Second Grainfather brew

[Granarian]

So I had some time to use the GF again today. Planned to make "Granary Punk IPA" (basically Brewdog Punk IPA with Citra replacing Nelson Sauvin).

Got up early, heating the strike water nicely....then fused my garage. Checked the fuse board, couldn't get it restarted so called out the emergency electrician. Had to wait four hours....then he reset the fuse board with the flick of a finger. The RCD had tripped and when I was resetting for some reason switch had got stuck. He was in the house less than 60 seconds!! Not my finest hour. :whistle:

Anyway, basic recipe is as follows:

Maris Otter Extra Pale - 4.38Kg
Caramalt - 0.25Kg

Mash at 66C for 75mins. 16L of strike water at 72C
Sparged 15.7L at 75C

Chinook 20g, 75 mins
Ahtanum 12.5g, 75 mins

Chinook 20g, 40 mins
Ahtanum 12.5g 40 mins

Half Protofloc 10 mins

Chinook 27.5g, 5 mins
Ahtanum 12.5g, 5 mins
Simcoe 12.5g, 5 mins
Citra 12.5g, 5 mins

Wyeast 1056 American Ale

Aiming for OG 1053, FG 1011. 25L target for boil to leave 20L.
Target ABV 5.6%, EBC 15, SRM 7.6

I'm planning to dry hop post fermentation for five days with:
Chinook 47.5g
Ahtanum 37.5g
Simcoe 37.5g
Citra 20g
Cascade 37.5g
Amarillo 10g

I had a few niggles through the brew:

1. the wort didn't run clear until late in the mash. I used some advice from the forum and stirred the grains 10 minutes before the end of the mash, which obviously made the wort cloudy again.

2. when recirculating the wort, it ends up running heavily down the overflow pipe. I don't mind this, but not sure it's the most effective recirculation. I suspect this is because the amount of water GF recommend means the mash is a really thick porridge.

3. again, I really struggled to get a sensible pre-boil gravity. I mixed the wort for a few minutes to make sure the sparge was mixed well in, but was coming up at around 1041 (temp adjusted).

4. my Wyeast "smack pack" had obviously been smacked in transit as it arrived fully blown. I left in the fridge for ten days while waiting for the brew, so hopefully it will be ok.

I ended up with exactly 20L at an OG of 1051, which was pleasingly close to target (1053). It's all pitched with the Wyeast and fingers are crossed.

If I believe my 1041 reading, it's an efficiency of 72% - using the OG of 1051 it's nearer 90%. Sound right?

I have to say I'm loving the GF - once my electrical woes were behind me, it was 5 hours from beginning to end including cleaning the GF and putting my mess away.

Views on my niggles very welcome!!

 

[Leon103]

How did you work out that is 90% efficient?

 

[Granarian]

Brewer's Friend Brewhouse Efficiency Calculator. I was using the pre-boil vol & OG, which I guess isn't right. Have just rechecked - post bol volume 20L & OG of 1051 is 70%. Using pre-boil volume of 26L and 1041 is 72%, so it's clearly in the 70ish% range.

Is it right that gravity increases through the boil?

 

[Slid]

Brewer's Friend Brewhouse Efficiency Calculator. I was using the pre-boil vol & OG, which I guess isn't right. Have just rechecked - post bol volume 20L & OG of 1051 is 70%. Using pre-boil volume of 26L and 1041 is 72%, so it's clearly in the 70ish% range.

Is it right that gravity increases through the boil?

Yes, as the amount of water decreases due to evaporation and the amount of sugar stays much the same.

 

[stevie123]

That recipe looks rather nice:thumb:

 

[Dads_Ale]

I had a similar problem with my second brew during the GF trial.
The first brew went exactly by the book but with the second during the mash the re-circ pump sounded like it had air in it and I had to add water so as more went down the overflow. The wort did not go clear and the sparge took an absolute age. I put it down to the crush of the malt for the second brew being too fine, but I couldn't double check as I had to send the GF back. I must say though that it didn't affect the resulting beer in any way.

 

[Granarian]

I had a similar problem with my second brew during the GF trial.
The first brew went exactly by the book but with the second during the mash the re-circ pump sounded like it had air in it and I had to add water so as more went down the overflow. The wort did not go clear and the sparge took an absolute age. I put it down to the crush of the malt for the second brew being too fine, but I couldn't double check as I had to send the GF back. I must say though that it didn't affect the resulting beer in any way.

Thanks. I thought the crush looked finer than I'd seen before, but the sparge was fine. I gave it a good mix before starting, which helped.

 

[Hoddy]

Two things.

1) the reason you couldn't reset the MCB and your electrician could was the MCB was cold by the time he got there. Those things work on a thermal basis and if you have a slow steady rise and have a fault on something that keeps it just below 32amp (for example) it can take 20 mins plus to cool.

2) if you get a smack pack that's expanded its always suggested to run a starter off of it. The yeast has most likely been worked hard so could do with a boost in cell reserves and a build up in cell count to get started quick. Will prolly be ok but did it take a while to get going?

Three...... Well I have a BM and no such issues with wort clearing, sparging or pumps cavatating. [emoji6]

You can't beat a good heavy hopped IPA.

 

[Granarian]

Two things.

1) the reason you couldn't reset the MCB and your electrician could was the MCB was cold by the time he got there. Those things work on a thermal basis and if you have a slow steady rise and have a fault on something that keeps it just below 32amp (for example) it can take 20 mins plus to cool.

2) if you get a smack pack that's expanded its always suggested to run a starter off of it. The yeast has most likely been worked hard so could do with a boost in cell reserves and a build up in cell count to get started quick. Will prolly be ok but did it take a while to get going?

Three...... Well I have a BM and no such issues with wort clearing, sparging or pumps cavatating. [emoji6]

You can't beat a good heavy hopped IPA.

Thanks - makes me feel a bit less clueless. Temperature must have been the issue!! :whistle:

I just pitched the yeast and it's bubbling away today, so looks ok. Only checked after 24 hours, but looks like a quick start.

A bit late for me to buy a BM now - don't think Mrs G would go for that! :)

 

[Granarian]

So, just dry hopped with a crazy amount of hops. Only just thought through the fact that I should have had something to weight the hop bag down, so it's floating at the moment! Will add a few of the kids marbles tomorrow. Smells good!:smile:

 

[Granarian]

FG 1.012, so pretty much spot on. Planning a cold crash and bottling any day. Tastes great, quite like Punk so hopefully clears and carbonates well!