OG/SG very low

[hilljack13]

Since I am restarting, going from extract to all grain, I might as well be a newby.

I did my first brew today on my G40. It was NB Caribou Slobber. Everything went great and the steps from the GF app were nice. Clean up was super simple and half of it I was able to do during the boil.

One issue I had, due to my own over eagerness. Once the grains were mashed in I felt like I was missing something. I knew it! I had 60 min to mash so I need to put in the 60 min hops. WHOOPS! Yes, that happened. I realized it immediately. O'well, s*$t happens.

All that said, my main issue is with (as the title says) my SG was 1.042?? WTF?? This thing was supposed to be 1.052. That's a big drop IMO. To be fair, I did what the app said and added all the water to start and did not sparge. I was supposed to have 5.5 gal in the fermenter and ended up with ~5.8 according to the lines in the Spike Flex+

I figured that would lower the SG but 10 points? I admit I have never hit expected SG with extracts but I have never been this low. Other than double checking the volume at the end of the boil, what else do I should I be looking at to hit the SG? Am I even use SG correct?

 

[GilSwillBasementBrews]

Most likely just need a finer crush on your grains.

 

[lumpher]

Was it all-grain, extract, or partial mash? When you mention "extracts", do you mean what you extract during your ag mash? You're talking about sparging, which you don't do with extracts, and you're mashing in grains which you don't do with extracts, but you say you are using extracts... kinda lost. Are you talking about mashing and sparging the specialty grains? If that's the case, no you don't do that. When I do extracts in my Mash and Boil, I just put the grain in at the start and set the temp to 160. When it gets there, I pull out the grains and heat up to about 180 or so, add the extract, bring the water to a boil, then add my hops.

 

[huckdavidson]

On my MM2 Pro, I'll grind barley @ .040 and wheat @ .025. I always grind the wheat first in the grist bucket so the barley goes on top and into the G40 first.

I'll fill the G40 with 10 gal of water. Set the delay timer or just heat to strike temp. Before dough in, I'll pump 4-5 gallons to a pot to save for sparge water. How much you pump depends on the mash thickness ratio desired.

After dough in, stirr for 5-10 mins with a whisk before starting to slowly recirculate. Once recirculation starts I'll adjust the speed so that about a .25 in of wort remains on top of the grain bed.

Once mash is complete, I'll lift the basket and pour sparge water over the grain bed maintaining the .25 in above the grain bed. I'll let it drain and even sometimes squeeze the bed with a glass or my fist (in a glove). All of this while heating to boil at the same time.

These procedures result in a consistent 75% efficiency with my G40.

 

[hilljack13]

This was crushed by NB. I'm still waiting on my Spike mill....

When I talk of extracts I mean what I brewed years ago, only extract brews.

 

[hilljack13]

After dough in, stirr for 5-10 mins with a whisk before starting to slowly recirculate.

I didin't do this. Only stirred with wisk to get the initial dough in. Then I let it sit and started the recirculation.

 

[hilljack13]

squeeze the bed with a glass or my fist

I did this with a spatula. Didn't seem to do much. A lot to learn, but this is the first so we'll see.

 

[huckdavidson]

Try sparging next time. You'll most likely hit your OG or even higher. Though you might have to boil a little longer. On my G40, I'm boiling off 1.5 - 2 gallons per hour and generally start boiling with ~7.5 gallons for a ~5.5 gallon batch.

 

[mac_1103]

I figured that would lower the SG but 10 points?

To get 5.5 gallons of 1.052 from that recipe requires 75% efficiency. The extra volume cost you two or three points. The rest either wasn't converted or wasn't drained out of the grain bed.

Other than double checking the volume at the end of the boil, what else do I should I be looking at to hit the SG?

You can check your gravity and volume before the boil.

 

[hilljack13]

Try sparging next time. You'll most likely hit your OG or even higher. Though you might have to boil a little longer. On my G40, I'm boiling off 1.5 - 2 gallons per hour and generally start boiling with ~7.5 gallons for a ~5.5 gallon batch.

yes, during my trial I was at 1.75 g p/hr. Stupid why GF posts a sub gal boil off rate. Would have helped if I had paid attention to this instead of the app.

 

[hilljack13]

To get 5.5 gallons of 1.052 from that recipe requires 75% efficiency. The extra volume cost you two or three points. The rest either wasn't converted or wasn't drained out of the grain bed.

You can check your gravity and volume before the boil.

I'll check next time and continue as needed!

 

[Clint Yeastwood]

And 1.042 is still beer. Summer is coming eventually.

My feeling is that it's better to shoot low and add water than to risk having too much water you can't get rid of. Maybe others know better.

You could keep some DME around to rescue weak beers. It saved an ale I made last year. It's really excellent in spite of my errors. You could even resort to throwing table sugar in there if you had to.

Are you saying you added hops at the start of the mash? Do I understand that correctly? I wonder what will happen. I would guess a lot of the aroma stuff went in early and then boiled off.

I did my first BIAB the other day, and I was surprised by a lot of dry dough balls. They persist for a long time if you don't deal with them. Did you do a starch test? I spent a lot of time smooshing dough balls, and I did a starch test later. A dry dough ball will not convert, obviously.

There seem to be a lot of beers with names like slobber and snot. I would find it hard to relax while drinking something like that. It's like calling spaghetti and meatballs spaghetti and turds.

 

[hilljack13]

Are you saying you added hops at the start of the mash?

Yes. Pure accident.

 

[Skeeter686]

This was crushed by NB. I'm still waiting on my Spike mill....

When I talk of extracts I mean what I brewed years ago, only extract brews.

You could try taking gravity measurements toward the end of your mash, and try extending your mash time if you're off target.

 

[hilljack13]

You could try taking gravity measurements toward the end of your mash, and try extending your mash time if you're off target.

Yes. My next thoughts on this, which I should have done

 

[SFC Rudy]

Most recipes you buy require a sparge to reach the stated OG. Why? Less grain required which reduces the cost of the recipe and lowers shipping costs because the packaging is lighter.

Your options: 1. Accept the lower OG, 2. Sparge or 3. Add 10-20% more grain.

 

[Stikius]

I didin't do this. Only stirred with wisk to get the initial dough in. Then I let it sit and started the recirculation.

My experience is that the grains need about 10 minutes to "settle". If I just dough in and start to recirculate I will end up with a stuck mash. So 1) dough in, 2) stir, 3) let settle for 10 minutes, 4) stir again, 5) start recirculation.

I did this with a spatula. Didn't seem to do much. A lot to learn, but this is the first so we'll see.

Since I started pressing the grain with a lid from one of my larger pots I seem to be getting pretty constant (high) efficiency independent on whether sparging or mashing full volume. You'll need to adjust grain absorption in your software though.

 

[jdauria]

This was crushed by NB. I'm still waiting on my Spike mill....

When I talk of extracts I mean what I brewed years ago, only extract brews.

That's probably the bulk of your problem there...homebrew shops, even the big boys like NB, set their mills to a pretty wide gap in order to help customers avoid a stuck mash. Sure their customers lose efficiency, but in turn it means they may buy an extra pound or two of grain next time to make up the difference. Between the little extra water you had and the wider crush, 10 points short is feasible.

 

[hilljack13]

That's probably the bulk of your problem there...homebrew shops, even the big boys like NB, set their mills to a pretty wide gap in order to help customers avoid a stuck mash. Sure their customers lose efficiency, but in turn it means they may buy an extra pound or two of grain next time to make up the difference. Between the little extra water you had and the wider crush, 10 points short is feasible.

Cool. I also have an uncrushed kit of this. Once I get my mill I'll redo and see where I am at.

 

[hilljack13]

Did my crush of the NB kit. I was going to brew today, but my curiosity and lack of Tilt's had me on their website. I ended up ordering 2 of the Tilt pro minis. They are supposed to help when using ss fermenters. We shall see. Looks like next weekend will be busy