So I made my second AG batch Sunday, and my gravities were way off.
My first batch was Edwort's Hefe, which according to his recipe should have a OG of 1.052 (beersmith said 1.057) and I ended up with 1.047.
Sunday, I tried the Dogfish Head 60 min IPA clone on the recommended recipe thread. That lists an OG of 1.070 (beersmith 1.073, pre-boil 1.067). My preboil was about 1.048 (hydrometer read 1.032, forgot to check temp but guessing it was around 140). I collected 6.5 gallons (recipe said 6), and boiled it down to 5.5 (recipe 5). Actual OG was 1.057.
Everything seemed to go well. The thread with the DFH clone had a bsm file attached, so I followed that to a T. Mashed in with about 17 quarts, held temp for an hour around 154, mashed out with about 10 quarts, sparged with about 7 quarts, per the brewsheet.
So I guess my questions are:
1. Could this all be due to the crush? The first time I ordered from midwest. This time I went to my LHBS, and ran it through the mill once. Would running it through a second time make up the difference? Do any of the online shops give better crushes?
2. I read in the homebrewer's companion that you can continue to collect wort until the runoff gets down to about 1.008. I stopped before I got close to that and was still low on gravity. Should I keep going or stop when I hit the volume I need?
3. Did collecting an extra half gallon (presumably at a lower gravity) contribute? Should I just stop when I get what I need?
4. Is there anything else you see that I can change?
5. Why does beersmith give me different gravities than the noted in the recipes? Is it just a matter of beersmith being set for 75% and the person posting the recipe using whatever efficiency they hit?
6. Should I put my efficiency (about 60%) into beersmith, then adjust the grains until it gives me the OG of the recipe author?
7. Is my beer ruined? J/k.
My first batch was Edwort's Hefe, which according to his recipe should have a OG of 1.052 (beersmith said 1.057) and I ended up with 1.047.
Sunday, I tried the Dogfish Head 60 min IPA clone on the recommended recipe thread. That lists an OG of 1.070 (beersmith 1.073, pre-boil 1.067). My preboil was about 1.048 (hydrometer read 1.032, forgot to check temp but guessing it was around 140). I collected 6.5 gallons (recipe said 6), and boiled it down to 5.5 (recipe 5). Actual OG was 1.057.
Everything seemed to go well. The thread with the DFH clone had a bsm file attached, so I followed that to a T. Mashed in with about 17 quarts, held temp for an hour around 154, mashed out with about 10 quarts, sparged with about 7 quarts, per the brewsheet.
So I guess my questions are:
1. Could this all be due to the crush? The first time I ordered from midwest. This time I went to my LHBS, and ran it through the mill once. Would running it through a second time make up the difference? Do any of the online shops give better crushes?
2. I read in the homebrewer's companion that you can continue to collect wort until the runoff gets down to about 1.008. I stopped before I got close to that and was still low on gravity. Should I keep going or stop when I hit the volume I need?
3. Did collecting an extra half gallon (presumably at a lower gravity) contribute? Should I just stop when I get what I need?
4. Is there anything else you see that I can change?
5. Why does beersmith give me different gravities than the noted in the recipes? Is it just a matter of beersmith being set for 75% and the person posting the recipe using whatever efficiency they hit?
6. Should I put my efficiency (about 60%) into beersmith, then adjust the grains until it gives me the OG of the recipe author?
7. Is my beer ruined? J/k.