Punching down the Grain Cap

[tuner]

All Grain - fermentation on the grain. The last one, ferment on grain got very infected. So I'm concerned about the grain Cap:
- could this harbour bad "Bugs"
- So do you punch down the Grain Cap?
- If so how often?
- Do you remove the Grain Cap off the ferment?
- Will the excess of CO2 held down on the fermentation by the Grain Cap " poison the yeast " ( did I read that somewhere)?

Grain Bill
48 lbs - Corn - Milled to a flour with the Kitchen Aid Grinder
8 lbs - @ Row Malt Crushed with gap of .035"
8 lbs - @ Munich Malt Crushed with gap of .035"
2 TBSP -Critic Acid
2 TBSP - Epson Salts
16 US GAL H20
1 TBSP SEBamyl GL Enzymes
1 TBSP SEBflo TL Enzymes
PH: 5.4 SG:1.058
3 - packets Saflager S-23 - with Great Yeast Starter - bubbling CO2 very hard in 6 hours

[acfixer69]

Did you do any cooking? If so want to talk about it.

[tuner]

- Cooked the corn for 3 hours at 185 deg F with 11 gals H2O
- put hot corn mash into a 100 qt cooler let is stay till temp was 150 deg F
- Added Malts plus enzymes for 3 hours rest temp down to 140 Deg F.
- Put in Primary fermenter topped up with cold water
- Chilled with copper coil to 70 Deg F.
- inoculated wort with the yeast.

[tuner]

Just Punched it down:

[RedwoodHillBilly]

Punch it down if you want to (I don't), otherwise don't worry about it. You must be a beer brewer, as I was. There are a few things that you don't have to be as scrupulous about, as you aren't drinking the distillers beer.

[frunobulax]

The best thing to do is leave t alone. The more ya mess with it, the more of a chance of an infection.
Yeast knows what to do, and usually don't need help if ya set them up for success to begin with, meaning proper ph and aeration.

[jonnys_spirit]

I say punch it down - You want the fermenting wort to extract the grain flavors over the period of the ferment. That's why I would ferment on-grain. Otherwise you would remove it.

Also looks like you had 64lbs grain to 16gal water which is a 4:1 with resulting SG of 1058. I'm thinking your SG should be higher with that ratio. Last time I did 60lbs of wheat with 30gallons water and got 1070.

Good luck and cheers!
-j

[still_stirrin]

4lb of grain per gallon (64lb/16 gal.) only netted you OG 1.058? That seems awfully low, especially with your mash process, which looks on-the-mark. I wonder where the rest of your fermentable sugar went. Was the measurement temperature corrected?
ss

[corene1]

Just a thought . I always leave my cap in place it typically falls when the mash is finished . At 4 pounds per gallon the enzymes may have not been able to move through the mash as needed to convert all that corn starch. Did you do a lot of stirring to keep it circulating through the mash period or just let it rest? I can only imagine how thick 48 pounds of cornmeal in 16 gallons of water was.

[HDNB]

I can only imagine how thick 48 pounds of cornmeal in 16 gallons of water was.

no shit. bet that takes at least 2 weeks to finish if it does at all. i'd expect a potential in the 17% range
there is prolly no room for it to drop.

[StillerBoy]

- Cooked the corn for 3 hours at 185 deg F with 11 gals H2O

48 lbs of corn in 11 gal water, and even with one tbsp of enzyme.. how were you able to stir this corn..
there is a need to stir the mash about every half hour..

Mars

[tuner]

48 lbs of corn in 11 gal water, and even with one tbsp of enzyme.. how were you able to stir this corn..
there is a need to stir the mash about every half hour..Mars

Yes I used a Dry Wall Mud Mixer to stir the corn was a thick "Cream of Corn" after the malt was added it became like corn soup. Yes about every 1/2 hour mixing

[tuner]

It took a few hours to grind the corn - a grinder like this:

[tuner]

[quote="HDNB i'd expect a potential in the 17% range there is prolly no room for it to drop.[/quote]
The Cold top up water was not measured just put into the fermenter by hose

[goose eye]

Best be putin that in your doublin keg.

Easy off oven cleaner is a lie.

Why you put so much corn in? Ain't
got no more barrels. Ain't hard to make wood
boxes then you visqueen

So I'm tole