First AG. a failed success

[BigErn]

So my first attempt at AG went a little haywire. The issues I had werent the ones I thought I was going to have.

I made an Oberon clone from AHS but I used bells yeast I harvested.

I managed to hit my temps exactly which I thought would be my first issue but I kept it at 152 the entire hour!!

Next I got exactly 6 gallons of wort which is what I was planning on with 1 gal of evaporation.

So far everything was going great.

Untill I noticed I messed up the Hops schedual... It was supposed to be 2oz Saaz at 60 and 1 oz Saaz at 5

I did 1 oz at 60 1 oz at 15 and 1 oz at 5... not really sure how I miss read the schedual... just a brain fart.

When i cooled it down and took my final gravity I was shocked to see I missed my OG by 16 points. I got 1.040 when it was supposed to be 1.056. WTF.

I pitched my yeast anyways and said the hell with it... its not going to be overly bitter because of the messed up hops schedual.

The only explination I can think of is my grains sat around for 2 weeks before I was able to brew. I bet with fresh grains this would have been more of a success.

SO... on that note since I dont have access to beer smith or anything like that what does everyone think about this? what exactly can I expect from my final product?

 

[GillandCo]

Calculating your efficiency may have something to do with it. Since whoever made the recipe is most likely making beer with different equipment than you! Hops wouldn't have anything to do with your gravity readings and as far as your grains being fresh i dont think it would throw you off that much...i just brewed a barley wine with grains older than that and my readings were ok...Im stumped your guess is as good as mine! Temerature could effect your readings look up John Palmer how to brew there is a hydrometer adjustment chart...hope that helps!

 

[scrambledegg81]

Hmm...I'm thinking possible user error if it's that far off. If the hydrometer adjustment trick that GillandCo mentioned doesn't work, I'd revisit your procedure and grain bill. Are you using BeerSmith to calculate targets or ye olde calculator? Also (another dumb question), did you rinse your grains prior to starting the boil? Seems like a large enough gap that I'd ask, since there would be a huge amount of sugars left behind if that were the case.

 

[GillandCo]

True most likely user error since the calculation chart only adjust the gravity by a small percent...sounds like you mashed without a sparge! then again you got 6 gallons of wart... you never know...

 

[northernlad]

It is important that you know your brewery's efficiency. Recipes are usualy formulated around 70%. Always take a gravity reading out of the mash. If you are not familiar with the math, it goes a little something like this...
If your target OG is 1.056 @ 5 gallons then your preboil gravity @ 6 gallons should have been 1.0466. To calculate this you will refer to your target gravity as 56. 56*5=280. 280/6=46.6 Knowing your preboil gravity will let you know how far you are from your mark so you can adjust how long you boil or whether you want to add water to bring down the preboil gravity.

 

[fineexampl]

Since moving to AG i have had mixed success until today, BigErn. Just keep at it. I find that, for me, a protein rest along with a slow rise to the mash temp really helps to hit that target gravity. My first AG i was off by 10 points, like you were. I've come to the conclusion that i don't like AHS's grind. I like a finer grist when i brew.

Odd you are having AG woes the same day i finally nailed my OG accurately without adjuncts. Odder still, you are brewing an Oberon clone and i was drinking my first Oberon while i brewed tonight. VEEEEEEERD, yeh?

 

[vicratlhead51]

I wouldn't stress too much about the hop thing either. I screwed up the hop schedule on a pale I made a couple months ago, mixed up the bittering and the aroma hops, and it still turned out pretty good. Luckily the bittering was Hallertau so it still wound up with good flavor. Yours will probably be a bit more bitter than you intended but since saaz isnt usually a really high AA hop it should still be really drinkable.

 

[devilishprune]

It's possible that your mistake actually worked in your favor partially. Since your gravity is so much lower than expected, your brew may have been too bitter if you put in 2 oz of bittering hops. Since you moved it up, you get less IBU contribution, and maybe a more balanced beer.

Besides, maybe adding some more spicy flavor at 15 minutes is good for that beer. I would have thought that it would be there anyway.

 

[bootney]

My suggestion is to always check pre boil gravity and make sure you lauter at a rate of 1 quart a minute. I'm only two all grain batches in, and have followed Palmer's suggestions on all grain and have had efficient extraction of over 30 based off this equation: "Measure the gravity in the boiling pot and multiply the points by the number of gallons you collected. Then divide by the number of pounds of grain you used."

 

[Mischief_Brewing]

I've come to the conclusion that i don't like AHS's grind.

This.

I have yet to get a good crush out of any of the online vendors. I should have my own mill up and running in a few weeks. It'll be easier to diagnose system flaws after that..

 

[tvtoms]

I'm drinking an ale that was all US Saaz 1 @ 60, .5 @ 15 and .5 @ 5 and it's really good, for what it's worth.

 

[Legin]

I've come to the conclusion that i don't like AHS's grind. I like a finer grist when i brew.

I agree. +1 to finer grist.

 

[Homercidal]

If you are confident in your measurements and calibration, then likely it's an efficiency difference (but a big one!) Possibly a combination of coarse crush and inefficient mash system.

I wouldn't sweat it. Most likely you made a pretty good beer even after all of that. Just keep it in mind for next time. I think it would be hard to over-do Saaz, even in a lighter beer.

And a lighter beer just means you can drink more of it!

 

[BigErn]

Looks like I still have some more experimenting to do as well as some more studying.

I mashed at 152 on the dot and I sparged at 170 for 10 minutes after that. This was a brand new setup. 10 gallong rubbermaid cooler with a flase bottom... I think I should invest in beersmith and try to learn the program.

The crush could be an issue but it looked good to me.

Id never heard taking the gravity off the first runnings so that will deffinately be something Im going to do from now on. What do you adjust though if your gravity is off. More sparge water or let it sit for longer than 10 minutes.

I will be brewing again Tuesday as soon as I can figure out what I want to brew. I figured I would still try to keep it simple with a smaller grain bill. Maybe a nice Amber.

And Im still going to finish the Oberon and depending on what it tastes like Ill call it Oberon pale ale or Oberon light haha.

 

[bootney]

The point of checking pre boil gravity is to see if you're where you need to be with the pre boil gravity. I use this equation to determine pre boil gravity: Pre-boil gravity = (post-boil gravity)*(post-boil volume)/(pre-boil volume)[example: 29= 40*5/6.85] So if you're doing a 1.040 SG recipe then your pre boil gravity should be 1.029. My system will usually lose 1.85 gallons during a 1 hour boil. I've also tested hop absorption and it is usually around a loss of 8 oz of water per 1 oz of hop pellets. Yours will be different so take that into consideration. The reason for checking pre boil gravity is to see if you hit your target after the lauter. Then you can look into whether it's the crush of the grain, your system, or you lauter to fast(1 qt a minute suggested) Then if your pre boil is to low you adjust your boil/evaporation to try and get the starting gravity it was suppose to be. When I've done extract full boils I would check the gravity to see where I am at. The only problem with this is with hop additions and you may mess up the boil time on your hops in order to get the correct gravity. I'm not a veteran at this at all, as I have only done two full grain batches, but with my two batches I have done I have been within a few points of the final gravity. One was over and one was under slightly. My set up was mainly due to my readings from howtobrew.com and tips from this site. Cheeers

Also highly suggest getting beer smith

 

[Billy]

If you're having issues w/ the gravity the first place you should look is your grain crush. I'm a bit new to AG as well, but from everything I've been reading people are all pointing there first. I actually WAY overshot the gravity my first AG (10 points) using a batch sparge and my buddy (far more expierienced) who helped me out pointed there first as I was up around 86% efficiency instead of the estimated 70% for the recipe. Either way I'd continue down the path and see how it turns out for you. Nothing wrong w/ a good session beer.