Sshamash

Recipes 

I think I just had this issue. I just switched to a new LHBS for my last two brews and both batches we hit an OG that was significantly below the target OG.
For the first, I wrote it off as my new digital thermometer being off, but when I verified everything was correct for the second and the numbers were still .03 off, I had to assume it was the crush.

Perhaps its time to get my own....

Toy4Rick

Recipes 

Hey gang,

Just finished my first IPA today, really stoked to try this one out.

My Measured Mash Eff was 74.3
My Measured Eff was 63.8

Recipe
11.0 lbs of Maris Otter
2.0 lbs of Vienna Malt
1/2 lb Para-Pils
1/2 lb Caramel Crystal 20L
1.25 Qts per lb for mash mashed at 153* for 65 mins
Batch sparged with 4.0 gal in two batches, 170*
My final runnings was 1.032 at just shy of 7.0 gal in an 8 gal pot. This seems very high to me. What should I be looking at to get closer to 1.010 at 7 gal?

My digital thermometer is accurate, stirred like mad for each sparge... The crush was done by my LHBS and I always ask them to tighten it up from standard which they do, it was set to .20 on the gauge FWIW

Where do I go from here?
Thanks in advance
Toy4Rick

Viejo

Recipes 

Sounds an awful lot like my IPA grain bill. What was your preboil gravity and your OG? What was your postboil volume? My end of running gravities are typically pretty high too, like .030, and I've wondered if I can do any better batch sparging.

Toy4Rick

Recipes 

Measured pre-boil was 1.058
OG was 1.064
Post boil volume was 5.5 gal

All my numbers seem pretty spot on except for end of runnings gravity

Toy4Rick

MalFet

Recipes 

I think there might be some confusion here. Where are you getting the idea that you're looking for 1.010?

"End runnings" is usually a term associated with fly sparging. In batch sparging, I'd expect my second drain to produce something like what you got in the 1.030s range.

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Viejo

Recipes 

That's good to know. I wasn't sure if it was possible to do much better with batch sparging.

oakbarn

Recipes 

We batch sparge and have added 1/2 pound of 2 row per 5 gallons for lost %. We used to sparge until we got to 1.018 or so. We now just sparge on volume and no longer worry about the ending sg. We adjust the volume for our final gravity. I try to shoot where I will not have to excessively boil off or add water. We are not a "big brewery" where we care about $$ as much as time. We err on the extra grain (and some extra Wort) normally but we get our brew day done in six hours(All clean and put away).

Toy4Rick

Recipes 

So where did I get 1.010...

Well, it's the default in BeerSmith and I have read it here on this forum more than once.

It seems to me at 1.032, there is still quite a bit of sugars still in the grain, leading me to believe my effeciency is still pretty low.

If you are saying this is what should be expected with batch sparging, then so be it

Toy4Rick

keanex

Recipes 

I'm going to be brewing my Oatmeal Milk Stout next week and have been having problems with efficiency. I've been hitting 70%-75% but I'm looking for more consistency. I've read a lot of this thread and have decided to do a second sparge. One thing that confused me though is that Hopville recommends doing the first sparge with just .3 gallons of water, then 2.8 gallons for the second. Is this normal or should I just measure out 3.1 gallons and split it between the two sparges?

Denny

Recipes 

Yeah, that's not out of the ordilnary for batch sparging. Keep in mind that the 1.010 number for fly spargingis not a hard limit, but rather a way to tell that you might not have enough buffering capability left in the grain to prevent the pH from rising. pH is the real issue and the 1.010 number is just an easy way to be aware of that.

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