Disappearing Gravity

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Moonraker

Moonraker

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Mash today gave me 6.25 gallons at 1.058 (1.041 @ 145F). Before pitching I had 5.0 gallons at 1.064 (1.062 @ 80F). I would have expected to get 1.072 (i.e. 58 x 6.25 / 5).

Is there a rational explanation for where the sugar is going? I'm as careful with the hydrometer as I can be, and getting the wort mixed well before sampling.
 
my bet is that the sugar never went anywhere. it was never there to begin with. from 1.058 -> 1.064 was just a matter of your boil-off. the fact that you expected to hit 1.072 means your efficiency was just not as high as expected. look to things like mash time/temp, grain mill size, etc. to improve that number. Also, as much as you mix the wort after you top off, it's still possible to find a non-homogenous region in it, so that may account for it as well.
 
The 1.058 is after the mash, so mash time, grain mill size etc not a factor after that point. I had 77% mash efficiency , which I'm happy enough with.

I did forget to factor in loss to hop sludge, which I measured at a little over half a quart. Even calling that a whole quart would mean I should have gotten 1.069 (54 * 6.25 / 5.25). I leave nothing in the kettle...
 
neosapien said:
my bet is that the sugar never went anywhere. it was never there to begin with. from 1.058 -> 1.064 was just a matter of your boil-off. the fact that you expected to hit 1.072 means your efficiency was just not as high as expected. look to things like mash time/temp, grain mill size, etc. to improve that number. Also, as much as you mix the wort after you top off, it's still possible to find a non-homogenous region in it, so that may account for it as well.
Click to expand...

Sorry, I should have at least said thankyou for the response - was in a hurry to get out the door and to the pub.
 
So you dump the cold break and the vegetative material from the hops into the fermenter? Why don't you use hop bags? Just curious. I make 6.5 gallon batches to end up with 5 gallon batches in the keg/bottles. I plan on loosing 1 gallon to the brew kettle (trub & cold break) and another .5 gallons to the fermenter (yeast & whatever else settles out).
 
ShinyBuddha said:
So you dump the cold break and the vegetative material from the hops into the fermenter? Why don't you use hop bags? Just curious. I make 6.5 gallon batches to end up with 5 gallon batches in the keg/bottles. I plan on loosing 1 gallon to the brew kettle (trub & cold break) and another .5 gallons to the fermenter (yeast & whatever else settles out).
Click to expand...

I read somewhere here that you get more flavour out of the hops if you let them roam free. I used to use hop bags and still got a fair amount of sludge. Now I just pour everything through muslin into a bottling bucket before racking to a carboy. I figure anything the muslin doesn't catch will end up in the trub at the bottom of the carboy after three weeks and be left behind before bottling.
 
Remember that any reading with wort above about 90 degrees is worthless- even with conversion tables/correction software it is notoriously accurate. So I would say the sample at 145 degrees is simply wrong.

Next time, cool the sample in a water/ice bath in a pitcher to under 90 degrees and then take the reading. At that point, it can be temperature corrected to an accurate reading.
 
Yooper said:
Remember that any reading with wort above about 90 degrees is worthless- even with conversion tables/correction software it is notoriously accurate. So I would say the sample at 145 degrees is simply wrong.

Next time, cool the sample in a water/ice bath in a pitcher to under 90 degrees and then take the reading. At that point, it can be temperature corrected to an accurate reading.
Click to expand...

Ah, this I was not aware of. Excellent, thanks. My faith in physics may be restored.
 
Yooper said:
Remember that any reading with wort above about 90 degrees is worthless- even with conversion tables/correction software it is notoriously accurate. So I would say the sample at 145 degrees is simply wrong.
Click to expand...

Whoops! Totally missed that part of the OP. That'll teach me to talk without reading all the words!
 

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