First all grain batch yesterday, missed OG by 20 points

[JSGT09]

Well I finally made the plunge into all grain brewing yesterday after about 5 batches of extract under my belt. I did TONS of research and I decided that all grain didn't need to be that intimidating, so I began collecting and making equipment for all grain. Bought a 70 quart Coleman Xtreme cooler and converted it into my mash tun, made a simple square manifold out of CPVC for batch sparging, bought a ball valve, etc.

Overall the process went well, but my OG was terrible and I'm not sure why. Here are the specifics:

• 10 lb grain bill for Blue Moon Clone
• 1.33 qts/gal strike water (3.3 gal), heated to 170 to preheat the mash tun, water was at 165 when I added the grain
• Mashed at 153 for 60 minutes, did 3 slow drains and dumped back into mash tun before primary run off
• Only got 2 gal of the 3.3 gal of mash water I used in my primary run off
• 5 gal of sparge water heated to 170 that ended up at 165 when I started the sparge, only let the sparge water sit for a few minutes, should I have done longer?
• Had a good run off of my batch sparge, ended up with a little over 6 gal of wort

It seems to me like I should have had more than 2 gal of primary run off after my mash but I had no idea. I knew the wort looked light when I was boiling it, but I ended up at 1.035 OG (cooled, after boil) which is terrible. It is fermenting ok, but how will this effect my beer? Just very little alcohol?

My initial thoughts are that I needed to let my sparge water sit longer to extract more of the sugars, and that my grain crush wasn't enough.

Here is a picture of my crushed grain that I used a modified pasta roller to crush. Any tighter of a crush and I was getting a lot of flour. Thoughts on the crush?

 

[amcclai7]

2 gal of runoff is a little low and the grain crush looks too coarse to me. Other people will be much more knowledgeable about this but I crush mine a good bit finer than that.

 

[StoneFan]

Yeah.....that grain barely looks cracked.
From what it looks like.....your temps and methods described wouldn't have had a 20 pt impact on your OG

 

[mux]

That crush is not fine enough, you still a fair amount of whole kernels. I use a monster mill , but this may be helpful to you.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/my-ugly-junk-corona-mill-station-90849/

 

[JSGT09]

Lesson learned about my crush then! Glad my temperatures looked ok, any other input? Can someone post an example of a good crush?

 

[chumpsteak]

I batch sparge using 190 to 195 degree water so that the grain bed gets up to 168. This helps rinse the grains more and stops conversion. When doing your batch sparges, you don't have to let them sit too long, but make sure you stir like crazy. Stir until you think you've stirred a lot and then stir some more.

 

[ajf]

I think chumpsteak hit the nail on the head.
With a batch sparge, it is the stirring of the sparge water that extracts the sugars.

-a.

 

[amcclai7]

Invest in a cheap corona mill. I got mine on amazon for about $25 including shipping.

 

[forstmeister]

I think chumpsteak hit the nail on the head.
With a batch sparge, it is the stirring of the sparge water that extracts the sugars.

-a.

Learning to properly batch sparge and stir the hell out of my grains raised my eff. by almost 10%. The rest of your process sounds pretty tight, other than the grain crush. You are off to a good start.

 

[squeekybobo]

Wow... This describes my day almost to a T yesterday. Same situation... Crazy!

 

[oakbarn]

We add 1/2 pound of two row base for a 5 gal batch. We normally do 16 gallon batches so about 1.5 extra base. We have improved our our conversion and normally end up with about 17 gallons or more. When we first started all grain, we added DME if we needed to adjust OG, but only did that a couple of times before we hit our target or better. We have a recipe that calls for 12.4 oz of corn sugar, but we only add if we need to and I have had 5 # of corn sugar for over a year now. We love all grain.

 

[Dan]

OP, have to agree with the rest. The crush looks to have whole kernels of grain. The rest of your process sounds pretty good.

Off topic
Oakbarn, Is that a Phantom on your profile page? The nose looks a little different from what I remember.

 

[oakbarn]

It is a Photo Phantom (RF4c) firing a 2.75 rocket. The nose was 3 foot longer than air to mud. It is a pix from the 16TRS from Shaw AFB. I was in the 18th and 62nd as well as the 1st TRS at RAF Alconbury, but did instruct shooting rockets. Oddly enough, a 2.75 is the exact size of a beer can. You could put 7 cans in a rocket tube but normally the one in front burst from freezing. The rest were ice cold.

 

[Dan]

It is a Photo Phantom (RF4c) firing a 2.75 rocket. The nose was 3 foot longer than air to mud. It is a pix from the 16TRS from Shaw AFB. I was in the 18th and 62nd as well as the 1st TRS at RAF Alconbury, but did instruct shooting rockets. Oddly enough, a 2.75 is the exact size of a beer can. You could put 7 cans in a rocket tube but normally the one in front burst from freezing. The rest were ice cold.

PM sent

 

[JSGT09]

Thanks for all of the input and advise guys; one of the reasons I love this board!

Next time I'll go for a little coarser crush with my grains and be sure to stir the hell out of the batch sparge addition. I have a another 10 pounds of grain for an American Red Ale in the basement that I can't wait to start!

 

[StoneFan]

Thanks for all of the input and advise guys; one of the reasons I love this board!

Next time I'll go for a little coarser crush with my grains and be sure to stir the hell out of the batch sparge addition. I have a another 10 pounds of grain for an American Red Ale in the basement that I can't wait to start!

Finer crush

 

[JSGT09]

Ooops, finer crush!