Just one of those brew days

[Mothman]

I don't really have a specific question here... just ranting lol.

I had one of those days yesterday... no disasters, but things were just "off".

I mashed with pretty good temperature control, for an hour (within a few degrees F throughout), one good stir at 30 minutes.

After the hour, I took a refractometer reading and found my gravity was only about half of what I expected! Doh! I didn't stir before this sample, don't know if that matters, just took it from the top, let it cool for a moment, then took the reading.

I extended the mash another half hour, with several stirs, taking a few readings along the way, both with the refractometer and hydrometer (corrected for temperature) and the gravity slowly increased. After about 100 minutes total, my gravity was about where I expected based on Beersmith and Priceless estimates.

(this happened to me once before and I attributed it to doughballs in the mash, but this time around I'm fairly confident I didn't have that problem... I have no ideas on why the mash took so long)

In the process of extending the boil so long, I did lose temperature (mash @ 156, was good through 60 minutes, dropped down to 148-ish by the end, with all the extra stirring I was doing), not sure if that's going to dry out my beer or not.

I proceeded to the boil.

Post-boil I measured my volume and found I was a little high, but chose not to boil off anymore, and let it ride. (this was a 90 minute boil , which I've not done before, and I wonder if the start of my boil was a little less vigorous than normal, due to the higher volume... it looked ok at the time, but maybe not)

After chilling I took my OG readings (both with refractometer and hydrometer, temp corrected) and both agreed with each other... but both were about 3 points lower than they should have been based on my pre-boil , and based on recipe estimates (Beersmith and Priceless) >_<

Not entirely sure what was off, whether to trust my pre-boil numbers (which seem to match recipe estimates) or OG (which is a bit low, but I'd think that would be the more representative number)

My volume measuring is a bit crude (calibrated measuring stick), but typically have been "close enough" for numbers to work out.

In some ways, a clear, defined, screwup would be less frustrating, as that would be an easier thing to wrap my head around.

In the end it's not critical, I'll have beer, and the worst case is it'll be a few points lower or higher in ABV in the end, not a big deal.

I'm still relatively new to this, this was my 6th batch I think (4th all-grain), but typically I haven't had these issue... so maybe this was just one of those days.

Then to end the day, I had decided to throw my hops in the boil loose... normally I use bags, but wanted to try without to see if I notice any difference.

I thought I'd try pouring from kettle to bucket through a grain bag filter placed over the primary, to catch a bunch of that hop debris.... which proceeded to completely plug up the grain bag about half way through my pour, which meant messing with the bag, squeezing it out, more monkeying around, and then I just went ahead and poured the last half of the wort directly in, without the bag. I did catch a good amount of hop debris while pouring through the bag, but it was one more nuisance/hassle that I didn't really want.

But as someone who likes a dialed-in process, the lack of consistency irritates me.

Anyhoo, as I said... just venting a bit... a flawless brewday always feels so good... and this was not one of those days, left me feeling exhausted. LOL

 

[BartJY]

I've never had a flawless brew day. Must be nice. Something, big or little, always seems to go a bit awry...... Hope springs eternal.

 

[Mothman]

Hahah! Fair enough. Maybe "flawless" was a little strong of a word. "Smooth" brew day?

In any case, a challenging brew day is a better day than a lot of other days.

 

[Brewenstein]

If your post boil volume was a little high, then that would account for the lower than expected OG. .03 is nothing to worry about anyway IMHO.

 

[r4dyce]

There's a mantra that goes "Perfect is the enemy of good". Instead of being upset about the brew day you should pat yourself on the back for adjusting and getting back to more or less where you wanted to be at the end. I think you'll find even professional brewers have those days occasionally.

 

[Mothman]

If your post boil volume was a little high, then that would account for the lower than expected OG. .03 is nothing to worry about anyway IMHO.

Understood. The og was lower.than the high volume accounted for though.

My confusion is more about the Pre-boil and post boil numbers not jiving. One (or both) of.my measurements were wrong.

 

[Biscuits]

Sounds like it went pretty smooth to me. Those calculators, as great as they are, will never be exact. too many variables to account for...grain manufacturer, lot, age, etc....water chemistry effects conversion...the temperature you take the readings, whether it is stirred well enough, and on and on.

If you come within .003 of your intended gravity consistently, give yourself a pat on the back because that is the goal.

 

[ancientmariner52]

I learned in the dojo that perfection is the goal, and you must always strive for it, knowing full well that it is unreachable, and you musn't lose heart because you didn't get there. Thanks, Sensai. Makes my day go better, anyway.