First Partial Mash problems

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Hello all,

I am 2 days out from my first attempt at a partial mash...didn't really go well.

I am making a hoegaarden clone wit with the following recipe :

Hoegaarden:

1.5lb Belgian 2-row Pilsener malt
1.25 lb flaked wheat
8oz Belgian aromatic malt
4oz flaked oats

Mash at 150F for 90 min

Boil:

3.5 lbs DME Pilsner@45 min
1oz Kent Goldings @45 min

.5oz Kent Goldings @13 min
.25oz bitter orange peel @ 13min
3/4tsp crushed corriander seed @ 13min
1/8tsp crushed cumin seed @ 13min
small pinch of grains of paradise @13 min

.5oz Czech Saaz @ 2 min
.5oz bitter orange peel @ 2min
1/2tsp crushed corriander seed @ 2min
1/8tsp crushed cumin seed @ 2min
small pinch of G of P @ 2min


Yeast:

Wyeast 3463 Forbidden Fruit


During the mash I had significant difficulties maintaining temp, and I noticed that my grain bag did not allow enough movement or circulation for the water. The temps were all over the place from 135 to 160.... when I stirred they seemed to even out to about 152 or so. I was using an instant read thermometer on a cable for continuous monitoring.

Sparged at 150 for 10 min and tea bagged for 3 min.

Mixed well then topped up w/filted water

Topped up to 5 gallons.

Measured SG @ 1.034 (YIKES!)

Fermentation started within 6 hours and was very violent and sulfurous.

It has already slowed significantly on day 2 (no visible signs of fermentation, bubbles every 30-40 sec)

I have not taken any additional SG readings, I will do that today and report back.

Is it really possible that my efficiency was this low?? Or is this yeast just a fast starter and slow finisher...

I know the answer at least for now will be see what my SG is...but my guess is I messed up the mash enough that I will have a VERY low ETOH beer...

Any thoughts?
 
Looking at your technique, it might be the grain bag. You might have had them packed too tight, and you didn't wet all of the grain sufficiently. It could also have been the temp. When you were at when you were below about 145F you probably weren't converting much sugar. If your grains didn't spend at least 60 minutes between 148F and 160F, your conversion rate probably wasn't that good. I wouldn't worry about the fermentation. It sounds like its fine. Your ABV will just be low and the beer might be alittle hoppier than you anticpated. If you want, you could boil 1lb or so of light DME and add it to the primary to raise the gravity.
 
You probaly didn't mix your top off water well enough, thus the low OG reading. It's really hard to mix it well enough and obtain an accurate SG reading. RDWHAHB
 
Cumin was in the recipe I had... I added the Grains of Paradise on my own...

I used 1 gallon for the mash and 2.5 gallons for the sparge. Topped with about 2.75 - 3 gallons after the boil.
 
I think I remember cumin in the recipe I saw too. It was either for Celis of Hoegaarden.
 
A helpful PM tip is calculating the mash efficiency before starting the boil. Grab a sample of your wort in a tube to cool down. Take the SG once below 100 F and use a brewhouse efficiency calculator to see how you did. After you take the measurement you can dump the sample back into the boil as long as its in there for a least 10 min. Here is the calculator I use. You just have to know how much wort you collected.

Also you might want to try and stabilize your "mash tun" somehow. Was it a pot on the stove? I always wrap my pot in an old towel to help insulate it. Careful you don't burn the towel if you turn the burner on though.
 
Jedijoel - excellent idea... Not sure why I didn't think of that...

I guess that I could have just mashed longer. Can I mash too long? If I still can't get the efficiency I guess I could have adjusted upwards with the extract.

Definately need a bigger grain bag though.
 
I guess that I could have just mashed longer. Can I mash too long? If I still can't get the efficiency I guess I could have adjusted upwards with the extract.

You know I don't really think so but there is a point where the mash in ineffective. The alpha and beta enzymes used to convert the starch to sugar will eventually cancel each other out so a mash is called "self-limiting." You can read here and the next page if you want.
 
I use a big nylon sparge bag inside an igloo cooler. When I started milling my own grain (corona-style mill) and using more water in my mash ( about an extra quarter-quart per pound) my efficiency went from low to mid 60s to high 70s. I also heat my mash water to 13-degrees above the recipe's mash temp and it will hold for 60-90 minutes.

You could also put the bag in your bottling bucket and wrap a blanket around it.
 
Ok - this batch is cursed... broke my D$@# hydrometer as I was going to test the batch...

ARRGGHHH sometimes I hate my concrete floors!!

Thanks for the advice guys.

I will get a bigger grain bag, use a bit more water, test after mash and test after a more vigorous shaking. Test that is after getting a new hydrometer... aggrrhh
 
I do my PM mashes (5lbs of grain or less) in a 3 gal stock pot, and sparge in a 5gal pot. I use a grain bag like you and stir the mash until I know all the grain is nicely wet, then put the lid on and place it in the oven for the duration of the mash. My oven, unfortunately, only goes down to 170 degrees, so I leave the oven on for the first 30min of the mash and then turn it off for the rest of the mash. This usually will keep my temp within 1 degree of my target temp. I sparge for 20 minutes and stir the HECK out of it to get as much of the sugar dissolved as possible.

Also, for my mash I use a minimum of 1.25 quarts of water per lb of grain. For the sparge volume, I subtract the volume of wort I get from the mash (I usually lose about 30% to grain absorption) from my desired preboil volume (4.5 gal for my 5gal BK) and use that much for my sparging. With this method, I got 75% eff on my last batch.

Good luck. With practice you will find out all the little tricks and tips that work well for your system. Just don't give up, low efficiency is a common problem, especially for those new to brewing PM or AG.
 
You probaly didn't mix your top off water well enough, thus the low OG reading. It's really hard to mix it well enough and obtain an accurate SG reading. RDWHAHB

I second this - measuring SG in partial boils is very hard to get accurate, unless you mix well. Do you feel you got an accurate SG reading?

Also, I haven't seen anyone post yet what the target SG was, and what your efficiency % was. Have you calculated that yet to see how far off you were?
 
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