Stewbacca wrote:so i finally did my first all grain batch (i did keep my pants on though since it was freezing cold outside) i just took a taste and it had kind of a sour smell to it and has some off flavors.. will it be okay or should i not worry about it.. i ended up with only 3 gal of wort at the end of the boil so i added some fresh water to it to get the full 5gal... is this bad??
Uh, it depends on your numbers. It is possible that you either started with too little pre-boil - or boiled/lost too much. If it was just evaporation and you hit your pre-boil gravity - then adding water will just bring you back up to where you intended to be. If you spilled or lost a bunch, then your OG will be lower than you planned with the water addition.
I recommend getting yourself some software, pronto. You can evaluate Promash and BeerSmith for a limited time before you purchase. I settled on BeerSmith because I liked the interface better, and I liked the fact that I can import and export to BeerXML. In any case - the software will allow you to adjust for your particular evap rate, and your kettle and/or chiller loss. I like to end up with 10 gallons in my fermenters - so I target 11.5 gallons, pre-boil. Based on your grainbill it will estimate a preboil gravity and volume. For me it is always very, very close because I have dialed in my mash efficientcy. OG is also very close based on my final volume - again because I have fine tuned my evap rate.
The best part of the software is that it will allow you to correct to what is important to you. IMHO - it is OG. Many people get hung up on the "I want increments of 5 gallon" fixation. If you are kegging, you should let that go. I'd much rather have 3 gallons of wort with my intended OG, then a watered down 5 gallons.
As far as the sourness and off flavors - was your grain fresh? Anyway, congrats on your first all-grain! All this stuff will come with time. RDWHAHB.
Mylo
