brewguyver

Recipes 

If you're doing all grain, you may want to pick up a mill at some point. They've gotten much more affordable (austin homebrew supply had them for 89) - helped me a lot when I dialed in my own crush.

You might also want to check your volume of sparge water and use a little less if you're way below gravity, and/or mash a little lower (140) for longer (60 min vs 45). I had a number of beers with low gravity when I started brewing again last year (e.g my "extra light esb") and reducing the water helped.

Good to see you're using the hydrometer w/ first runnings - can always save a batch with a little dme if you catch it before the boil.

Bricks41

Recipes 

I don't typically use my hydro for my runnings, but I sure refractometer the runnings to death!! So far, I have good faith in the refractometer during the mash/boil/OG - I've tested the results against my hydrometer and come within +-.001 SG. I still need further testing on my FG readings to make sure the refractometer conversion algorithm properly compensates for the presence of alcohol.

Also, I typically mash at a consistent 154F, but this time I was going for an DIPA, hence the mild step up attempt. I wanted to get a more fermentable wort to help mitigate the high sweetness caused by a higher FG due to mash temp.

Bricks41

Recipes 

Well just bottled my Belgian Strong - 1.080 OG finished at 1.008 so I'm pleased! I'm anxious to taste the final product well carbonated and chilled product

brewguyver

Recipes 

Awesome - let us know how it goes!

Bricks41

Recipes 

Will do... going to open up one tonight to see how it is coming along. A bit of cheating and know that it won't be fully carbed, but brewer beware, sometimes patience cannot be had!

cbearbrew

Recipes 

I have a similar cooler tun setup and just did my 2nd all grain batch over the weekend. The efficiency of my first batch was in the 45% range and this was 62%. Course grind on first batch and missed temps on the low side, but this batch was double ground and temps within 2F of target.
My water/grain ratio was 1.4 and I’m leaning towards increasing this closer to 2 to see if I can’t pull a larger volume of higher gravity first runnings. I’ll also start stirring every 20 min or so during the mash to see if that has any effect on conversion but I suspect it will be minimal

SpeedYellow

Recipes 

If I were you, I'd take whatever tool is needed and adjust their mill for them. At my LHBS, it's a simple twist of a couple knobs, so I always set it how I like before grinding.

Bricks41

Recipes 

Spoke with an employee who is an experienced brewer. Ran through most everything regarding my process - he couldn't say what the miller's spacing was either... both sides are gear operated. Agreed to try to double grinding the grain to see if it helps.

Bricks41

Recipes 

Tested the Belgian Strong - still lightly carbed, not fully integrated. Has great promise so far, look forward to seeing how it develops!

Bricks41

Recipes 

Well don't think grind is my issue... did a double grind of my grain and still struggled with gravity. Had to do a marathon boil to get 5G in the fermenter at 1.084, not the expected 1.094 with the expected 70% & 60 minute boil. With my starter, activity within 2 hrs and thankful I
Used a blowoff - its going bonkers. Temp around 66-68 for majority of primary so far.

No clue... at least it's beer, right? Next batch will use RO water to see if it helps.