First "larger" batch pale ale low OG

[joshb_]

Finally got to use my new bayou burner and 40 qt kettle out on the deck this weekend to make 10 gallons of "generic" pale ale.

Ingredients:
12lbs light LME
2lbs light DME
16 oz caraplis grain
16 oz carmel grain
1 oz Columbus hops
4 oz Amarillo hops
2 oz Amarillo for dry hopping

Split the batch into 2 separate buckets from the kettle and added a starter yeast in each made from separate wyeast smack packs

I boiled up about 7 gallons of water which is more than I have used in the past for extract kits…could this be the cause of the low OG reading of 1.044? I was hoping to get something around 1.050 at the very least.

 

[unionrdr]

How long did you steep the grains? What temp?

 

[joshb_]

How long did you steep the grains? What temp?

The temp got a little high on me for about the first 5 min it was 165 but I got it down to about 158 for the rest of the time.

20min total boil on the grains...should I have gone a bit longer?

 

[unionrdr]

20 or 30 minutes is fine. Were the grains crushed or no?

 

[joshb_]

20 or 30 minutes is fine. Were the grains crushed or no?

Yes, I ran them through my crusher.

 

[Malticulous]

The grains are a very small part anyway. I get 12 LMEx35=420 and 2 DMEx45=90, so 510 ppg with out the crystals. You might have got around 34 points form the crystal for a total of around 1.054 at 10 gallons. The starters would have diluted it a little bit. It's either not mixing it together completely or your volume measurements are off. You may have even got more in the other fermenter.

 

[joshb_]

The grains are a very small part anyway. I get 12 LMEx35=420 and 2 DMEx45=90, so 510 ppg with out the crystals. You might have got around 34 points form the crystal for a total of around 1.054 at 10 gallons. The starters would have diluted it a little bit. It's either not mixing it together completely or your volume measurements are off. You may have even got more in the other fermenter.

Thanks for the info. I am still "new" this scene so I am sure some of my measurements could be a bit off. I am not going to worry about the readings for now, I am sure I will still get a decent brew. I have done about 5 5 gallon kits before this. This was 2 kits put together that I changed up a little bit to make it my "own".