My May Mild

[Ward Chillington]

So I'm putting together my recipe outline and steps for a Dark Mild and I have run into a bit of a headscratch that I want to solicit your help with as to getting to the target 5.5 gallon batch.

The grainbill is about 7.1 pounds and with my normal process using 1.5 and 2 quarts per pound respectively for my strike and sparge water, after boil off and kettle loss, I'm about 2 gallons shy of the 5.5 target. I know i could just dump in water to make up the delta but that's gonna screw with my gravity.

I've never brewed a small beer so what's the trick?

 

[Minbari]

What is the Fg target? I do plenty batches that are only 7-8 lbs of grain. I just mash at about 3 gallons and top up before the boil.
Of course the mash gravity is much higher than you want, to but after the top up, it's usually close

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

So I'm putting together my recipe outline and steps for a Dark Mild and I have run into a bit of a headscratch that I want to solicit your help with as to getting to the target 5.5 gallon batch.

The grainbill is about 7.1 pounds and with my normal process using 1.5 and 2 quarts per pound respectively for my strike and sparge water, after boil off and kettle loss, I'm about 2 gallons shy of the 5.5 target. I know i could just dump in water to make up the delta but that's gonna screw with my gravity.

I've never brewed a small beer so what's the trick?

you use the same water amounts as a 5% but less grain, that's it, you do want more flavor to make up for the extra water but not extra fermentables

 

[Ward Chillington]

What is the Fg target? I do plenty batches that are only 7-8 lbs of grain. I just mash at about 3 gallons and top up before the boil.
Of course the mash gravity is much higher than you want, to but after the top up, it's usually close

No FG given in the recipe but the OG is 1037 but I have not put this grain bill into the recipe builder yet so....figure a tad below your typical stout starting in the 40s and getting into the mid teens. It's a Drew Beechum recipe

https://www.experimentalbrew.com/recipes/cdjk-mild

you use the same water amounts as a 5% but less grain, that's it, you do want more flavor to make up for the extra water but not extra fermentables

I figure I'll play with the OG and my sweet wort ...tomorrow oughta be fun!

 

[Minbari]

sorry,

No FG given in the recipe but the OG is 1037 but I have not put this grain bill into the recipe builder yet so....figure a tad below your typical stout starting in the 40s and getting into the mid teens. It's a Drew Breachem recipe

sorry that is what I meant. that is about what I would expect. your gravity might be in the 50s or 60s durring the mash depending on how much water you use. but after topping it up, it should be alright. you can mash with the full volume too, but I find that the super thin grist doesnt work as well. maybe its just in my head, lol.

 

[Donoroto]

Do what you'd do for a bigger beer: For 5.5 gallons into the fermenter, you need about 6 to 6-1/4 gallons for mash and about 1-1/2 gallons for sparge. That assumes 1/2 qt per lb grain absorption and just a bit over a gallon boil off.

 

[Ward Chillington]

Do what you'd do for a bigger beer: For 5.5 gallons into the fermenter, you need about 6 to 6-1/4 gallons for mash and about 1-1/2 gallons for sparge. That assumes 1/2 qt per lb grain absorption and just a bit over a gallon boil off.

Hey Don @Donoroto, could you point me to or pm me an actual example of this as in the specific volumes of strike and sparge water for a high gravity batch?

That's one of the next batches I want to brew, something with a OG in the 1070 or 1080 range. My assumption is that my normal 1.5 mash and 2 qt sparge grain bill to water ratios would just make a larger batch of a 5% beer. Anyone else with some high gravity experience tips please, chime in! Tia!

 

[Donoroto]

I'm traveling at the moment so a short answer first.

Brew with the max water and grain first, to get as much sugar out of the grain as possible, then sparge to get your volume. Add sugars (invert syrup, sucrose, honey, lme or dme) to get the desired OG, then boil.

my system can handle almost 14 pounds of green with 6 1/4 gallons in the pot. That will bring me into the low 60s. Then I will Sparge with one and a half to 2 gallons to get my 6 1/2 gallon pre-boil value. If I add a pound of dry malt extract that brings it up another 10 points or so, then I boil down to my 5 1/2 gallon target.

You can also add the DME after boiling so you can really be pretty precise on your original gravity.

You can add more than a pound to get up even higher if that's what you're aiming for. Just remember to pitch extra yeast in any batch that's over 60.

I'm doing this on my phone, so it's not easy to find a recipe that does this, but if you go and search recipes and just set the OG and style you'll find plenty of examples.

 

[The Brew Mentor]

I always work backwards from the pre boil volume.
For example, if your pre boil volume is 6.5 gallons, add the amount of absorption to that. So for 10# of grain, your grain will absorb about a gallon of water, so start with 7.5 gallons.
Divide that into strike and sparge in any ratios you prefer and in the end you'll end up with your pre boil amount.
You may have losses to you mash tun, so you can adjust slightly, but that'll get you very close.

 

[Ward Chillington]

Cool, thanks Brian! I'll check this thread again when I start working on that high gravity batch. I'm sure I'll have questions!