TheLadybugTree
Well-Known Member
Help please kind lurkers of the HBT. I have a concerning efficiency problem.
Conversion: 62.7 %
Pre-boil: 67% (9 gal at 1.033 - Brewer's friend expected 1.031)
Ending Kettle: 69% (Had 7.5 gal in kettle at 1.062 - was expecting 1.079)
Brew House: 37% .........37 ?!?!?!?!?!?!!?! What happened?
I brewed my Galaxy IIPA today. Everything was going well. Everything. My PH's were in line. My timing was exactly what I expected. My volumes and temperatures were all pretty close (I will cover one exception) But when it came time to measure the gravity of my wort it was off by 17 points. I am getting a 5.5% beer when I expected a 8%!
I made the recipe using Brewer's friend set to 65% eff. since this is what I have gotten a few times in the past (I am relatively new)
http://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/146458/st-patrick-s-galaxy-iipa
Here is a list of all possible reasons I can think of... please forgive me as some them may be very "noob".
1. My mash temp was a bit wonky at first... too high... then I made it too cold... but I was out of room, so I vorlaufed 2 qt and boiled them on my stove and added it back in... temp was about right after that. (grain temp was 148 after mashing was done)
2. I did a 2 hour mash. Never did this before... maybe the cause?
3. When I drew off the chilled wort for the primary, I got 5.1 gallons without tilting keggle. I expected 5.5 So I guess I over boiled a bit. This might be because I actually started the timer when I started boiling the wort as it came out of the mash tun. Next time should I boil those runnings and then start the timer when I am done sparging? Note I did NOT overshoot my target volume as I had 9 gal. which is what I expected. But maybe I took too much water? But then why did I get 5.1g instead of 5.5g? (See how crazy I can be?)
4. After I took the 5.1g, I tipped the keggle and got another 1.5gal. I put this in a separate container as it was somewhat sludgy.
I dunno, I am a little annoyed with this, I was really hoping this beer would be exactly what I planned for. I could take some small differences but this is ridiculous.
Equipment: keggle and igloo with stainless braided.
How could I get the right pre-boil gravity and volume, and then get the pretty close to the post boil volume but way off on the gravity?
Few pre-emptive replies:
yes Double crushed grain
yes checked thermometer against another
yes stirred the mash tun well (though next time I might use drill rod)
yes hydrometer and refractometer agree with one another and are calibrated
yes keggle is calibrated, did it carefully this AM.
yes boil was rolling
no there are no leaks
yes I took two gravity readings of the chilled wort. First as I drew it off and then again once all was mixed together.
yes I would LOVE YOU if you help me trouble shoot this so I can have more success with the next brew.
Conversion: 62.7 %
Pre-boil: 67% (9 gal at 1.033 - Brewer's friend expected 1.031)
Ending Kettle: 69% (Had 7.5 gal in kettle at 1.062 - was expecting 1.079)
Brew House: 37% .........37 ?!?!?!?!?!?!!?! What happened?
I brewed my Galaxy IIPA today. Everything was going well. Everything. My PH's were in line. My timing was exactly what I expected. My volumes and temperatures were all pretty close (I will cover one exception) But when it came time to measure the gravity of my wort it was off by 17 points. I am getting a 5.5% beer when I expected a 8%!
I made the recipe using Brewer's friend set to 65% eff. since this is what I have gotten a few times in the past (I am relatively new)
http://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/146458/st-patrick-s-galaxy-iipa
Here is a list of all possible reasons I can think of... please forgive me as some them may be very "noob".
1. My mash temp was a bit wonky at first... too high... then I made it too cold... but I was out of room, so I vorlaufed 2 qt and boiled them on my stove and added it back in... temp was about right after that. (grain temp was 148 after mashing was done)
2. I did a 2 hour mash. Never did this before... maybe the cause?
3. When I drew off the chilled wort for the primary, I got 5.1 gallons without tilting keggle. I expected 5.5 So I guess I over boiled a bit. This might be because I actually started the timer when I started boiling the wort as it came out of the mash tun. Next time should I boil those runnings and then start the timer when I am done sparging? Note I did NOT overshoot my target volume as I had 9 gal. which is what I expected. But maybe I took too much water? But then why did I get 5.1g instead of 5.5g? (See how crazy I can be?)
4. After I took the 5.1g, I tipped the keggle and got another 1.5gal. I put this in a separate container as it was somewhat sludgy.
I dunno, I am a little annoyed with this, I was really hoping this beer would be exactly what I planned for. I could take some small differences but this is ridiculous.
Equipment: keggle and igloo with stainless braided.
How could I get the right pre-boil gravity and volume, and then get the pretty close to the post boil volume but way off on the gravity?
Few pre-emptive replies:
yes Double crushed grain
yes checked thermometer against another
yes stirred the mash tun well (though next time I might use drill rod)
yes hydrometer and refractometer agree with one another and are calibrated
yes keggle is calibrated, did it carefully this AM.
yes boil was rolling
no there are no leaks
yes I took two gravity readings of the chilled wort. First as I drew it off and then again once all was mixed together.
yes I would LOVE YOU if you help me trouble shoot this so I can have more success with the next brew.