So this is my second AG batch. The first was NB's Smashing Pumpkin Ale which was a great success. This time around I adjusted my process a bit to get closer to the strike temps (pre-heated the mash tun).
For my second AG, I went for the Rebel Rye. I hit the mash temp of 151 dead on. I missed the mashout temp (target: 170, actual: 162) since my weak kitchen stove didn't get the water to boiling in time. But I continued on, re-circulated, and started fly sparging. I collected ~7gal of wort and everything seemed great until I measured my pre-boil SG (1.038, temperature corrected). Using Brewer's Friend OG/FG calculator (http://www.brewersfriend.com/allgrain-ogfg/), I got an estimated pre-boil gravity of 1.044- way off!
Fortunately I had had DME on hand and added some to bring up the SG, but I'm bummed that after hitting all the temperatures (minus the strike-temp), the pre-boil SG was too low! Probably even more so since I was dead on with the pre-boil gravity for the 1st batch. Since I'm new at this, I'm really want to know if there's something I can do to correct this. Below is the grain bill
7lbs Rahr 2-row
2lbs Weyermann Rye Malt
2lbs German Dark Munich Malt
1lbs English Medium Crystal
0.5lbs English Black Malt
(Grain was crushed by Northern Brewer)
Sacch rest: 151F
Mashout: 170F
The only difference in my process between the 1st batch and this one was that I collected 7gal of wort instead of 6.5gal and added about a gallon more water at mashout in an effort to hit the mashout temp (missed it on my first batch too, but probably because I didn't add enough water). Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
For my second AG, I went for the Rebel Rye. I hit the mash temp of 151 dead on. I missed the mashout temp (target: 170, actual: 162) since my weak kitchen stove didn't get the water to boiling in time. But I continued on, re-circulated, and started fly sparging. I collected ~7gal of wort and everything seemed great until I measured my pre-boil SG (1.038, temperature corrected). Using Brewer's Friend OG/FG calculator (http://www.brewersfriend.com/allgrain-ogfg/), I got an estimated pre-boil gravity of 1.044- way off!
Fortunately I had had DME on hand and added some to bring up the SG, but I'm bummed that after hitting all the temperatures (minus the strike-temp), the pre-boil SG was too low! Probably even more so since I was dead on with the pre-boil gravity for the 1st batch. Since I'm new at this, I'm really want to know if there's something I can do to correct this. Below is the grain bill
7lbs Rahr 2-row
2lbs Weyermann Rye Malt
2lbs German Dark Munich Malt
1lbs English Medium Crystal
0.5lbs English Black Malt
(Grain was crushed by Northern Brewer)
Sacch rest: 151F
Mashout: 170F
The only difference in my process between the 1st batch and this one was that I collected 7gal of wort instead of 6.5gal and added about a gallon more water at mashout in an effort to hit the mashout temp (missed it on my first batch too, but probably because I didn't add enough water). Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.