First AG: Volume less than desired!

[beercus]

Well after a few brews with cans, a few with extracts, and a few with some grain steeping I've decided to take the step and do AG.

I decided not to invest major dosh, drop $20 on a grain bag and a cube.

My equipment is a 19L big W special and a 9L pasta pot with built in strainer all done on the stove top wok burner.....

Standard golden ale recipe: 2.7kg wheat malt, 230g carapills, 800g Vienna, 230g Pilsner, Hops was Amarillo and Cascade, 45min, 20min and 0min(cubed) additions of both each time.

I mashed in the 19L pot for 60mins, starting temp was 68oC and after 60mins the temp was 63oC (wrapped in sleeping bag and towels to insulate)

I then sparged with 78oC water until the 19L pot was almost full. I then boiled for 90mins.

17.5L went into the cube and the next day @20oC the OG was 1.053

After some calculations and i ended up with 18L in the fermenter at about 1.046.


The original recipe ended with 21L, I assume my efficiency was way off therefore at the same OG I had less volume. I am somewhat disappointed to be short 3L of the good stuff (there was at least a good liter of sludge in the cube which i did not transfer)

So how can i increase the concentration of sugars to get more volume:
Do i just need to squeeze the bag more?
Sparge more and keep filing boiling pot?
Was the mash temp fluctuations to blame?
Should i just bite the bullet and get an urn....

Thanks in advance....
beercus

 

[manticle]

17.5L went into the cube and the next day @20oC the OG was 1.053

After some calculations and i ended up with 18L in the fermenter at about 1.046.

Very curious about this disparity.
As for volume - have you calculated loss from boil, loss to kettle trub and loss to grain absorprion?

 

[hsb]

I'm confused too. How did your wort grow 500ml? Mega pitch?

Maybe like manticle said, some losses you haven't factored in? and some guesses going on with amounts (based on how full your 19L pot is?) Is it definitely exactly 19L (if you're using that as the basis for your measurements?)

 

[n87]

what was the OG meant to be?

 

[Tahoose]

18 Ltrs of 1:046 in the fermenter from one 19ltr pot...

I'd be pretty happy with that.

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Ahh....The joys of your first "calculated" AG/BIAB and reality.

It takes a few brews to "dial in" your system.

Everyone who has made a brew rig, regardless of the the plans,methods,design etc finds thats that it will do everything except what you expect.

You need to put a few brews thru it to work out how it goes and to get a base line.

Your "base line" is the most important thing to get.

Everyone hase a different base line with there rig

 

[beercus]

Very curious about this disparity.As for volume - have you calculated loss from boil, loss to kettle trub and loss to grain absorprion?

Should of read " after calculation and DILUTION...... I did not calculate grain absorption.

what was the OG meant to be?

Beer smith calculated it at 1.043 which is what I used to calculate the dilution. 15L from cube went into fermenter (heaps of cube trub, as all kettle trub went into cube) added 3 litres of tap water.

I Also added tap water to boil to get 17.5 litres( the size of the cube)

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Beer smith calculated )

Beersmith/Promash/Beercalc/googlebeer will

But...they wont give you figures based on YOUR system

 

[beercus]

Beersmith/Promash/Beercalc/googlebeer will
But...they wont give you figures based on YOUR system

I've been playing around with system details in beer smith, but am still unsure of exact specs of system.