Decoction Efficiency Help!

[Blackmuse]

Okay, I had a feeling this would happen... Pre-Boil gravity is through the roof due to a double decoction and extended mash... expected 1.041 and I ended up with: 1.073! I could reduce the boil time... I think I will from 90 to 60 minutes... But what should I do with the hops - add more to compensate or should I expect this to also finish fairly high?

Any decoction insight and effecieincy there-in would be great! lol. It was a double decoction. All Dark munich malt.

 

[Megary]

That's crazy!

Can you add water, increase your volume, and make more beer? Maybe even split the batch and experiment a bit.

 

[Donoroto]

Okay, I had a feeling this would happen... Pre-Boil gravity is through the roof due to a double decoction and extended mash... expected 1.041 and I ended up with: 1.073! I could reduce the boil time... I think I will from 90 to 60 minutes... But what should I do with the hops - add more to compensate or should I expect this to also finish fairly high?

Any decoction insight and effecieincy there-in would be great! lol. It was a double decoction. All Dark munich malt.

41 to 73 is a large jump. Consider adding water to bring it down a ways.

 

[Daniel Parshley]

Never had that big a jump, but I think I would celebrate and pitch two packages of yeast. If I have that big a change, it is usually a mistake I made entering my recipe into the program. Did you have your hydrometer over a magnet (speaker or other device with a magnet)? I do both a O.G. and a BRIX. Usually they are close.

 

[Blackmuse]

@Megary @Donoroto and @Daniel Parshley - lol - I ended up upping the hops by .5 oz. and keeping the boil length... The weird thing is - I ended at 1.055 with an expected 1.048... Second time that has happened - using a refractometer... I must be doing something wrong... The refractometer and a hydrometer matched up on the OG.

Maybe I am pulling a sample before it has fully mixed with the sparge run-off?

 

[Donoroto]

@Megary @Donoroto and @Daniel Parshley - lol - I ended up upping the hops by .5 oz. and keeping the boil length... The weird thing is - I ended at 1.055 with an expected 1.048... Second time that has happened - using a refractometer... I must be doing something wrong... The refractometer and a hydrometer matched up on the OG.

Maybe I am pulling a sample before it has fully mixed with the sparge run-off?

Could be. Temperature also has an effect.

Consider taking your sample only after the grain is gone, but before the boil starts. The refractometer is often good here because the (tiny) sample cools quickly. But keep the hydrometer sample handy, you can pour it back in even 45 minutes later after it had cooled and was measured.

 

[Blackmuse]

Could be. Temperature also has an effect.

Consider taking your sample only after the grain is gone, but before the boil starts. The refractometer is often good here because the (tiny) sample cools quickly. But keep the hydrometer sample handy, you can pour it back in even 45 minutes later after it had cooled and was measured.

That is exactly what I did... Grains were gone and I was prepping for boil. Maybe I should have stirred the wort a bit before the pull? I'm pretty sure the sample was under 180 degrees and it was read with the refractometer. I should have pulled a sample to cool and check with the hydrometer too though...

Strange. Oh well... Brew day went well overall - I'm glad the gravity ended up where it did and I'm glad I made the slight hop adjustment. Here's to hoping the decoctions lend a nice body to the beer. They certainly darkened it up! I could see it darkening in the decoction pot. Wild.

 

[Mike1190]

I was going to suggest stirring your wort prior to taking the pre-boil gravity. 1.041 to 1.073 seems like a drastic jump, even with a decoction. Though without seeing the grain bill and without knowing what efficiency you calculated the recipe for, it's difficult to know.

I believe that wort will stratify after it's collected with the more dense wort settling to the bottom of the kettle. I always stir the wort like crazy immediately prior to taking the pre-boil gravity reading to make sure it's as accurate as possible.

 

[Minbari]

I never have seen that big difference in SG and I only use a refractometer during mash because of the temp issue. My only difference is that I recirc continuously, so any stratification doesn't happen.

 

[SheilaF]

Double decoction will really boost the fermentability. Dark Munich malt is also a good fermentable grain. Decoction is a very effective way to increase the fermentability if you don't want to buy a better brewing system. The key is the decoction system which is an open fermenter. It is essentially a large mash tun which has an opening on the bottom. You can heat the mash with a campfire or stove and then you can use a large stirring stick to move the mash to the upper part of the tun. You can do this as many times as you want depending on the gravity you need. It takes time and effort but it is very effective in boosting the fermentability.

 

[Josh Hughes]

Interestingly inelegant bot

 

[Pricelessbrewing]

Double decoction will really boost the fermentability. Dark Munich malt is also a good fermentable grain. Decoction is a very effective way to increase the fermentability if you don't want to buy a better brewing system. The key is the decoction system which is an open fermenter. It is essentially a large mash tun which has an opening on the bottom. You can heat the mash with a campfire or stove and then you can use a large stirring stick to move the mash to the upper part of the tun. You can do this as many times as you want depending on the gravity you need. It takes time and effort but it is very effective in boosting the fermentability.

Please blink twice if you're not a bot...

 

[Josh Hughes]

 

[Ward Chillington]

Maybe I am pulling a sample before it has fully mixed with the sparge run-off

Yeah...done that one. Is your refractometer one of the automatic temperature adjusting types?

 

[Blackmuse]

Yeah...done that one. Is your refractometer one of the automatic temperature adjusting types?

Yes it is.

 

[Ward Chillington]

Lol...campfires and stirring sticks...very seasonable for our neck of the woods...musta missed that ...

@Blackmuse ...ok then...not a tool's error...did you figure out what happened? The only thing that makes sense to me is that decoction is no longer a common practice as the malts that we use today are more efficient that malts used when dedication was a routine practice. 1.040 is pretty easily reached these days where as a process designed to get more sugars out of the grain probably could get you to that range...in your case it sounds like it did!

 

[Dornbox]

@Megary @Donoroto and @Daniel Parshley - lol - I ended up upping the hops by .5 oz. and keeping the boil length... The weird thing is - I ended at 1.055 with an expected 1.048... Second time that has happened - using a refractometer... I must be doing something wrong... The refractometer and a hydrometer matched up on the OG.

Maybe I am pulling a sample before it has fully mixed with the sparge run-off?

I get this all the time in my kettle after fly sparging. Now I mix it and don't bother checking my gravity until I've nearly reached a boil. I think the temp and density factor makes a hard gradient in my kettle that even a little stirring doesn't completely resolve.