[EDIT: Just saw Bob's post above as I was submitting this one. Bob, see my last para below. There are a lot of errors that can prop up for new brewers when starting out that never get identified unless they do a bit of worrying. Hold on, read the whole section called, "Finally." See what I mean?]
bundy lives in Perth Aces
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Btw guys, Feral Brewery is on tap at the Sail and Anchor tomorrow arvo/evening. Be there!
bundy, you did bloody well saving that brew day. Very nice job
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Main problem you had was that you brewed a wheat beer. Beer is made from barley, not wheat
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More seriously, the wheat or the four pots etc won't be the cause of your low kettle efficiency. I haven't seen the actual from your first brew, the APA but unless they were similarly low, just ignore this batch. It could have been caused by something as simple as incorrectly weighed grain.
Just brew again and take as many measurements as is comfortable for you on brew day in Sections L, M and O of the BIABacus.
This leads to your next post.
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Never trust a Gravity into Boil reading unless you take several samples and have cooled them. Even if you did trust it, how do you know what the evaporation rate will be that day? It can vary wildly especially if you brew outdoors.
Never adjust for evaporation during the boil. Once again, it is too hard to measure well on an actual brew day.
You don't need to be worrying about the above anyway. Here's what to do...
Before the Brew: Pay attention to your measurements into the brew. Have you a way of double-checking them using two different ways? For example measure depth and headspace if possible for your strike water. Measure your malts individually and then when added together, make sure their total weight adds up.
That is all you need to do before each brew.
During the Brew: When you are starting out, if you are using the BIABacus then things are very easy. All you have to do is focus on taking measurements of volume and gravity where the BIABacus asks you to if you can.
That is your only numbers concern during the brew.
Before Pitching: If you have taken a few measurements above, you will see if they confirm each other. For example, in your file, in Section P, EAW confirmed EIB so you could know with some confidence that you were in the shit a little. In other words, you are in a position to make an educated guess such as maybe my grain bill was weighed incorrectly.
That happens to all of us from time to time and I for one would never throw extract into an all-grain brew because my palate is sensitive to extract twang and there is no way of me knowing if the extract has the twang until I taste the fermented beer. Too risky.
More commonly though,if you follow the BIABacus defaults, you'll generally end up with either more volume or a higher gravity than expected, usually the latter. If you have the higher gravity then you might choose to dilute the wort before you pitch. That is what Section N is for. If you are using the BIABacus and everything into the brew has been measured right, then your adjustments should be so small that you can probably just use tap water assuming it tastes okay. If you had to do a big adjustment, then you might think about using filtered or boiled water.
Finally: You need to see a confirmed pattern before adjusting anything major in the BIABacus and if you adjust anything you must be really confident that you are doing it for the right reasons. Thousands of hours have gone into the BIABacus design, formulas etc and what we are seeing here is if that someone sees a problem in their actuals versus estimates, we quickly know what questions to ask. Evaporation much lower than expected? Then we ask about leaving the lid on during the boil or how vigorous the boil was.
You get the drill
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As the other guys said, there is nothing to worry about here. You've done well. Just take measurements again on your next few brews and when you are confident, you'll actually be able to stop taking measurements! (Mind you, you might want to brew a few wild beers occasionally and then you will have to start measuring again. Also, understanding what measurements are important makes it easy for you to pass any great recipes you find in the future on to others.
Freo tomorrow guys
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PP
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