First AG Bubbling Away, But I had Issues...

[HuggerOrange]

Ok, so the other day I took the big leap and did my first AG. Nothing fancy, an American Wheat (4 lbs. Wheat, 4 lbs. 2-Row, 1 oz. Willamette (60 min.), 1oz. Cascade (10 min.), WLP029 Kolsch Yeast). I think technique wise things went well - I batch sparged and triple checked all my calcs, making sure water measurements were on. Anyway, a few issues arose in the end. For starters I was shooting for 5.5 gallons into the fermenter and only got 4.5. Also, the target OG was 1.040 and I wound up with 1.035. A few thoughts I had were A) Since I don't have one large pot I split the batch, puting the first runnings in the first pot and the second in another (both with an equal 3.25 gal.). This in essence doubled my evaporation rate and caused me to come up short. B) My efficiency obviously sucked, but I don't think this was because of the crush. I had done three PMs with batch sparges and got close to 90% efficiency on those - all with grain crushed at my LHBS. Maybe I didn't mix enough or the PMs turned out better because it was a smaller amount of grain? I hit all my target temps so I'm a little stumped. Any thoughts/ input/ answers are appreciated.

 

[Bobby_M]

PM efficiency is a little misleading because it's taking into account the 100% extraction rate of malt extract. IOW, if you get 80% of your fermentables from malt extract, a 30% efficiency on the Mash would be completely off the radar.

I don't mind discussing your process in detail to see if we can come up with the issue. I'm also hosting Teach a Friend to brew day on Nov 8th (one week late due to New England Cider Day schedule conflict). I'll be offering up an all grain seminar there. All that I ask is that you join the Whales homebrewing club which would cost you $10 for the final quarter of the year.

 

[HuggerOrange]

PM efficiency is a little misleading because it's taking into account the 100% extraction rate of malt extract. IOW, if you get 80% of your fermentables from malt extract, a 30% efficiency on the Mash would be completely off the radar.

I don't mind discussing your process in detail to see if we can come up with the issue. I'm also hosting Teach a Friend to brew day on Nov 8th (one week late due to New England Cider Day schedule conflict). I'll be offering up an all grain seminar there. All that I ask is that you join the Whales homebrewing club which would cost you $10 for the final quarter of the year.

When I did the PMs I actually subtracted out the extract so I could see how I was doing with just the mash. I tried using recipes that were 50% extract/50% mash. That's why I thought my first AG would go better. This may sound silly, but are there different things to take into account with wheat (e.g. absorbs more water, takes longer to convert)? As far as joining Whales and Nov. 8th that would be great. My brother and I have been kicking around going to one of the meetings for a while. He's still extract brewing, but I know he's also gaining interest in AG.