Bad efficiency problem

I just finished brewing a porter and was surprised by how low my original gravity was.

I used to order precrushed grains from morebeer and never really checked my efficiency. Lately I've been getting grains from my LHBS and have noticed that I'm missing targets on the beers I've been brewing.

I used 12.5 lbs of grains. Mash volume 4 gallons at 150 for 60 minutes. Sparge 5.5 gallons at 170 for 10 minutes.

Pre boil gravity was 1.040 at 65. Boiled for 75 minutes (I got more wort than I calculated) and OG was 1.046. I ended up with 5.5 gallons in the fermenter. My target OG was 1.052 - 1.057! Way off!

I consider myself a novice brewer but I have about 30 brews under my belt all but 4 all grain. Is this the grain crush from the LHBS or am I missing something?

On a good note, SWMBO gave me the go ahead to buy a grain mill!

 

I highly recommend a grain mill. It allows you to control the process, not your LHBS.

I think it's worth every penny.

 

Yeah, for that much grain you are right around 55% efficiency so something isn't right. If you used to hit your gravities and suddently can't after switching to your LHBS, then the crush might be to blame. If you pick up a handfull of crushed grain you should be able to see lots of exposed endosperm and nothing left completely intact. If it's a little floury that's still fine as long as your sparge doesn't stick.

 

when i did not have a mill and got my malt crushed at a HBS i got 60-65% bhe..simply by buying a mill im at 78-80% regular gravity brews and around 65-70 high gravity..mills make a big difference

 

Looks like I will be ordering a grain mill tonight then. I'll rebrew the same recipe later and see if that makes a difference. I have a feeling that I will make a huge difference. Thanks for the replies!

 

they have alot of mills available.. i have the barley crusher..its bad ass lifetime warranty..highly recommend it

 

trust us its gonna make a hugh difference cause you can control the crush

 

What was your pre-boil volume?


Edited: to remove some bad calculations on my part

 

I had just shy of 7.5 gallons pre boil. I boiled for 75 minutes to account for the extra. I ended up with just over 5.5 gallons in the fermentor with about a half gallon of loss in the kettle.


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7.5g of 1.040 wort should boil down to 5.5g of 1.055 wort. Even if you assume that the end of the boil volume was 6g (accounting for some loss to trub, etc.) you should have ended up with 1.050. Quite a bit closer to the initial prediction. I think your measurement(s) are off somewhere.

all of that said, I second everything said about getting you own mill. Even a cheap corona will give you a consistent grind and peace of mind.

 

Maybe I will buy a refractometer too. I've never really had a problem using a hydrometer though.


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