Come with your questions and comments. Don’t forget a beer!
2 comments
Hi Larry,
Really enjoy your channel. Your videos are straight forward and easy to follow.
I’m new to all grain and had some issues with what seemingly should be easy— Vorlaufing. I filled a 3 quart pitcher twice and recirculated, but I kept getting grain chunks in the runnings.
My mash tun is a ten gallon Igloo cooler with a false bottom. I have a Barley Crusher grain mill with the factory settings. In my recollection, I didn’t drain my tun very quickly.
Few questions:
1. After recirculating, should I wait 5 minutes or so for the grain bed to settle?
2. how long should vorlauf process generally take?
3. Do you wait a full 60 minute mash time, or can you being vorlauf long with 20 minutes or so left?
4. Any other general thoughts or tips for a successful vorlauf? Would love to see a video in this topic.
Unrelated, but a video on measuring and adjusting PH would be great as well. Don’t see a lot of videos dedicated to this.
Thanks so much for taking the time to read! Keep up the great work, your all grain for beginners is still reference I use!
Sorry for the late reply. Just saw this.
I wait several minutes in between batch sparge steps, after stirring, and before each vorlauf for more sugars to be coaxed out of the grains, but I don’t wait after the vorlauf. I just drain it at that point.
I am usually particle free after a few pints worth, but if you’re look for a clear wort, it’s be better to recirculate with a pump for much longer (which is not necessary).
I mash until the mash is complete before doing anything since removing a lid from a cooler and recirculating too early will cool the wort. However, if you system has built in heat and recirculation, you can mash and recirculate at the same time like what the Grainfather does.
I have an homebrewing basics all grain video from several years back that walks through vorlaufing as well as some older brew videos.
I’ve never had much need to mess with pH. I basically just measure it and record it for posterity in case something tastes off later. The problem is that once you measure pH, it’s already too late to make any real change for that current batch. Just something to note and adjust for in your next batch.
Hi Larry,
Really enjoy your channel. Your videos are straight forward and easy to follow.
I’m new to all grain and had some issues with what seemingly should be easy— Vorlaufing. I filled a 3 quart pitcher twice and recirculated, but I kept getting grain chunks in the runnings.
My mash tun is a ten gallon Igloo cooler with a false bottom. I have a Barley Crusher grain mill with the factory settings. In my recollection, I didn’t drain my tun very quickly.
Few questions:
1. After recirculating, should I wait 5 minutes or so for the grain bed to settle?
2. how long should vorlauf process generally take?
3. Do you wait a full 60 minute mash time, or can you being vorlauf long with 20 minutes or so left?
4. Any other general thoughts or tips for a successful vorlauf? Would love to see a video in this topic.
Unrelated, but a video on measuring and adjusting PH would be great as well. Don’t see a lot of videos dedicated to this.
Thanks so much for taking the time to read! Keep up the great work, your all grain for beginners is still reference I use!
Sorry for the late reply. Just saw this.
I wait several minutes in between batch sparge steps, after stirring, and before each vorlauf for more sugars to be coaxed out of the grains, but I don’t wait after the vorlauf. I just drain it at that point.
I am usually particle free after a few pints worth, but if you’re look for a clear wort, it’s be better to recirculate with a pump for much longer (which is not necessary).
I mash until the mash is complete before doing anything since removing a lid from a cooler and recirculating too early will cool the wort. However, if you system has built in heat and recirculation, you can mash and recirculate at the same time like what the Grainfather does.
I have an homebrewing basics all grain video from several years back that walks through vorlaufing as well as some older brew videos.
I’ve never had much need to mess with pH. I basically just measure it and record it for posterity in case something tastes off later. The problem is that once you measure pH, it’s already too late to make any real change for that current batch. Just something to note and adjust for in your next batch.