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First wort running profile

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  • First wort running profile

    When doing some reading a while back I thought I remember reading that towards the end of the first wort the gravity will start to decline slightly. I think this was due to the concentration of the heavier carbohydrates at the bottom of the lauter, and the lighter ones at the top. I went back on my readings to understand or indeed confirm this and cannot find what I after. Can anyone help me out here, firstly whether there is an un-uniform distribution and thus density of the first wort and why if so?
    Andrew Morgan-Jones
    Brewer

  • #2
    Likely dilution of the incoming sparge liquor.

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    • #3
      Yes, as far as I know, the sparge water will steadily dilute the runnings as it 'washes' the extract out of the grains, hence the measured gravity will also drop. You should stop running when the gravity reaches 1.008 (or 2oP) so as not to wash out any nasty tannins etc. from the grains. Hard to measure the gravity this low when it's hot (you need to cool it a bit to reginster something on the hydrometer, and then temp correct, or use a refractometer...)

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      • #4
        I gather that you are seeing a Plato drop BEFORE sparging?

        I also have witnessed this in one brewery I worked in, but have checked my current situation and can't recreate.

        I did some sleuthing and could find nothing that would back up this happening. You would think that the mash would be like a sponge with sugar water. It would squeeze the same Plato out at start and end until sparging.

        Let us know if you track down the source you remember.

        One possibility is if vorlauf is insufficient, then the foundation water will be siting above the lauter bed and you could see a Plato drop at the end of 1st taps.

        Hope this helps.
        Last edited by Tbrew; 07-29-2005, 08:22 PM.

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