Wtf gravity?

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othevad

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So.

I was attempting to draw up my own recipe for an imperial stout on the spot.
Entered into beersmith, looked like it should run at about 1.105 initial gravity
(yep, I know pretty juicy)
Anyway, I just cooled the wort and had a cooled sample that I measured the gravity and it came out at 1.065. I did a BITB/Partial mash. Here's the recipe, was my efficiency that piss poor?

(note: this is a 3 gallon test batch!)

*This is the grain bill*
7lbs Maris Otter
3lbs Liquid Pale Extract
.5 lb chocolate Malt
.5 lb roasted barley
.25 lb crystal

My starting boil volume and my final boil volume were almost exact, I really can't figure out why this is measuring so low. I have it entered in beersmith with a 65% eff. rating.
 
yo.
LHBS did the crush.
Starting boil volume was 4.4 gallons, final volume was just a touch under 3 gallons.
Mashed between 158-162 degrees, (for the first 35-40 minutes) the heat went up near the end pre boil about 20 degrees due to user error (i.e. doing laundry and figured since the stove had maintained the same heat on low for that long that it would continue doing so)
That temp thing is the only real error, but I don't see how that would effect the OG.
 
I'm getting 30% efficiency in promash. I am curious about your pre and post boil volumes. How long did you steep and at what temp? How long was your boil and how vigorous?
 
yo.
LHBS did the crush.
Starting boil volume was 4.4 gallons, final volume was just a touch under 3 gallons.
Mashed between 158-162 degrees, (for the first 35-40 minutes) the heat went up near the end pre boil about 20 degrees due to user error (i.e. doing laundry and figured since the stove had maintained the same heat on low for that long that it would continue doing so)
That temp thing is the only real error, but I don't see how that would effect the OG.

How did you sparge? Did you actually mash the grain or just steep it? Also, mashing THAT high would lead to a really high FG.

Also, are you 100% sure you got all the clumps out of the grain during the mash??
 
Hey.

It was a brew in a bag/partial recipe. I put all the grain in the bag had the strike water at 158 degrees F and let it mash there for an hour. Read above comments for temp change which happened at the end.

After removing the grain bag at an hour, I added the 3lbs of extract and proceeded to boil/hop as usual for an hour.
Erm.
Any more questions. Not sure if I missed something/step. This was my first time doing boil in bag.
I've done AG and those have come out according to plan. *_*
 
Mashing at such a high temperature is ok (very unusual, but if you maintained a temperature no higher than 160 degrees throughout, you would have had some conversion) but once the temperature climbed you would have denatured the enzymes and then halted conversion. You probably got nothing (or at least, very little) in the way of fermentable sugars from that mash.
 
Hey.

It was a brew in a bag/partial recipe. I put all the grain in the bag had the strike water at 158 degrees F and let it mash there for an hour. Read above comments for temp change which happened at the end.

After removing the grain bag at an hour, I added the 3lbs of extract and proceeded to boil/hop as usual for an hour.
Erm.
Any more questions. Not sure if I missed something/step. This was my first time doing boil in bag.
I've done AG and those have come out according to plan. *_*

Sounds like you didn't sparge, which means you left sugars behind in the grain. How much water did you actually start the mash with??

I suspect that the temperature climbed to over 160 sooner than you think, stopping the conversion, resulting in a lower OG. Also, if you didn't mix/stir the grains in the bag really well, you had clumping which will also give a serious hit to your efficiency.
 
yep.
I'm a moron. I didn't sparge.
I didn't actually read the directions on BITB and just figured all the sugars would come out as it was teabagging (like that?) my wort.
duh. I did break the grains up and stir well and continuously (every 5ish mins through the first 40ish)
I guess instead of an "imperial stout", I'll end up with a "stout".
I'm sure it will still be beer anyway (although it could suck total balls)
=O
 
Tea-bagging your grain sack usually doesn't end well. :D

I would go and review the thread on the stove-top BIAB methods (both all grain and partial mash) before your next batch. Then, try it again and see how it comes out. If your pot is big enough, you'll do ok for ~3 gallon batches...
 
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