Hi there
Just brewed a Russian imperial stout to add to the south Dublin barrel.
I ended up with too much wort in the kettle and I put it down to some mistakes that I made (adding extra 3 litres of hot water to try and get mash to strike temperature. This I can fix by making sure the original water is hotter before adding the grain.
The additional wort left after the boil I put down to two things (would appreciate if others more experienced would comment whether my diagnosis is any way accurate? I stopped draining the kettle @25 litres and there was another lie and a half in the bottom of the kettle.
1. I used hop bags that hold the hops in place. I believe theses reduced the amount of wort lost to absorption. Previously I did the same recipe without hop bags (& without the extra water) and I had only 18 litres of wort
2. I covered the kettle meaning that I had very little steam compared to when it was uncovered where my garage was filled with steam. I suspect this was a major cause of the extra wort as I was not really losing anything to evaporation.
Shanna
Shouldn't you leave the lid off the brew kettle to let the dimethyl sulfides boil off? I read somewhere that these can cause off flavours in your beer.
The hop bag won't make any difference to the amount of water absobed as long as you didn't squeeze.
Metattron is right the lid on is the issue, what was your OG?
Hi there
Og was around 1.082.
Shanna
Was thinking that the hops in the bag would absorb less liquid than the loose leaf hops as the previous effort the hops absorbed 3 to 4 litres of wort.
Shanna
Quote from: Shanna on May 19, 2013, 08:09:46 PM
Hi there
Og was around 1.082.
Shanna
:( thats the lowest so far, have you pitched already if not reboil or consider dme or sugar.
Even your first one was 1.0 +
Quote from: Shanna on May 19, 2013, 08:12:22 PM
Was thinking that the hops in the bag would absorb less liquid than the loose leaf hops as the previous effort the hops absorbed 3 to 4 litres of wort.
Shanna
Once your bag is big enough and they had plenty of room to circulate that won't make a lot of difference and they will absorb the same, when it comes to hauling them out at the finish you probably do get a litre more as you let them drain but that would be it.
If you used 3 litres more to start and didn't take your lid off your gravity will be low, you need to contra that some other way.
One of the wickla lads boiled for 2 hours! others chucked in brewing sugar or DME to compensate for additional water vols.
I pitched anyway did not have the time Unfortunately to add extra sugar or dme as I was under serious time pressure to get finished. Beginning to think your next post is going to tell me the gravity is to low and it will be no good to use. Hope this is not the case.
Shanna
Depending on what it finishes at it will probably be 7.5% - 8%. And then it will only be about 10% the volume of the barrel so it's not going to have a massive impact on it
It'll still have that dms though...
Quote from: Shanna on May 19, 2013, 08:34:32 PM
I pitched anyway did not have the time Unfortunately to add extra sugar or dme as I was under serious time pressure to get finished. Beginning to think your next post is going to tell me the gravity is to low and it will be no good to use. Hope this is not the case.
Shanna
two things, its not my call, I am only a contributor, I would be concerned if we were all like that, and as Beerfly says 1 in 10 won't be a problem, can use it as the topper upper in any case.
Metattron makes a valid point about the dms so we will have to see on tasting day :-(
Don't sweat it, RIS is a hell of a brew to lose your all grain virginity!
Would adding dme boiled in water in the secondary be an option? The Lid was on for about 70 minutes as the Chiler was put n in with last twenty minutes.
Shanna
Hi Ciderhead
This is the topper up beer that I did as a 2nd batch or at least a portion of it will be used for topping. I'd it does not b taste right then it will not go in
Shanna
Quote from: Ciderhead on May 19, 2013, 09:28:09 PM
Quote from: Shanna on May 19, 2013, 08:34:32 PM
I pitched anyway did not have the time Unfortunately to add extra sugar or dme as I was under serious time pressure to get finished. Beginning to think your next post is going to tell me the gravity is to low and it will be no good to use. Hope this is not the case.
Shanna
two things, its not my call, I am only a contributor, I would be concerned if we were all like that, and as Beerfly says 1 in 10 won't be a problem, can use it as the topper upper in any case.
Metattron makes a valid point about the dms so we will have to see on tasting day :-(
Don't sweat it, RIS is a hell of a brew to lose your all grain virginity!
Quote from: Shanna on May 19, 2013, 09:30:32 PM
Would adding dme boiled in water in the secondary be an option? The Lid was on for about 70 minutes as the Chiler was put n in with last twenty minutes.
Shanna
time to stop panicking, have a read of this and leave it alone, it'll be fine
http://beersmith.com/blog/2012/04/10/dimethyl-sulfides-dms-in-home-brewed-beer/
Sanity in a world gone mad. Thanks Ciderhead feel better now. Beer is bubbling away in my kitchen as we speak :)
Shanna
Hi Tube
How do you accurately measure the gravity at temperature when you have 60C wort? As for lessons learned I have nearly a dozen from last night's/this mornings effort. No 1 is get enough sleep so that you don't make silly mistakes. I was covering the kettle on the belief that it would more efficient from an electricity point of view. It also wad that two kettles elements produce some amount of steam.
But I digress I have learned a load from the last 24 hours and also that people in the forum go above and beyond to help. Appreciate this.
Shanna
Doh, sometimes I wonder why things are so simple but not so obvious. Another tip squared away for future use.
Other thing I have learned is that the temp reported by the thermometer in sight glass is not representative of the entire 50ltrv container. I used the immersion cooler this morning to drop the temp of the wort down to 25c yet when I measured a sample of it from the bottom of the kettle it was closer to 30c. I suspect this is because the immersion chiller does not reach the bottom of the kettle due to it being too elder and snagging on the kettle elements.
Thanks again.
Shanna
Brenmurph put me onto one of these
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Infrared-Thermometer-Digital-IR-High-Temperature-meter-/110839491932?ssPageName=ADME:L:OC:IE:3160
Thought it was going to be rubbish, amazingly accurate and great for measuring temp differentials especially for my lager worts and my starters and my HLT strike temp and confirmation of my mash temps, and when the kids are sick and ..... (http://www.desismileys.com/smileys/desismileys_3266.gif) (http://www.desismileys.com/) Brendan!
Quote from: Shanna on May 19, 2013, 11:37:45 PM
How do you accurately measure the gravity at temperature when you have 60C wort?
I use a refractometer, just need one drop!
These are great at the mashing, sparging, boiling start of the beer. They need compensation and become less acuurate as fermentation progresses. Use a hydrometer then
But for hot wort they are the Dogs!!
I have a refractometer myself and find it a bit of a PITA. It's not as accurate as a hydrometer and you need to do calcultations for fermented beer to get the FG. For getting gravity at temperature I use this site: http://dd26943.com/davesdreaded/tools/convert.htm
Stick in you temp (in F) and your measured gravity and it will tell you the actual gravity. Very useful. Plan is to add tools like this to our site, when we get the time...
the refractometer is very handy as will said for quick readings on the brew day. i always double check with a hydrometer before pitching and am always within a few points. im sure im a point or two off on the hydrometer too with foam and meniscus. my refractometer has a brix and sg scale. if you see one going cheap i think its worth picking up
i only use a hydrometer for OG dont think i would trust the conversion to be right.
Check out beersmith mobile for hydrometer adjustment. Handy for on the spot measurements.