Second AG - did I blow it?

So I ended up brewing a Caramel Cream Ale because I had a couple days off work. I didnt have the best info (the mash schedule I had seemed way off) so I sort of winged it.

I ended up way over my mash temp because last time I was way under. I corrected and hit the right temp for a good 35-40 minutes. Was this long enough?

My gravity ended up as 1.040 instead of 1.067. But I took the gravity reading before the vanilla and lactose went in (this recipe has 4oz of vanilla and 4oz of lactose). Is this why it is low or is it because i missed my mash temp and there were less fermentables?

I don't know why I always have these post brew freakouts. The beer always turns out great

No, the low FG is probably due to your high mash temp. What were you aiming for and what did you actually hit initially?

My temperature was supposed to be 152-154 but I ended up around 158-160 at the beginning. When I noticed about 15 minutes in I stirred and got it down to 152 for 35-40 minutes.

So basically I didnt leave it at the right mash temp for long enough?

Will the beer still be drinkable?

Basically when you mash at higher temps, you get sugars which are less fermentable. That means you will get a lower OG, less alcohol, and a beer that is sweeter in the end. Keep it around and see how you like it, but it will be on the malty side.

hmm,good pointer.Maybe thats y my S.G. has been a little low lately.

I had the exact same problem last night. I was trying to mash a brown ale at 158F but ended up somewhere around 150F. So I turned on my stove burner and walked away for a few minutes, and when I came back I was somewhere around 180F-190F.

I ended up with an OG around 1.034, and was shooting for one around 1.043.

This almost makes me want to go back to extract brewing.

Hey if I added a pound of sugar to my fermenting beer I would be able to raise the OG up to where it was supposed to be. Would doing something like that ruin the taste of the finished product?

What if I used honey instead of sugar? My LHBS is too far away so I don't have any malt extract available.

I did my first AG last night and I used 150 as my mark and was very pleased that I was able to hit that mark for almost 90 minutes. I did what I have named an "Orange Blossom Cream Ale". This used the original Cream of Three Crops ale recipe with some adjustments and additions (Orange Blossom Honey). Did you use a cooler or your brewpot to do your mash with?

I picked up a 5 gallon cooler (Gott Style) from Lowes for $23.00. I removed the spigot and used a pre-drilled bung and a piece of 3/8" copper tube and then attached a SS braided line to the copper using SS hose clamps. It really surprised me that it held the temperature so well for that long of a time. I did adjust initially with 190 degree water, but that was the only time I needed to do it. I also pre-heated the cooler with 150 degree water for 30 minutes. Then I used 165 degree water and added the grain bill in.

Good luck with your brew, I am sure it will end up a nice beer.

Salute!

Since you mashed high and a lot of conversion got done at those higher temps in the first 15 minutes you may have a malty beer.

Take a taste when fermentation is done and see what you think. If it is not what you want at all check out threads on beano and amylase enzyme powder
to try and get some more conversion but still if you were shooting for 1.067 and got 1.040 you are going to be way off the original plan anyways.

Check out threads like this:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f13/when-how-use-beano-112926/


As far as missing your mash temp. Are you using software? You want to make sure to compensate for the temp of the grain with the water to meet your mash temp. Software like beersmith does this and you can try out a free trial if you want.

The software will warm you that you need to heat your mash/tun so what I usually do is put the strike water in 5-10 degrees hotter than it say and let it sit to heat up the mash/tun then when it hits the temp the software say, toss in the grain and stir like mad

Well I am a bit bummed that I won't end up with what I thought...but lesson learned. Next time I will hit the mash temp.

humann_brewing said:

Since you mashed high and a lot of conversion got done at those higher temps in the first 15 minutes you may have a malty beer.

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If I mashed high and just produced a bunch of unfermentable sugars then wouldn't those still show up in the hydrometer? Wouldn't I just end up with a higher FG instead of a lower OG?

GuitarBob said:

If I mashed high and just produced a bunch of unfermentable sugars then wouldn't those still show up in the hydrometer? Wouldn't I just end up with a higher FG instead of a lower OG?

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That is my understanding too but I am not an expert by any means.

i just tried my CCA for the first time. it did turn out pretty malty. it lacks a beer taste completely. not too happy with it. but i learned my lesson. next time i will nail my mash temp....or at least try a lot harder.

GuitarBob said:

If I mashed high and just produced a bunch of unfermentable sugars then wouldn't those still show up in the hydrometer? Wouldn't I just end up with a higher FG instead of a lower OG?

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This is a very good question. Can anybody clarify?!?! Shouldnt we come out with the same OG regardless and just a different FG if mashing higher?

Yes, the hydrometer cannot tell the difference between long and short chain sugars. It's all sugar and the OG will reflect it all. There are at least a dozen factors that affect the extraction efficiency of the all grain process. The big culprits are grain crush, proper malts to adjunct ratio, sparging method including lautertun design, etc.

GuitarBob said:

I had the exact same problem last night. I was trying to mash a brown ale at 158F but ended up somewhere around 150F. So I turned on my stove burner and walked away for a few minutes, and when I came back I was somewhere around 180F-190F.

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Never walk away when you're correcting mash temperatures. In fact, you should probably be doing some stirring whenever you're heating the mash. Think about it: when you apply heat to the bottom of your pot, it takes time for that added heat to disperse throughout the mash. If you're just letting the mash sit still, the grains and liquid at the bottom of the pot are heating much faster than the stuff at the top. This may result in deactivating some of the enzymes.

Whenever I have to add heat, I stir like a madman. And not just swirling around in a circle, but pulling grains from the bottom of the pot to the top, and pushing to the bottom with my spoon... anything to get even heat distribution.