Chicalorado

Recipes 

We brewed our IPA recipe last night and ended up with an OG of 1.0429, instead of the OG we usually get of 1.055. We hit our mash temp and time, we hit our expected efficiency, we did the full 60 min boil. Any ideas of what went wrong?

Thanks!

__________________
Primary #1: Crooked Keg IPA
Primary #2 & #4: Crooked Keg Amber
Primary #3: Wedding Wheat
Secondary #1: CK IPA
Secondary #2: Guiness clone
Secondary #3: empty
Bottled: Bourbon Vanilla Imperial Stout, Coconut Rum Stout, Irish Red

mbird

Recipes 

If you hit your expected efficiency then you should have had the gravity you normally get at the beginning of the boil, is that true. If it is, than the only reason the end of the boil gravity is so much less is because there was an increase in the volume from beginning to end. Do you use and immersion chiller that may have a leak? What was the gravity of the wort when you check for the efficiency?
mark
Beer Diary...
Brew School Home Pg1

WorryWort

Recipes 

+1 on the above. Maybe you mis-spoke, but I don't understand your claim of hitting your efficiency?

I might suggest the crush is to blame though - if all else was equal.

__________________
In Process - Russian Imperial Stout, Nelson Sauvin Rye IPA, Mild No.3

In Kegs - Barley Wine, Apfelwein, Wild BlackBerry Wheat, Coffee Oatmeal Porter

Gone - so many :(

davesrose

Recipes 

Crush and making sure your thermometer(s) are correct are the likely candidates for missed OG (and yes, I agree with others about how low OG means much less efficiency).

__________________
On Tap: Barleywine, Coffee Oatmeal Imperial Stout (big big beer)
Conditioning:Baltic Porter
Fermenting: Double Simcoe IPA
On the Bench: Racer 5 IPA

"One of the first things early caveman did, when he crawled out of the mudd, was to make beer. And cavemen everywhere are still making beer...and drinking beer." - Jean Sheperd

Chicalorado

Recipes 

What I meant about hitting our efficiency was that we got similar liquid amounts out of the mash and sparge as we typically do. Don't think our chiller has a leak, we usually check before and after. I've never checked gravity while testing efficiency, I should probably start doing that. Maybe the crush was the difference, although that is quite the difference!

__________________
Primary #1: Crooked Keg IPA
Primary #2 & #4: Crooked Keg Amber
Primary #3: Wedding Wheat
Secondary #1: CK IPA
Secondary #2: Guiness clone
Secondary #3: empty
Bottled: Bourbon Vanilla Imperial Stout, Coconut Rum Stout, Irish Red

davesrose

Recipes 

OK, if you're sure you got the volumes right...it must be something else. If you're using the same water source, crush or bad temperature readings are one of the main factors. FWIW, efficiency refers to how much sugars you got from a batch of grain: you calculate it by comparing your collected OG vs an estimated OG (of theoritical maximum of each grain you used).

__________________
On Tap: Barleywine, Coffee Oatmeal Imperial Stout (big big beer)
Conditioning:Baltic Porter
Fermenting: Double Simcoe IPA
On the Bench: Racer 5 IPA

"One of the first things early caveman did, when he crawled out of the mudd, was to make beer. And cavemen everywhere are still making beer...and drinking beer." - Jean Sheperd

WorryWort

Recipes 

Then it's probably the grain crush or a faulty temp reading.

__________________
In Process - Russian Imperial Stout, Nelson Sauvin Rye IPA, Mild No.3

In Kegs - Barley Wine, Apfelwein, Wild BlackBerry Wheat, Coffee Oatmeal Porter

Gone - so many :(

BrewMeister49

Recipes 

water..... maybe you added a little more water. 2 quarts will nock off close to .010 on your hydro.

mbird

Recipes 

"I've never checked gravity while testing efficiency, I should probably start doing that."
How do you check (test) your efficiency?
mark
Beer Diary...
Brew School Home Pg1

beerkrump

Recipes 

I think you need to review what you can on the determination of mash efficiency. It's pretty simple, but you're doing it wrong.