BtotheG
Well-Known Member
Hi all, I brewed an IPA the other day with 11 lb. of 2-row and 1 lb. of Caramel 40. I have the recipe in BrewBuilder on BrewMaster's Warehouse and it says for a 5 gallon batch at 70% efficiency I should hit an OG of 1.062. I took a gravity reading before pitching, but after I collected 5.2 gallons of chilled wort from the kettle. The OG was 1.054 (temp corrected for 74*F). This is my 4th all-grain brew, and I've had problems hitting my OG every time. I was wondering if anyone out there could help me find what I'm doing wrong and maybe give me some things to focus on the next time I brew. I'll probably be making a couple more single-hop IPAs just so I can get more comfortable with this.
My setup:
Two 5-gallon, round, beverage coolers. I use them for Mash Tun and HLT. Mash tun has an SS Braid. Both have ball valves.
1 keggle. Just found a deal on Craigslist, only used it for this batch. Before now I've been using an 8 gallon kettle.
PID and Immersion Heater/Bubbler from Fresh Meal Solutions.
My Process:
Mash:
Heated 3.75 gallons (1.25 quarts/lb) of strike water in mash tun to 169.
Mashed in and hit target mash temp of 153 for the full hour. Stirred like crazy at the beginning because temp was just over 154, but left it alone for the rest of the mash. Checked after 5 minutes, temp was 153 and it stayed that way the two times I checked after that.
Collected 2.5 gallons of first runnings.
Sparge:
Heated 5 gallons of sparge water in HLT to 187.
Split it into two 2.5 gallon infusions. Stirred mash as sparge water was added in both infusions. Also stirred after both infusions were complete.
The mash temp from the first infusion hit 173F, forgot to check the temp after the second infusion. Also not sure how much the second infusion cooled as I added the first.
Since it's only a 5 gallon cooler I wasn't able to sparge to reach the full 7 gallon boil volume I was going for - definitely should have bought a bigger cooler. Had to add less than a gallon of water to hit 7 gallons pre-boil.
Did not check the pre-boil gravity.
Post-Boil:
Collected 5.2 gallons of wort with an OG of 1.054. Lost most of my volume to evaporation, however, there was a small amount of wort lost to loose whole hops and dead space below dip tube with screen.
My setup:
Two 5-gallon, round, beverage coolers. I use them for Mash Tun and HLT. Mash tun has an SS Braid. Both have ball valves.
1 keggle. Just found a deal on Craigslist, only used it for this batch. Before now I've been using an 8 gallon kettle.
PID and Immersion Heater/Bubbler from Fresh Meal Solutions.
My Process:
Mash:
Heated 3.75 gallons (1.25 quarts/lb) of strike water in mash tun to 169.
Mashed in and hit target mash temp of 153 for the full hour. Stirred like crazy at the beginning because temp was just over 154, but left it alone for the rest of the mash. Checked after 5 minutes, temp was 153 and it stayed that way the two times I checked after that.
Collected 2.5 gallons of first runnings.
Sparge:
Heated 5 gallons of sparge water in HLT to 187.
Split it into two 2.5 gallon infusions. Stirred mash as sparge water was added in both infusions. Also stirred after both infusions were complete.
The mash temp from the first infusion hit 173F, forgot to check the temp after the second infusion. Also not sure how much the second infusion cooled as I added the first.
Since it's only a 5 gallon cooler I wasn't able to sparge to reach the full 7 gallon boil volume I was going for - definitely should have bought a bigger cooler. Had to add less than a gallon of water to hit 7 gallons pre-boil.
Did not check the pre-boil gravity.
Post-Boil:
Collected 5.2 gallons of wort with an OG of 1.054. Lost most of my volume to evaporation, however, there was a small amount of wort lost to loose whole hops and dead space below dip tube with screen.