Anyone want to help me trouble shoot?

Hi guys,

I just brewed a strong bitter on Saturday and came up with pretty low efficiency. I'll explain my method for anyone who might have some advice on how to improve it.

My grain bill:
10 lb. english pale
.75 lbs. crystal
.375 lbs. Aromatic
.2 lbs. Special roast

My method:
Mashed for 60 min at ~153F with 3 gallons of water.
Added one gallon of boiling water and allowed it to sit for 10 minutes.
Drained the MT.
Poured in about 2.25 gal of 175F water, stirred, and immediately drained.
Poured in another 2.25 gal of 175F water, stirred, and immediately drained.

I ended up with about 7.5 gallons. After the boil, it ended up as about 5 gallons at 1.046. That seems really low. Just wondering if anyone sees something obviously wrong in the mash time or sparging technique. Thanks in advance.

Monk

seems like you did the batch sparge correctly to me. I assume you have a fairly small mash/lauter tun and that's the reason for a double sparge?

I wouldn't say it was a horrible efficiency. Could easily be a lack of full grain crushing.

those thermometer temps are from inside the MLT, with a calibrated thermometer right?

From my experience with AG brew I'd say it was the crush. Wasn't fine enough. Might want to do some checking on ph and hardness of your water as well. Do you crush your own grain?

I would agree with the crush, assuming your water is pretty normal. Your technique sounds pretty good to me.

Technique sounds solid. Exactly what I do and I hit 80-90%. Take a picture of your crush.

I agree, it sounds like the crush to me also, unless your thermometer was way off.

What was the wort temp when you took the hydro reading?

Thanks for the replies, guys. The crush was done by Northern Brewer, as I don't have a mill myself. It did look a little too "intact". As far as water is concerned, I use bottled spring because my tap water's atrocious. Temperature is right on, too. Maybe it really is the crush.

Thanks again for the tips.

Monk

Are you adjusting your hydrometer readings for temp? You will always read lower if you're on the warm side. Also, how are you measuring the wort pre/post boil? I've heard a lot of people underestimate their eff due to having more wort than they realized. I did.

Also whats your mash ph? Bottled water might need mineral additions?

It might take awhile but take a rolling pin out and crack open them grin husks a bit more next time. It might make the difference of 10-15% brewhouse eff.