1st Partial Help

[gunbrew]

Mashed 2kg of fresh cracked grain for 2 hours at 70 degrees.
Took the grain out and was left with 6 litres of sweet tasting goodness.
Boiled for an hour with 4 hop additions.
20g super alfa/10g cluster @start of boil, 0min.
20g super alfa/20g cluster @30mins.
32g super alfa @50min.
Added 3x1.7kg beer kits @55min.
40g Cluster @60 min/flame out.

put this 10 litres into my fermenter and added 40 litres of water.
OG is 1045 and I was a little dissapointed it was not higher.(should have added less water)

Question being does the grain that is left have any more useable fermentables that i can get?
If do how?
Should i mash it at 70 degrees again?
It is wrapped in a grain bag sitting in a large bowl, the liquid draining out is starchy.
Thanks.

 

[manticle]

Two things come to mind.

Sounds like you forgot to sparge.

More importantly though, if the liquid is tasting starchy then it sounds like it's possible that conversion has not completed and 70 might be a bit too high (good average temp for steeping, mashing should be lower).

Personally I would do one of two things but this is simply based on me having been there and fucked things up too, not some experty sciency white coat type thingy.

Mash again. Keep it lower than 70 - aim for 65. Put that aside and measure the gravity. If it looks and tastes good add it in. Rinse that in hot water (75ish). Put that aside. Measure gravity (when cool) if it looks and tastes good wack it in.

Have some DME on standby to throw in if the gravity is still too low.

The second thing is just to use the DME to up the gravity and learn for next time. The number of partials that stuffed up in one way or another certainly taught me a lot about lateral thinking.

 

[manticle]

Just re-read that you put 40 litres of water into the fermenter already. How big is the fermenter?

 

[gunbrew]

Thanks for your reply.
It's a 60 litre fermenter and I normally make 50 litres each batch.
I did not sparge, not sure what that is.
Sounds like I should have read up a bit more before hand.

The liquid I used was not starchy, tasted very sweet and malty.
The left overs leaking out of my left over grain is.

Just went and pitched the yeast.
will try re mash at 65 as suggested and add if it's ok.
Is starch bad for the brew?

Two things come to mind.

Sounds like you forgot to sparge.

More importantly though, if the liquid is tasting starchy then it sounds like it's possible that conversion has not completed and 70 might be a bit too high (good average temp for steeping, mashing should be lower).

Personally I would do one of two things but this is simply based on me having been there and fucked things up too, not some experty sciency white coat type thingy.

Mash again. Keep it lower than 70 - aim for 65. Put that aside and measure the gravity. If it looks and tastes good add it in. Rinse that in hot water (75ish). Put that aside. Measure gravity (when cool) if it looks and tastes good wack it in.

Have some DME on standby to throw in if the gravity is still too low.

The second thing is just to use the DME to up the gravity and learn for next time. The number of partials that stuffed up in one way or another certainly taught me a lot about lateral thinking.

 

[manticle]

OK.

Sparging is basically rinsing the grains with hot water. Mashing them (soaking in ~65 degree water for ~60 mins) converts the starches to sugars. Those sugars are likely to cling to the grain so they are then rinsed off with hot water. This is known as sparging. If the remainder tasted starchy it suggests conversion wasn't complete. You may still have converted some starch into sugar which would be the resulting sweetness.

You can fly sparge which is a method of continual rinsing and draining at the same rate. Supposedly this gives the best efficiency. I've never done it.

You can batch sparge which is basically adding ~50% of your total pre-boil volume (or half the volume you expect to get with a partial) of hot water (70 - 75 degrees) after you have drained the first lot of wort.

The combination of the first runnings and the sparge usually make up the wort.

There is another method known as English sparging which is very simialr to batch sparging but the water is left in longer. this is how small beer is made but it can also be blended to make one wort. English sparging might occur several times to get either a blend or several different gravity worts.

You can still make good beer upping gravity with some dme so don't feel like it's a wasted exercise. I find I learn best from my mistakes.

Starch can be less than ideal for a brew. I forget why at present but it sounds like you left a lot of it behind. I wouldn't worry too much. It may not be perfect but it will still be beer and well drinkable (provided sanitation and ferment temps are under control) and you will probably feel most poud of your efforts. If you got your first attempt at mashing spot on I would expet to hear the sound of Angels trumpetting over your tun.

 

[Cocko]

20g super alfa/10g cluster @start of boil, 0min.
20g super alfa/20g cluster @30mins.
32g super alfa @50min.
Added 3x1.7kg beer kits @55min.
40g Cluster @60 min/flame out.

Sorry maybe not much help NOW but for future recipe readings...

The first hop addition at the start of the boil is usually referred to as the 60 minute addition and then counting down...

So eg:

Boil starts add 60

35 minutes later is a 25 hop addition etc...

Just flip it, you have it backwards!

Cheers!