Cursed Stout - low OG

[hendenburg2]

No, this isn't a recipe name. I've tried twice in the last week to make a stout, but both of them have gotten messed up.

First time, the stout recipes I worked from assumed a roasted barley color of 500L (but didn't mention it), but the stuff sold at my LHBS was the Breiss 300L (wasn't labeled with color rating), so the mash was a nice brown. Dumped it, tried again.

This time, I mashed the following:

7.5 lbs 2-row
1 lb flaked barley
0.5 lb roasted barley
0.5 lb pale chocolate
0.5 lb black malt
0.5 lb caramel steam.

I mashed in 4 gallons at 156F for an hour, drained and sparged with .5 gallon hot water and around 0.5-1 gallon cold.
*
Boiled for 1.25 hours, added 1 gallon of ice.

I noticed the problem where the asterisk is: when I was bringing the wort to a boil, I realized the thermometer I was using was over-estimating the temperature by 10F. Kinda bummed, but I figured I would be okay.

Fast forward, after I rack to the fermenter, I take an OG measurement (thankfully I remembered to do that this time), and it's.... Drumroll please...

1.025.

Fan-friggin'-tastic. I'm assuming this is a combination of the lower efficiency inherent to BIAB, and the low mash temperature.


At this point, I assume the best thing to do would be to dissolve two pounds of DME into a quart of two of water and add.

Any suggestions? (Both in terms of corrective action, and tips for improving future batches?

 

[RM-MN]

Fan-friggin'-tastic. I'm assuming this is a combination of the lower efficiency inherent to BIAB, and the low mash temperature.

There is no lower efficiency to BIAB. I just brewed a batch that was calculated to make 2.5 gallons at 85% efficiency and sparged until I had 4 gallons into the fermenter and still hit my predicted OG. The big difference is in the milling of the grain, not the BIAB process.

Don't let your LHBS mill grain for you again. There milling has already cost you a batch that you dumped. Buy your own Corona style mill and set it tight. This is the one I used to get the high efficiency. http://www.discounttommy.com/p-189-premium-cast-iron-corn-grinder-for-wheat-grains-or-use-as-a-nut-mill.aspx

Then start buying your grain in bulk for the cost savings. Unless your LHBS has really cheap grain by the pound you usually can save enough on the first 55 lb bag to pay for the Corona mill.

Throw out the thermometer you used too. It has cost you the DME you will need to add to this batch to make up for the poor conversion due to too low temperature during the mash. Buy a cheap digital thermometer (Taylor brand at Walmart is about $10 and check it against two known temperatures (like room temp and boiling water, not totally accurate but better than guessing) and if it doesn't read correctly take it back and try again or spend more money for a Thermoworks.

 

[Griffin495]

Why did you dump the first batch? I get it that it wasn't the color you wanted, but you had already gone through all that work. Why not just ferment it out and see how it ended up? Might have been a great beer even if it wasn't what you were shooting for.

x2 on milling your own grain. I do BIAB and mill my own and have never had lower than 70% efficiency. I think you might have had a combination of not having the mill grind fine enough and to low of a mash temperature.

 

[hendenburg2]

Then start buying your grain in bulk for the cost savings. Unless your LHBS has really cheap grain by the pound you usually can save enough on the first 55 lb bag to pay for the Corona mill.

Total cost for the 10.5lbs grain + 3 oz hops was $20. So far between this batch and the failed first attempt, it's still costing me less than an extract batch. Also, I don't have a good place for a 55lb sack of barley.

Throw out the thermometer you used too. It has cost you the DME you will need to add to this batch to make up for the poor conversion due to too low temperature during the mash. Buy a cheap digital thermomete

It actually was a digital thermometer. Luckily I already have a second that I cal'd at the same time, and it's only 1F off.

Why did you dump the first batch? I get it that it wasn't the color you wanted, but you had already gone through all that work. Why not just ferment it out and see how it ended up? Might have been a great beer even if it wasn't what you were shooting for.

If it was just for me, that'd be a different story. It's for a St. Patrick's Day party I'm throwing, and no one else is a homebrewer. Best foot forward, you know?

 

[kevin58]

Don't ever throw out a mash because of something as insignificant as color. Ever again! Some of the best beers have come out of unexpected results. There is a craft brewer in my area that was trying to make a particular style but it came out a different color than they wanted. It ended up being their flagship ale!

 

[bigdawg86]

I had terrible numbers on a big stout I just tried (26lb grain bill for 5 gallon batch)... for me it was a learning curve on new equipment. I knew I missed my numbers, so just ended up doing essentially a partigyle brew day, used some DME, left over hops and now have two beers going. A higher gravity stout, and a 8% frankenstout that I just racked onto lactose and toasted coconut

 

[MaxStout]

As others have stated, it has to be your crush. Thermo is only off 1F, so mash temp isn't the culprit. Looks like you are doing everything else right. Get a mill and start crushing your own. Corona mills are very inexpensive and work fine. Otherwise, you're at the mercy of LHBS' mill, which could be way out of adjustment. BTW, you could bring this up with the people at the LHBS. They may be unaware of the problem and appreciate the feedback. See if you can get them to measure the roller gap with a feeler gauge. It should be under .040", and .030" is even better for BIAB.

I know everyone is nagging you about this, and I will, too. Don't throw out a brew because it doesn't look right! It's OK to be kind of a perfectionist, but it's also OK to drink your imperfect beers. I once made an Irish stout that never attenuated very well. I just called it a "malty English stout" and enjoyed it anyway.

 

[hendenburg2]

As others have stated, it has to be your crush. Thermo is only off 1F, so mash temp isn't the culprit. Looks like you are doing everything else right. Get a mill and start crushing your own. Corona mills are very inexpensive and work fine. Otherwise, you're at the mercy of LHBS' mill, which could be way out of adjustment. BTW, you could bring this up with the people at the LHBS. They may be unaware of the problem and appreciate the feedback. See if you can get them to measure the roller gap with a feeler gauge. It should be under .040", and .030" is even better for BIAB.

I know everyone is nagging you about this, and I will, too. Don't throw out a brew because it doesn't look right! It's OK to be kind of a perfectionist, but it's also OK to drink your imperfect beers. I once made an Irish stout that never attenuated very well. I just called it a "malty English stout" and enjoyed it anyway.

Nah, that was my second themo. The one I used was off by 11F.

Also, I should have mentioned this earlier, but my LHBS is also a brewery, so the grain crusher he uses for customers is the same one that he uses for his own beers. Still should have had him run it a second time.

 

[RM-MN]

Nah, that was my second themo. The one I used was off by 11F.

Also, I should have mentioned this earlier, but my LHBS is also a brewery, so the grain crusher he uses for customers is the same one that he uses for his own beers. Still should have had him run it a second time.

Being a brewery he may mash for a lot longer than you which will improve the efficiency. His thermometer might be better than yours too.

 

[NitrogenWidget]

I'm newish to AG and biab and i noticed the kits I bought with steeping grains and the one gallon kits were crushed WAY finer than what I got from the home brew shop.
Once I got my own corona mill and started double crushing i ended up with OG's .010-.015 pts higher than recipie expected.