First AG Brew today

So, I attempted my first AG brew today. I did the SWMBO Slayer. I punched the recipe into Beersmith before I started and I thought it went well until I was cooling my wort. I some how ended up with just over 4 gallons instead of 5, and my OG was just under my target at 1.051. Target was 1.053. As far as the OG, I am not worried at all. I am puzzled by the lack of volume with the low OG. If I had low volume with a higher OG, then I would just add water and call it a day. I thought I had good conversion because I did the iodine test, and I didn't get any purple. Does anyone have any thoughts?

Shaneoco1981 said:

So, I attempted my first AG brew today. I did the SWMBO Slayer. I punched the recipe into Beersmith before I started and I thought it went well until I was cooling my wort. I some how ended up with just over 4 gallons instead of 5, and my OG was just under my target at 1.051. Target was 1.053. As far as the OG, I am not worried at all. I am puzzled by the lack of volume with the low OG. If I had low volume with a higher OG, then I would just add water and call it a day. I thought I had good conversion because I did the iodine test, and I didn't get any purple. Does anyone have any thoughts?

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It sounds like your efficiency was lower than planned, that's all. It could be from several causes, but don't sweat it. You just have 4 gallons this time. Next time, you can sparge with more water or perhaps boil off less water, or both, depending on why your volume was low.

Overall it sounds good for a first try!

Any suggestions on how to raise my efficiency? Or, can I figure out what it was so I may raise my ingredients amount for next time?

Shaneoco1981 said:

Any suggestions on how to raise my efficiency? Or, can I figure out what it was so I may raise my ingredients amount for next time?

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I hate math, so I use brewing software to figure mine! If you don't have software you can do it by hand, but I like my software. If you want one of us to help you figure it, if you post your recipe we can.

If you type out your process (ie......3.25 gallons strike water, mashed at 152, batched sparge with 180 degree water, boil volume 6.5 gallons, etc) and the recipe, we can help pinpoint what may be fixed for next time. How was your crush and what was your water supply?

My recipe is:
5# US Pale Malt 2 row
4# US Wheat Malt
8 oz Crystal Malt Lv 10
8 oz Flaked Wheat
4 oz Caravienne Malt
1 oz Williamette at 60 min
2 packages Wyeast #3942

I raised 4 gallons of strike water to just over 170... Added to my mash tun and had to use a few ice cubes to get it to my desired mash temp of 154. I checked it half hour into my 90 min mash and I was a little low, so I added some boiling water. Finished my 90 min mash and sparged with 3 gallons of water at about 170 for (I am guessing here) roughly half hour, then went to my 60 min boil.

oh, and I did a fly sparge, not a batch sparge.

Well, I come up with 55% efficiency in a 4 gallon batch. That's low allright!

How was the crush? All of the grains crushed well?

I would have mashed with 13.6 quarts (1.33 quarts per pound) so you weren't too far off if you used 16 quarts but you mashed pretty thin. I'd go with no more than 1.5 quarts per pound of grain in the mash, and use more sparge water. Undersparging could be a cause of low efficiency.

So, in my case, I'd mash in with 13.6 quarts (call it 14 for ease). Out of the mash, I'd expect 2.25 gallons out of the mash assuming .125 gallons/pound for absorption. So, I know I'd need 4.25 gallons sparge water, more or less, to get to my boil volume of 6.5 gallons.

A mash out is really helpful when fly sparging, especially after a 90 minute mash. Did you do one?

No. As I said, this is my first AG batch attempt. I am not sure what a mash-out is, or how to accomplish that. Can someone give me some advice?

mash out means raising the temperature of the mash to 170 F to stop any enzyme activity (starch to sugar conversion, etc.)... and you can do it by adding boiling or near boiling water or applying heat to your mash tun if you can...