BeerAg
Well-Known Member
My efficiency is the suck. I can't get decent efficiency to same my life. Here is my process, with as much painstaking detail as I can put in:
Ingredients:
8lbs domestic 2-row
2lbs vienna
.5lbs 10l crystal malt
equipment:
5 gallon igloo with braided ss hose for a filter.
Process:
1) heat up igloo with 5 gallons of 150 degree hose water
2) dump out hose water, fill igloo with grain.
3) add 2.5 gallons of 165 degree water. stir. take temperature at 159 degrees. I am using one of those thin yellow thermometers with red alcohol in them. I push that thing almost all the way to the bottom to take the temp.
4) add about .5 gallons of room temp water. stir. take temp at 156 degrees.
5) put on cap and let mash for 1 hour. Temperature drops during this time from 156 to 153.
6)start running the mash out of the cooler. Return first quart because it is murky.
7)complete running the mash out of the cooler in about 10 minutes. Return all of the wort to the top of the lauter tun. stir.
8) start running the wort back out of the cooler. return first runnings to top of the cooler because they were murkey (about half a gallon) 2nd time I ran the mash out into brew kettle it took about 10 - 15 minutes. gravity is reading about 1.080 at 120 degrees at this point.
9)fill lauter tun with 2 gallons of 170 degree water. stir. wait 5 minutes. turn ball-cock about 75% open. return murkey first runnings of wort to top of the cooler. drain for about 15 minutes.
10)repeat step 9 with 2 more gallons of water.
Proceed to boil
At this point, my mash / lauter process is about 70 minutes, and I have a brew pot with about 6 gallons of water in it, gravity at 1.040.
Missed target gravity of 1.050 by a mile.
What am I doing wrong?
Pretty frusterated at this point, as this is the second batch in a row where my gravity is way, way low.
I'm thinking about just increasing my grain bill by about 50%.
Ingredients:
8lbs domestic 2-row
2lbs vienna
.5lbs 10l crystal malt
equipment:
5 gallon igloo with braided ss hose for a filter.
Process:
1) heat up igloo with 5 gallons of 150 degree hose water
2) dump out hose water, fill igloo with grain.
3) add 2.5 gallons of 165 degree water. stir. take temperature at 159 degrees. I am using one of those thin yellow thermometers with red alcohol in them. I push that thing almost all the way to the bottom to take the temp.
4) add about .5 gallons of room temp water. stir. take temp at 156 degrees.
5) put on cap and let mash for 1 hour. Temperature drops during this time from 156 to 153.
6)start running the mash out of the cooler. Return first quart because it is murky.
7)complete running the mash out of the cooler in about 10 minutes. Return all of the wort to the top of the lauter tun. stir.
8) start running the wort back out of the cooler. return first runnings to top of the cooler because they were murkey (about half a gallon) 2nd time I ran the mash out into brew kettle it took about 10 - 15 minutes. gravity is reading about 1.080 at 120 degrees at this point.
9)fill lauter tun with 2 gallons of 170 degree water. stir. wait 5 minutes. turn ball-cock about 75% open. return murkey first runnings of wort to top of the cooler. drain for about 15 minutes.
10)repeat step 9 with 2 more gallons of water.
Proceed to boil
At this point, my mash / lauter process is about 70 minutes, and I have a brew pot with about 6 gallons of water in it, gravity at 1.040.
Missed target gravity of 1.050 by a mile.
What am I doing wrong?
Pretty frusterated at this point, as this is the second batch in a row where my gravity is way, way low.
I'm thinking about just increasing my grain bill by about 50%.