First All Grain Batch Issues...Help

[BoogieH2O]

Brewed my first all grain batch today. All went pretty smoothly other than the fact that I ended up with just under 9 gallons of 11.5 after my mash and sparge. I mashed at 152 degrees with 5 gallons and sparged with 6.5 of 168 degrees. I was hoping for more around 7 to reach a 5 gallon batch after my boil. I also only had a an OG of 1.036 but was hoping for 1.050. Any thoughts on why I ended up with so much wort and a low OG?

Thanks! Recipe below

American Pale Ale
8 lbs 2-row (US)
1 lb German Pale
1 lb Crystal 40
.33 lb Crystal 70

1 oz Cascade @FWH
1 oz Citra @ 20 min
1 oz Cistra @ 10

60 minute boil

 

[masskrug]

Too much water to begin with, and /or not a long enough boil?

What software did you use to calculate your water?

 

[khawk95]

How much was your final volume in your fermenter? It's unclear from your original post.

Did you batch sparge or fly sparge? How long was your mash? How long was your boil? What temp did you measure OG? Pre-boil OG or post boil OG of 1.036?

That could help narrow it down.


Roed Haus Brewery

 

[ReformedBrewer]

At the start of your boil your volume of water should = desired bottling volume + trub loss (~.5 gallons) + boil off volume (mine is 1.2 an hour). Most people shoot for 6 gallons at the end of their boil.

 

[BoogieH2O]

No software was used to calculate, i know....mistake number one. I just read that the mash can take up 30% of your total water volume. I added my 2 gallon boil off and trub loss to come up with that number.

Khawk- My final volume was 5.5 in my 6 gallon fermentor. That all I had room for but had about 2-3 gallons of leftover wort I had to pour out. I fly sparged, and mashed for 1 hr. Did a 60 min boil, and took a post boil OG at 80 degrees.

 

[j1n]

You prob should have started with 9 gallons.

I typically use 8-10 gallons to start depending on the recipe for a 5-6 gallon batch.

 

[duboman]

You really don't need software

Mash in at 1.25-1.5 qts/lb of grain
Absorption will be .12*total lbs
Sparge volume will be whatever you need to reach pre boil volume

Your preboil volume will depend on what you boil off over 60-90 minutes and whatever you leave behind in the kettle and tun, take good notes

-
As for low OG, could be crush, could be efficiency of your setup and process.


Sent from the Commune

 

[BugAC]

not sure about your volume. But my first all-grain batch, when i took my pre-boil reading, i freaked out. Word to the wise, never forget about temperature adjustments for your hydrometer. 130 degree wort vs. 75 degree wort is a big difference in you gravity readings.

 

[BierMuncher]

If I read you right, your low OG was simply that you had too much wort…too much water.

You say you had 5.5 gallons go into the fermenter, but it is not because you boiled the 9 gallons down to 5.5 gallons (which would have concentrated the sugars and raised your gravity), but because you poured that much out of your 9 gallon batch.

Your first all grain batch will teach you a lot about your particular setup. Make adjustments to the next brew session and continue to dial in your system.

As for this last batch and for others who may run into the same situation of overshooting your volume and getting a low (diluted) OG, simply set that timer to 90 minutes for your boil and let evaporation concentrate your wort down to targetted levels.

 

[dobe12]

When figuring your mash/sparge water, first decide how thick/think you'd like to mash. 1.5qt/lb is a good starting point. I like to mash a little thinner and some mash thicker at 1.25qt/lb, but 1.5 is a starting point. Let's say you have 10lbs of grain in your recipe.

10lbs x 1.5qt/lb = 15qts (3.75 gallons of water)

Grain absorption is around .125gal/lb. So 10lbs will absorb about 1.25 gallons.

So after your mash, you'll have about 2.5 gallons of wort.

If you want to finish with 6 gallons post boil, add your boil off (1.5gal/hr estimated) and trub loss (1/2gal estimated). 6 + 1.5 + .5= 8gals per boil wort needed.

8 gallons preboil - 2.5 (from mash) = 5.5 gallons from sparge needed.

So you should have sparged with 5.5 gallons, but I'd recommend 2 equal sparges of 2.75 gallons each.

Seems a bit confusing but it's easy. Just figure how think/thin you want to mash. Do the math for how much mash water. Then subtract for grain absorption and get the rest of of your water/wort from your sparge. This should all equal your preboil volume (around 8 gallons).