of the sparge water at 168, stir it up, and wait ten minutes
* Repeat the above three steps with the other half of the sparge water
* Measure the volume using the marks on the bucket, stir up the wort very well, and take a gravity reading. Calculate your efficiency using this volume and SG measurement.
The rest of the process was pretty uneventful, except for one thing. I ended up with more water at the end than I should have. It turns out that I took the percentage of evaporation that I calculated at 3 gallons and applied it to the full batch. This actually led to BeerSmith calculating a larger eveporation rate, closer to 1.25 gallons than 1. I ended up with a higher volume beer than originally intended. Fortunately, the higher efficiency balanced out the extra water.
I rehydrated the Nottingham, pitched it and shook the crap out of the keg. Stuck it in an ice chest and that's that.
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