I would need an accurate, complete and succinct summary of all brewing equipment, measurements taken and nuances of the brew day. I know you’re looking for a precise answer but I can’t give you one simply because I would need the bigger picture and then perhaps question some inane minute detail of each step.
If you really left a gallon of liquid in your mash tun - simply tilt your mash tun to get it out! Seems to work for me, but I have the red model. [/quote]
Mines blue…there’s the issue.
i do tilt mine. This is just mind boggling to me that 1 gallon of water could be missing. I could swear there wasn’t that much liquid when I was cleaning it out. I’ve tested it before without grain and tilting and the dead space was less than half a gallon of water left.
I’m not looking for precise answers just a couple of ideas of what it could be. I can either check into those or eliminate them as possibilities. Problem solving 101.
I did use rice hulls previously when I was getting stuck sparges but perhaps I wasn’t using enough. I put down just enough the cover the bottom of the mash tun. Maybe a couple handfuls.
I always measure the gravity and volume of the first runnings, the gravity of the second runnings, and the gravity and volume of the combined runnings pre-boil. A refractometer is pretty useful for this. That is one more gravity measurement than I actually need to get all that info, but the redundancy is also protection against a bad reading (or writing something down wrong - which I have done). The second runnings gravity is particularly useful, because if I have roughly equal volumes for the two runnings like I typically try for, the second runnings should be very close to 1/4 of the gravity of the first runnings. If it is not, I know something is wrong immediately.
I don’t really shoot for it…it’s just the combination if factors of what I do, I guess. Unless I screw something up, I’m always at or near 100% conversion efficiency. I leave almost no wort behind in the mash tun, so my mash efficiency is in the mid 90s. If I calculate kettle losses correctly, my brewhouse efficiency runs anywhere from 85-93%.
I use a 70 qt. often for 5.5 gal. batches. No problems here.[/quote]
But I will not believe you for one second if you say you don’t lose more than 1 degree over the course of 60-90 minute mash. With all that headspace, I just don’t see how it’s possible to not…
i do tilt mine. This is just mind boggling to me that 1 gallon of water could be missing. I could swear there wasn’t that much liquid when I was cleaning it out. I’ve tested it before without grain and tilting and the dead space was less than half a gallon of water left.
.[/quote]
Are you sure you didn’t just accidentally short your strike water by a gallon?
i do tilt mine. This is just mind boggling to me that 1 gallon of water could be missing. I could swear there wasn’t that much liquid when I was cleaning it out. I’ve tested it before without grain and tilting and the dead space was less than half a gallon of water left.
.[/quote]
Are you sure you didn’t just accidentally short your strike water by a gallon?[/quote]
Yep, positive. I dilute my tap 50/50 with distilled. So i measured out 3 gallons from the tap and poured 3 gallons directly from the jugs into the kettle.
I use a 70 qt. often for 5.5 gal. batches. No problems here.[/quote]
But I will not believe you for one second if you say you don’t lose more than 1 degree over the course of 60-90 minute mash. With all that headspace, I just don’t see how it’s possible to not…[/quote]
In my experience, a pH of 5.0 vs 5.5 or anywhere in-between makes only a negligible difference on conversion.
Also, in my experience, draining all the free liquid can take TIME. While my run-offs and sparging was always rather quick for the first 5-6 gallons, getting that last 0.5-0.75 gallons took a few minutes. I’d typically prop the mash-tun up so that it’s at a nice angle, leave the ball valve open, and let it continue to collect in a small container while the majority of it was being heated to a boil. My container is graduated, so I know I collect at least half a gallon that way. Sometimes a full gallon. These were for finely crushed (<0.030") mashes, with rice hulls.
My bet would be that you have lots of “hidden” free liquid in your mash, and you need to follow a similar procedure.
Now, whether or not there’s anything inadvisable for such a procedure… I don’t know… but I suspect it’s okay.
[quote=“Silentknyght”]In my experience, a pH of 5.0 vs 5.5 or anywhere in-between makes only a negligible difference on conversion.
Also, in my experience, draining all the free liquid can take TIME. While my run-offs and sparging was always rather quick for the first 5-6 gallons, getting that last 0.5-0.75 gallons took a few minutes. I’d typically prop the mash-tun up so that it’s at a nice angle, leave the ball valve open, and let it continue to collect in a small container while the majority of it was being heated to a boil. My container is graduated, so I know I collect at least half a gallon that way. Sometimes a full gallon. These were for finely crushed (<0.030") mashes, with rice hulls.
My bet would be that you have lots of “hidden” free liquid in your mash, and you need to follow a similar procedure.
Now, whether or not there’s anything inadvisable for such a procedure… I don’t know… but I suspect it’s okay.[/quote]
I’ll give this a try next time. I just need something to safely hold the mashtun at a 45 without having to worry about it falling.
[quote=“Denny”]
Maybe 3-4…not enough to be concerned about.[/quote]
Gotcha. Same here. I don’t know how people keep it within 1 degree, unless they’re recirculating or something.
[quote=“Beersk”][quote=“Denny”]
Maybe 3-4…not enough to be concerned about.[/quote]
Gotcha. Same here. I don’t know how people keep it within 1 degree, unless they’re recirculating or something.[/quote]
Not may I suspect. And those who work so hard to do it probably don’t realize they’re wasting their time.
It is currently set at .039 which is where i set it before the last brew. I may try to close it a little bit more (.036) and start using more rice hulls. Gotta find a balance somewhere.
[quote=“zwiller”]You checked and the mill didn’t move? I was wondering if the roller settings slipped.
I am at 0.20". Never used rice hulls.[/quote]
I’m as fine as my JSP adjustable allows, whatever that is. Never used rice hulls, never had a stuck run off. But that will vary from person to person and system to system.
[quote=“mattnaik”][quote=“zwiller”]You checked and the mill didn’t move? I was wondering if the roller settings slipped.
I am at 0.20". Never used rice hulls.[/quote]
Yep checked before and after.[/quote]
Pretty sure he meant 0.020". That’s a really tight gap. I’m at 0.032 and I could probably go finer since I use a bag in the mashtun as well, but not sure I need to. I’m pretty happy with the 75-80% efficiency range. Plus, it takes long to mill the grain with a tighter gap…less space to feed the grain through. Not that that is a huge deal or anything…most of my grain bills are in the 6-9lb range for 4 gallon batches. Gets a bit more tedious on my larger 6-7 gallon batches with 14-17lbs of grain. Try the bag in the mashtun, man…
[/quote]