Undershot gravity

Hi all, so I made a RIS and mashed at 149 but only for 1 hr, then batch sparged. My expected OG was 1.109, my actual was 1.070. My thoughts were

1) mash longer for better conversion (no iodine strips yet)
2) double crush my grains for that big of a beer
3) double sparge
4) buy a new hydrometer and make sure it's calibrated.

Any other thoughts?

Sometimes it takes a little bit longer for a mash to convert at 149, but that shouldn't be an issue unless you used adjuncts that take longer to convert.

For a "big" beer, I always have to plan for a lower efficiency. It has to do with the amount of sparge water I use. For maximum efficiency, you could sparge with up to .5 gallons of sparge water per pound of grain, but then you'd have to boil all day and night. That's way I always plan for a lower efficiency when I make a bigger beer. I only sparge up to my preset boil volume, and I lose efficiency points that way.

If your crush is good, no reason to double mill.

What was your actual efficiency? Maybe it wasn't that bad!

48% yikes!

I echo what Yooper says.

With bigger beers, you're using more mash water and therefore less sparge water to get your preboil volume. This will negatively affect efficiency. You can increase your sparge volume which will increase your preboil volume...and then you'll have to increase your boil time to get to your postboil volume.

I doubt it's your crush unless other beers you've made also have low efficiency. It's related to the mash/sparge water volumes.

what was your grain bill

Grains & Adjuncts
Amount Percentage Name Gravity Color
15.40 lbs 75.86 % Pale Malt (2 Row) Bel 1.037 3.0

0.40 lbs 1.97 % Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L 1.034 40.0

0.20 lbs 0.99 % Caramel/Crystal Malt -120L 1.033 120.0

0.20 lbs 0.99 % Chocolate Malt 1.034 350.0

0.20 lbs 0.99 % Black (Patent) Malt 1.025 500.0

0.60 lbs 2.96 % Carafa III 1.032 525.0

0.70 lbs 3.45 % Wheat Malt, Ger 1.039 2.0

0.70 lbs 3.45 % Barley, Flaked 1.032 1.7

0.70 lbs 3.45 % Roasted Barley 1.025 300.0

0.70 lbs 3.45 % Special B Malt 1.030 180.0

0.50 lbs 2.46 % Aromatic Malt 1.036 26.0

Hops
Amount IBU's Name Time AA %
1.00 ozs 47.97 Magnum 75 mins 14.00
0.75 ozs 13.88 Styrian Goldings 75 mins 5.40
1.00 ozs 27.41 Pearle 75 mins 8.00
1.00 ozs 1.50 Styrian Goldings 02 mins 5.40
1.00 ozs 1.53 Williamette 02 mins 5.50

Yeasts
Amount Name Laboratory / ID
1.0 pkg American Ale Wyeast Labs 1056

Additions
(none)

Mash Profile
Full Body Infusion In 60 min @ 149.0°F
Add 21.92 qt ( 1.08 qt/lb ) water @ 164

Sparge with 26 quarts 170
Sparge
Sparge 16.00 qt of 170.0°F water over 60 mins

Notes

www.iBrewMaster.com Version: 2.740



Kyle

Oops, only the 16 qt sparge. I don't know what happened with cut and paste...

Yooper said:

Sometimes it takes a little bit longer for a mash to convert at 149, but that shouldn't be an issue unless you used adjuncts that take longer to convert.

For a "big" beer, I always have to plan for a lower efficiency. It has to do with the amount of sparge water I use. For maximum efficiency, you could sparge with up to .5 gallons of sparge water per pound of grain, but then you'd have to boil all day and night. That's way I always plan for a lower efficiency when I make a bigger beer. I only sparge up to my preset boil volume, and I lose efficiency points that way.

If your crush is good, no reason to double mill.

What was your actual efficiency? Maybe it wasn't that bad!

Click to expand...

+1... That's been my experience as well... My last big one was a strong Scotch Ale. Intended OG of 1.120. Measured 1.098. I mashed at a water to grist of 1.25 for ~75 minutes and then sparged with 168 degree water. I just didn't have enough sparge water to rinse the grains thoroughly without having to boil for 2 hours. I just sucked it up and stayed with my OG of 1.098. It was more of an experiment to see how my system would perform at those volumes...

Anything that I can do about that now after it's been in the fermenter for 1.5 weeks?

Eisbock can provide a clue.

from the wiki , just keep in mind the emphasis
An Eisbock is a Doppelbock that has undergone an additional step in processing. After fermentation, the beer is cooled below the freezing point of water. The water can then be lifted out of the beer, leaving the liquid alcohol behind. This results in a stronger beer with more concentrated character. Homebrewers should be aware that concentrating a beer by freezing may be illegal in some states, just as home distillation is. Eisbock can also be made from other kinds of bock; for example, an eisbock made with weizenbock is called a Weizeneisbock

BrewThruYou said:

I echo what Yooper says.

With bigger beers, you're using more mash water and therefore less sparge water to get your preboil volume. This will negatively affect efficiency. You can increase your sparge volume which will increase your preboil volume...and then you'll have to increase your boil time to get to your postboil volume.

Click to expand...

Now you did it. Now I have to think about what your saying. Thanks for the homework.

How do you find out which states this is illegal in?

You can legally remove 0.5% of the volume per the ATF.

"ATF has also examined statements of process for ice beers. Our examination has found that the volume removed as ice crystals does not exceed 0.5 percent of the volume of the beer entered into the process. ATF thus concludes that removal of up to 0.5 percent of the volume of beer through the removal of ice crystals is customary industry practice and results in a product which may be considered beer. "


http://www.ttb.gov/rulings/94-3.htm

So if you had 5 gallons = 768 ounces
768 X .005 = 3.93 ounces of liquid to remove.

What that will do for you is another story. But there is a process....

Cool, thanks