Title: Wheat
Source: Standard Recipe
Date: 2007-12-09

Overview:  Bryce has asked me to brew this beer for his rehearsal dinner.  I'm also going to try "batch sparging" for the first time.  My source is Barry Phetteplace, for starters, and http://hbd.org/cascade/dennybrew/ secondarily.

Ingredients:
6.25 lb. Wheat
6.25 lb. 2-Row
.5 lb. flaked barley (stock)
.5 oz Hallertaur @ 60 min
.5 oz Hallertaur @ 15 min
.5 oz Hallertaur @ secondary
.5 tsp Irish Moss @ 15 min (stock)
Wyeast 3068
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Plan is to keg...

Mash:
Total grain bill = 13 lb
Mash water @ 1.25 qt/lb = 4 gallons (160 deg F.)
Assumed grain absorption @ 0.1 gal/lb. = 1.3 gal.
Water after grain absorption = 2.7 gal
Runnings = 3.25 gal * 2
Additional strike water = ~.5 gal (boiling - try to reach 165 deg. F mashout)
Second water addition = 3.25 gal @ 185 deg F.

Procedure:
1. Heat 4 gallons to 160 deg F. add to grain in cooler and mash for 60 min.
2. Boil .5 gallons, add to mash, stir and rest 15 minutes
3. Sparge and recirculate slowly until runnings are clear.
4. Open up the flood gates into the brew kettle.
5. When mashtun is empty, stir in additional 3.25 gallons @ 185 deg F. and let set for 10 minutes
6. Repeat steps 3 and 4.
7. Bring to boiling.
8. When boiling, add .5 oz hops.
9. After 45 minutes, add .5 oz hops and Irish Moss, add chiller
10. After 60 minutes, remove from heat and chill rapidly.
11. Whirlpool and let set for 15 minutes.
12. Transfer to primary, pitch yeast, and stir.
13. When fermentation stops (3-5 days), transfer to secondary with hop tea
    13.1. Boil 2 cups of water in 2 separate pans (1 cup in each)
    13.2. Place .5 oz hops in a nylon bag with the top open.
    13.3. Pour contents of bowls over the hops.
14. After 1-2 weeks, transfer to keg.
15. Cool overnight, carbonate to 2.6 gravities.

Initial Brew Time: Est. 7 hours. (Start: 8:15 AM - End: 2:15 PM - 6 hours)
Total Brew Time: Est. 9 hours.

Original Gravity: 1.051 @ 80 deg F.
Rack to Secondary (date/gravity): 2007-12-15 - 1.009
Rack to Tertiary (date/gravity): None planned
Bottle/Keg (date/gravity): 2007-12-29
Finish Gravity: 1.009
ABV: 5.5%


Notes:
2007-12-09 - Started the brew around 8:15.  The water was finally heated enough by 9:20 to start the mash.  This is the first time I'm trying the mash in my cooler rather than in the oven, so I've reached a physical limitation of my system.  Apparently 12.5 pounds of grain is the limit for this particular mash.  I'm going to have to convert that old green cooler sometime soon...

At any rate, I was only able to get 3.75+ gallons of mash water into the mashtun.  I've added the extra to the second running's water, so the final volume should be OK, but I will have to do something about adding the extra .5 gallon to the first runnings in the initial sparge.  My plan is to remove 2 quarts from the mash immediately after 60 minutes and re-add 2 quarts of boiling water to it, let it sit for 15 minutes, then sparge as normal, re-adding the 2 quarts I removed as soon as it is possible.  Hopefully it should work out.

I took a thermometer reading of the mash around 20 minutes in and found I was only in the 140's.  I removed some mash and boiled it and re-added.

The sparge started around 10:20 and will be complete at 11:00.  I was able to take the first runnings and start the boil right away, which should save some time as well.

Boil started right at noon.  It stalled a bit at 12:17 through about 12:35, so I covered the pot and brought it back up.  I'm extending the boil for 10 minutes to compensate.