Remind Me

[jgaepi]

My first AG back into brewing again was a Cold Smoke clone. But I missed my OG by a bit (1.051 versus 1.066).

I used beersmith for the first time and my water additions were spot on. My mash temp was a little low (144 versus 150).

Remind me what I did wrong on my OG. Was it my grain bill or temperatures or both? It is hard because my water additions were spot on with my grain bill size so I need a quick refresher. Thanks.

 

[waldoar15]

Could be crush, dead space in mash tun you forgot to account for, not enough boil off.

 

[Rob2010SS]

Yeah kinda need more info.

What was your target finished volume? What did you actually finish at?

Did you crush at home or at LHBS?

How did you sparge - fly or batch? If fly, how long did it take? If batch, how many times did you do it?

 

[jgaepi]

Not finished yet. Just brewed today. I think it was probably the kit from Austin. I used to crush my own grains a long, long time ago. That makes sense over grain bill or temp.

I batch sparge. But considering I pulled my water target to a T, I can't imagine it was my sparge.

 

[Rob2010SS]

Not finished yet. Just brewed today. I think it was probably the kit from Austin. I used to crush my own grains a long, long time ago. That makes sense over grain bill or temp.

I batch sparge. But considering I pulled my water target to a T, I can't imagine it was my sparge.

How many times did you sparge though? Only once or did you do more than one batch sparge? It's possible If you only did one batch sparge you didn't get all of the sugars off the grains. Not sure if that would make up for 15 points but it probably would have helped some.

 

[Rob2010SS]

Not finished yet. Just brewed today. I think it was probably the kit from Austin. I used to crush my own grains a long, long time ago. That makes sense over grain bill or temp.

I batch sparge. But considering I pulled my water target to a T, I can't imagine it was my sparge.

You said you did hit your target water volume spot on though? Like, you are aiming to finish at 5 gallons and you did finish at 5 gallons?

 

[Rob2010SS]

Sorry for so many replies lol.

Also what temperature was the wort when you took OG reading?

 

[jgaepi]

I don't mind the questions. Ask me as many as you like.
Wort was about 80. I hit my target for pre-boil, on the money. I did a single sparge after mash.

 

[Rob2010SS]

At 80 degrees, your temp corrected reading is 1.052. If you hit your water targets, my guess is it's a combination of 2 things - mash temp and the single sparge. When i batch sparge, i usually do a double batch sparge. From what I've read, this helps get a bit more of the sugars off the grains. As far as your mash temp, that's pretty low. Im not positive but i think that's on the verge of too low...? Someone else may have to chime in on that one. But those are my guesses - temp and sparge.

 

[RM-MN]

If your mash temperature was really 144F. that could be the problem. The two amylase enzymes need to work together to convert the starch to sugar and at 144, the alpha amylase isn't doing much. Take a few minutes to read this article and look at the graphic at the end.

https://missionarybrewer.wordpress....ers-window-what-temperature-should-i-mash-at/

 

[divrack]

most likely temperature. 144 will make a highly fermentable wort but would need a much longer mash as the dominant enzyme is only able to work at the ends of the starch chains unlike the dominant enzyme at hotter temps. you would want a couple hrs at that temp and that would make a dry beer. still, 51 is a decent starting point for a beer so im sure it will be tasty. if it ends up too dry (which it probably will) you could always add a bit of lactose, but looking at a recipe online i would think that the beer you produce would be a fairly nice quaffable affair, especially if dry hopped a good dose.
i also notice that the online clone i saw calls for sugar in the boil. dont suppose you missed a step in the kit?
Anyway as i say, i think adding lactose would get you somewhere close to the recipe or (what i would do) upping the hop flavour would get you a nice light beer.

 

[jgaepi]

I've never added lactose before. How do I understand when and how much to use? Thanks.

 

[jgaepi]

That is the weird element for me, probably related to cooler or grains being too cold. I heated up my water to 164, poured into my cooler, added grains, and tested the water temp at 144. Kinda weird for me to lose so much temp quickly. I don't think that happened to me in the past.

 

[Redpappy]

I’m still learning, so take it for what it is worth. If you’re water was 164 and then it dropped to 144, my thoughts are either thermometer is broken. Or the grains temp were very cold when you added them, and it cooled the water down.

As far as the lactose goes, does the kit (if I understood it correctly)have instructions? I would think that it would say when to add and amount. About 7 months ago I did a chocolate milk stout from NB, if my memory serves me right, I added the lactose at 15. So you might have missed the timing on that one.

 

[divrack]

I heat to 178. Pitching to the cooler tun and adding grains is always going to cool down everything. Thermodynamics baby.
To be honest maltodextrin might be a better bet for you. Less sweet.
Personally I've never used either post fermentation but you can just boil up a solution and add. Start small see how it goes.
However I would suggest Going with what you brewed rather than trying to get back to the beer you intended by adding things that aren't really part of the recipe. If you really don't like it or if it is too thin try maltodextrin. I actually think lactose might make it too sickly given its low hop rate

 

[Rob2010SS]

That is the weird element for me, probably related to cooler or grains being too cold. I heated up my water to 164, poured into my cooler, added grains, and tested the water temp at 144. Kinda weird for me to lose so much temp quickly. I don't think that happened to me in the past.

Yeah, the cooler probably stripped away some of your heat when you added the water. I usually add 5-10*F to my strike temp, so if my strike temp is 165*F, I'll heat the water until it's 170-175*F, add to mash tun to pre-heat the tun and then stir to get down to my desired strike temp.