SG?

[jl72189]

So i have got to a place in brewing where i think i have the process down and i feel that i can make "beer" now i was looking to make the next step. I brew all grain from a 48 quart cooler into a 7.5 gal kettle and after the boil i am normally i do not hit my starting gravity. I have read a bit on this and i have seen some use a refractometer to hit there SG. I use Beer smith and i have it set for a Single infusion at 152 deg and i can never hit the SG that beer smith has. I was wondering if any of you guys some tips to hit SG?


Thanks

I was looking at purching this to help me get there but i am not sure if this is needed.

http://www.austinhomebrew.com/product_i ... ts_id=1014

[meisel]

So i have got a place in brewing where i think i have the process down and i feel that i can make "beer" now i was looking to make the next step. I brew all grain from a 48 quart cooler into a 7.5 gal kettle and after the boil i am normally i do not hit my starting gravity. I have read a bit on this and i have seen some use a refractometer to hit there SG. I use Beer smith and i have it set for a Single infusion at 152 deg and i can never hit the SG that beer smith has. I was wondering if any of you guys some tips to hit SG?


Thanks

I was looking at purching this to help me get there but i am not sure if this is needed.

http://www.austinhomebrew.com/product_i ... ts_id=1014

I'm guessing you are coming in a bit low? There are several factors that can affect this. If you fly sparge consider going slower or take a look at your manifold design, you may be channeling. Do you mill your own grain? Consider a finer grist. There are other factors to consider too. Have you calculated your mash efficiency? You may need to adjust your recipe, simply add more grain, no problem, grain is cheap! I think a refract is a handy tool though not necessary. I dont bother taking OG readings anymore, hell I don't even weigh my grain anymore. Hope this helps. SB

[jl72189]

THANK YOU for the response.

I do come in low, we fly sparge from a pitcher onto a bucket lid it takes us about 4-5 min to complete. I normally have my grain milled from Austins HB, and shipped i normally brew with a week. I have not found out what our efficiency is, i just went with what was in beersmith "75%"

What is a normal time to fly sparge?

How do you find out your efficiency?

thanks again

Jim

[JMcG]

You could also check for conversion before the sparge to make sure you're getting all the sugars. A few drops of wort on a clean white plate (no husk or grain) and one drop of tincture of iodine. If the iodine turns black/purple there is still residual starch and you need to mash for longer.
Fly sparge is more efficient than batch sparge, but takes longer usually. I usually take 45-60 min to lauter/sparge.
Lee is right, you should keep track of your yield and calculate your efficiency. In Beer Smith you can enter your brewhouse efficiency and then it will more accurately predict your FG. If you're hitting 70-80% on average size beers that's pretty good. Larger beers sometimes come in lower, depending on your system. Calculate efficiency by adding the total potential of the grain bill and comparing that to you results. Here's a site to help: http://www.brewersfriend.com/brewhouse-efficiency/
The refractometer is nice because you can check the sugar content into the fermenter without having to waste several ounces of wort for the hydrometer and you can monitor the fermentation with tiny samples. But they are kind of expensive and not really necessary. Check E-Bay for cheaper options if you go that way.
Check your grist, should break the malt grains into 5-6 pieces with small amount of "flour" dust and the husk should remain intact to improve drainage and prevent a stuck mash.

jim

[Jdl973]

One tip if you are going to buy a refractometer ...make sure it has a ATM...automatic temperature modulator. This will allow you to take samples at high temp during the mash and get an accurate measurement. If you get one without an ATM (wine makers typical don't need an ATM) you will have to cool your sample to about 72F (depends on the model) and each degree over/under this will effect the accuracy of your reading.

For home brewing, in my opinion, taste is more important than efficiency. With a 5-10 gal batch, if we add a pound here and there, we are only out a couple bucks. With the big industrial brewers, for every fraction of a % efficacy on a 1000 barrel batch, it cost them big bucks.

my $0.02

Jason