A Little Confused (maybe overwhelmed) With Gravity And When To Fix It

[Brew Cat]

pretty sure its the latter

 

[Craigerrr]

We are very, very good at thread drift!! I like to think that it's because we're all intelligent and well-rounded and conversant on many topics rather than just a bunch of addled and idle-minded attention-deficit fools with not much better to do.

Using a lot of big words, dumb it down buddy

 

[Bigbre04]

Using a lot of big words, dumb it down buddy

I like words

 

[Craigerrr]

I like words

Ya, you would...

 

[J A]

Using a lot of big words, dumb it down buddy

Can't help being verbose and loquacious.

 

[Craigerrr]

Can't help being verbose and loquacious.

Don make me get all truculant now

 

[J A]

Don make me get all truculant now

"Whatever truculent means, if that's good, I'm that" ...Mohamed Ali

 

[Donoroto]

I like words

Words is good.

 

[Spittybug]

I BIAB and have posted several questions in the "General" section.....I think I need to be here.

I have done maybe a couple dozen brews that are typically kits and a recipe or two that tell me what to expect in terms of original gravity. I think I get that if I build a recipe in BF or use a kit......at some point during the mash I should take a hydro reading and see where my gravity is and see if that aligns to my expected result. Better sooner than later to know where you stand. If the reading is too low...maybe mash a little longer. If the reading is too high work to dilute (using the calculator) pre boil. Am I thinking about this right? I mostly know what happens in my kettle once I get to boil. I feel really close to grasping the basic concepts BUT I am still a bit unsure of the details to provide consistency in my process. That said, I have brew a few fine beers.

I've seen many questions like this over the years. I have been a whole grain brewer, with kegging, for at least 15 years. I have temp sensors controlling my mash and boil tuns. I take a very pragmatic approach; don't worry about it. When mashing, I will take brix readings starting at about 1 hour. Every 10 minutes or so I'll check to see if the value continues to climb or not. Once I get a couple in a row that aren't changing, I call it a mash, crank up the herms temperature and start to transfer to the boil kettle slowly. As the mash dries out, I sparge some more, let it drain away. Over and over until I hit my 13.5gal mark on the kettle. I take a sample and record the gravity. I have done what I can up to this point and countless batches have refined the process. The gravity will be what the gravity will be. I boil to 11gal and transfer to the fermenter via the chiller. Add Tilt and pitch yeast once I'm happy with the temperature. Bottom line? I drink VOLUME, not ABV. I'm never going to taste the difference between a 6.9% beer and a 7.1% beer, but I damned sure will miss a few pints from mucking around and boiling away volume! Hone the process, and then don't worry about the final numbers.