Hammy71

Recipes 

I just finished this receipe from the mag. I came up with 1.048 OG. The only thing I did different was do a 4 gallon boil (most I could do on my stove). That's not to bad is it?.... I'm satisfied. I think if my efficiency was a little better the receipe would be dead on......

ifishsum

Recipes 

Deathbrewer's thread explains true partial mash brewing quite well - the only thing I really do different is that I use a 2 gallon drink cooler to mash in because it holds temperature well. I'm averaging 70% efficiency with my setup and so far have always hit my target gravities. Basically it's all grain brewing on a small scale, then using extract to get up to 5 gallons. I've even done 2.5 gallon all grain recipes with this method.

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dontman

Recipes 

I did a quick and dirty hand calc for the og that I would expect to get on this recipe of those that you listed and I came up with an expected OG of 1.060 based on 75% eff of the grains.

I don't know what you are doing wrong in your calcs or mash or boil but you are doing it quite wrong. On second look. I figured it out. You are not accounting at all for the grains. The LME in this recipe ALONE would give you 1.060. The grains would add an additional .020 for a total of 1.080. How is it that you are getting 0% efficiency on your grains???? If you get them wet at all you are going to be pulling some GUs out of the crystal at least.

EDIT: I read a couple of the posts that I missed before posting and I believe there is a basic misunderstanding of what "unfermentables" means. When you steep crystal and vienna and carapils and they contribute "unfermentable" sugar to the wort that sugar will still show up in the OG. So if you have 5 pounds of DME that gets you an OG of 1.045, if you add 2 pounds of Crystal malt to that you WILL raise the OG. To the tune of .010-.015 if steeped and rinsed properly. It is a myth that this is pretty much unfermentable sugar first off. Most of it will ferment into alcohol. The remainder will add to FG. The stuff that remains unfermented is what contributes to mouthfeel, sweetness, and head retention.

So if you are using software and add 2 lbs crystal malt to the recipe you will see a rise in all three: OG, expected ABV, and FG.

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