Brewing up a Hef

[BigNastyBrew]

Ok, taking the simple approach on my next brew. Straight from BCS (except for the rice hulls).

Bavarian Weizen

5lbs Pilsner
5lbs Wheat
"some" rice hulls
1.5oz Hallertau (2.4%) for 60
Wyeast 3068

Single Infusion at 152° with batch sparge
90 Minute Boil
Ferment at 62°F
Force carb to 2.9 Volumes

OG: 1.052
FG: 1.013
SRM: 3
IBU: 13.3
ABV: 4.95%

Although I just completed my stir plate, I really only have tomorrow afternoon to brew so I will use 2 vials of yeast to get the right cell count.

This recipe is assuming 65% Efficiency. If I get to 70 or above, I'm over style guidelines on OG.

[BDawg]

That's a solid recipe and you'll like the results.
(though I think you are high on your gravity for 65% -- at 70%, 10 lbs of grain in 5 gals gives you about a 1.050 beer (dependng on the actual pppg fine dry basis of the malt).

[BigNastyBrew]

That's a solid recipe and you'll like the results.
(though I think you are high on your gravity for 65% -- at 70%, 10 lbs of grain in 5 gals gives you about a 1.050 beer (dependng on the actual pppg fine dry basis of the malt).

You're right. My bad. I went from Jamil's sheet on Beer Dujure. Beer Smith had me at 1.049 at 65%

Of course BCS says 5.6lbs of each but the point was 50/50.

[BigNastyBrew]

Well......

Mashed at 154° instead of 152°. I'll get that figured out soon enough.

Thought I had a stuck sparge and was pissed but what really happened was that I fucking smashed the steel braids together on my batch sparge when I was stirring. That made things a little awkward because then I went through some rigmarole pouring the wort through a strainer a couple times.

Ended up with an SG of 1.045 when I was expecting 1.040. Maybe mash temp? Finally figured out my evap rate is 20%. That's ridiculous.

OG was 1.060...missed by 11 points.

But she's in the fermenter and hopefully churning away soon.

[ziggy]

I never get a consistent evaporation rate. I probably need to measure more accurately and keep better notes but it's always between 10 and 20%.

[BigNastyBrew]

I never get a consistent evaporation rate. I probably need to measure more accurately and keep better notes but it's always between 10 and 20%.

What's the humidity like over there? Where I live (Arizona...middle of the fucking desert), our air is very dry. I guess I should not have been so surprised by the evaporation rate.

On a different note...I did calculate my efficiency at 71.15%. Better than the 65% I was expecting.

[BigNastyBrew]

12 hours in and nothing. I've never had lag like this before. I aerated with an aeration system I bought from NB and pitched 2 vials of WLP300 (they don't carry Wyeast here).

I'm not normally one to stress of this stuff but it's just odd to me.

[crupp]

Hey, BignastyBrew,
I wouldn't worry too much about the lag time. At what temp did you pitch? I've stated pitching a little lower (1-2 degrees) than my planned fermentation temp (as suggested by many fellow brewers), so I’m sure that that slows things up a bit. I’m confident, however, in knowing that I pitch what JZ’s calculator told me to, so I don’t think about it too much. My experience with that strain tells me to advise you to put some towels on the floor, because that thing is going to erupt. I've never made a Hefe that didn't gush.
As for your gravity, it can't hurt to add a little water to your pre-boil to make sure you hit your estimated gravity. This helps to ensure that you have the prober BU:OG ratio that the recipe suggests.