I have been researching forums and reading homebrew material to try and figure out what is causing my low OG but I decided to just post all the information and see if someone with more experience can give some tips given my particular situation. I recently brewed my second all-grain 5 gallon batch and again the OG was well short of my intention. On the first batch I did not record my information very well and I'm pretty sure lack of mash temperature control was the culprit on that one. In the most recent batch, I brewed an Irish Red Ale with a target OG of 1.058. Mash temperature was pretty consistent at 153 and I mashed for an hour and fly sparged for about 30 minutes. My actual OG was 1.042 which is pretty terrible efficiency and seems like there must be something blatantly wrong. I am wondering if the reason could be that the grains were not crushed enough since it seemed like everything else went according to plan to my knowledge. See other relevant recipe details below:
Maris Otter: 8.52 lbs.
Munich Malt: 1.36 lbs.
Vienna Malt: 1.28 lbs.
Cara Red: 0.70 lbs.
Caramel Wheat: 0.26 lbs.
Roasted Barley: 0.28 lbs.
Total: 12.41 lbs.
Mash Water: 4.03 gallons
Sparge Water: 5.19 gallons
Boiled for an hour and ended with about 5.5 gallons.
Any tips on things I need to be aware of in the future would be helpful. I don't want to end up with another low abv beer!
Thanks
Maris Otter: 8.52 lbs.
Munich Malt: 1.36 lbs.
Vienna Malt: 1.28 lbs.
Cara Red: 0.70 lbs.
Caramel Wheat: 0.26 lbs.
Roasted Barley: 0.28 lbs.
Total: 12.41 lbs.
Mash Water: 4.03 gallons
Sparge Water: 5.19 gallons
Boiled for an hour and ended with about 5.5 gallons.
Any tips on things I need to be aware of in the future would be helpful. I don't want to end up with another low abv beer!
Thanks