Another first AG brew, real low efficiency.

Did my first batch yesterday, used this recipe for 5 gallons finished beer

http://www.brew365.com/beer_bells_oberon.php

Using a Coleman Extreme 52qt/Stainless braid. MLT.

Heated up 1.5qts/per pound of grain (4.3 gallons) to about 165 degrees. Preheated the MLT with about a half gallon of the strike water for about 2 min.
Mashed in while stirring, initial temp with a Taylor digital thermometer was 149, about 20 mins later, 148. Decided to add 1.5 qts of boiling water, which at that point my temp went down to 147. Drained 3.5 gallons of wort, then added 3.5 gallons of sparge@ 170 for 15 min. Drained, and had about 6.5 gallons pre boil, with 1.038 gravity.

Boiled 60 min, with a small boil over, cooled and Had 4.5 gallons to left with a gravity of 1.052. Efficiency came out to 58%. Things I know I did wrong:

1)Low mash temp, opening MLT too much and stirring
2)Did not calculate sparge water volume, just went with 3.5 gallons for some reason,
3)did not stir the sparge at all.

You guys see anything else obvious?

All in all it looks pretty good. You only missed og by 2 points. I think your boil might be a bit strong. Losing 2 gal in an hour seems like a lot to me. Of course if you have more volume, your og will be below recipe. I'll bet it you brew this beer again, or one very similar in numbers, you'll see your efficiency increase. Mine did. Your numbers look good.

One more thing. Once you get your mash settled, don't mess with it. I've been off more than you were, and still made good beer. It's when you mess with it that it gets worse.

1. That, and not using hot enough water to mash in with. Next time, use hotter strike water (up to 180, if you have a cooler for an MLT) and then let it sit until it drops to 165. Then, stir in your grain. Then your cooler won't "lose" so much temperature.

2. Next time, just measure the runnings from the mash. Then use the amount of sparge water you need to get to your boil volume. For example, if you get 2.75 gallons from the mash runnings, and your desired boil volume is 6.25 gallons, that means 3.5 gallons of sparge water. It's good to guestimate the amount in advance so you have enough, but you only need to use the difference in volumes.

3. Stir like you mean it. And then again. And then again. And once more. Stir like it owes you money. . Then vorlauf and drain.

I think those three minor things will give you a great improvement!

Did you only mash for 20 minutes? That is not nearly enough time.

Yooper said:

1. That, and not using hot enough water to mash in with. Next time, use hotter strike water (up to 180, if you have a cooler for an MLT) and then let it sit until it drops to 165. Then, stir in your grain. Then your cooler won't "lose" so much temperature.

2. Next time, just measure the runnings from the mash. Then use the amount of sparge water you need to get to your boil volume. For example, if you get 2.75 gallons from the mash runnings, and your desired boil volume is 6.25 gallons, that means 3.5 gallons of sparge water. It's good to guestimate the amount in advance so you have enough, but you only need to use the difference in volumes.

3. Stir like you mean it. And then again. And then again. And once more. Stir like it owes you money. . Then vorlauf and drain.

I think those three minor things will give you a great improvement!

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Good advice, thanks. How often during the mash should I stir?

masskrug said:

Did you only mash for 20 minutes? That is not nearly enough time.

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Sorry, didn't put that in there. No, I did a full 60 minutes.

Donzi79 said:

Good advice, thanks. How often during the mash should I stir?

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When you mash in, stir well. Very well! And then check the temperature in at least three different places. If it's the same, and there are no doughballs, you're done stirring. If it's different temperature, stir until the temperature is equalized. Then don't stir anymore. You can check the temperature after 30 minutes, if you feel that you have to, but with a preheated MLT (and that's crucial!) you won't lose more than a degree or two in an hour so no reason to stir any more or to worry about the temperature.

Got it....thanks again

58 is not all that bad anyway for your first batch, took a few batches to get up to 70 for me, and that seems to be the best I can do with lhbs grain crush.

I think the crush I got from the LHBS was al title suspect also.

Anyone ever double crush at the lhbs? It seems every time I go there they are holding some sort of class and I feel bad, and get dirty looks making all that noise with one crush