First AG brew! Missed the OG!?

[Vintage63]

I just brewed my first AG recipe and I missed the projected OG. I expected to hit around 1.059 and instead I landed at 1.048. I did a single infusion batch sparge in a 10 gallon rubbermaid with false bottom and thought the mash went pretty well.

What are some factors I might keep in mind for next time to get closer to my anticipated OG? Or, am I just over thinking this?

The recipe was a very straight forward oatmeal stout style with nothing out of the ordinary.

Thanks for the help/thoughts!

 

[Yooper]

Well, two things jump out at me right away. The first is- you missed the Og, but what was the efficiency that the recipe assumed? If it's a recipe where the efficiency was 70% ish you should be able to hit that. But some recipes are based on the recipe writer's efficiency, so you will have to adjust the recipe to your own system in the future.

Secondly, who crushed your grain? Many homebrew stores will crush poorly, especially if the customer in front of you fools around with the mill- so you might never get more than 65% or so from them.

What was the recipe, and what WAS your efficiency?

 

[lumpher]

another thing to consider is 1.048 is ok for many recipes. what is it you were brewing?

 

[Vintage63]

After going through the calculations from How to Brew, my efficiency was just 55%. For a first time AG brew, this sounds extremely low. Here is the recipe I used:

6# 2 row
2# Flaked barley
2 # Munich
1 # Black Patent malt
.5 carapils

The local home brew shop I decided to by the grains is real small and has a pretty lousy crushing set up powered by a little hand drill.

Now, with the recipe and efficiency, any clues as to what I might watch for next time?

 

[Yooper]

After going through the calculations from How to Brew, my efficiency was just 55%. For a first time AG brew, this sounds extremely low. Here is the recipe I used:

6# 2 row
2# Flaked barley
2 # Munich
1 # Black Patent malt
.5 carapils

The local home brew shop I decided to by the grains is real small and has a pretty lousy crushing set up powered by a little hand drill.

Now, with the recipe and efficiency, any clues as to what I might watch for next time?

Well, that's not a great recipe if you want to get good efficiency! Two pounds of flaked barley is unusual, and black patent doesn't have fermentable sugars in it. Carapils is a crystal malt, but the Munich can convert itself. You didn't do as badly as you thought, judging by the recipe.

I mean, it looks like you made an oatmeal stout without any oatmeal!

 

[Vintage63]

Thanks Yoop. Sounds like not much I could have done just by following the recipe and not knowing much about the grain line up.

Is it possible to get it up a bit by adding sugar to the carboy? I haven't pitched my starter yet. Or, would you just say stick with what I got?

 

[lumpher]

don't add sugar, that'll make it nasty.1,048 is ok for what you have. drink it and learn

 

[Vintage63]

Learning I am doing for sure. So, if my efficiency was 55% on this brew, does that mean my efficiency will always be approx. 55% and I should adjust recipes accordingly, like in Beer Smith?

 

[munche]

Learning I am doing for sure. So, if my efficiency was 55% on this brew, does that mean my efficiency will always be approx. 55% and I should adjust recipes accordingly, like in Beer Smith?

I would brew a less funky recipe first and see how it turns out, but maybe bump your grain bill up for next time just in case. If you come out too high, you can always top it off with extra water to hit the OG you want.

I also can't recommend enough the spreadsheet that's been posted here for finding efficiency losses, although I don't have the link at the moment (doh!). Maybe someone else can come along with that.

 

[Vintage63]

Thanks Munche. I always appreciate the insight I get from HBT!