First Brew, Looks like I really screwed something up

[Jackhole]

So, I'm doing my first all-grain batch today. See my attached BeerSmith recipe. I did some measuring with my system ( volumes left in boil kettle, mash tun, etc.) and created an equipment profile.

So I'm brewing this batch today. I followed the below steps to a T, with the exception that I combined the batch sparges to one sparge of 5.6 gallons. My first runnings were 1.067, second runnings 1.032. My total volume into kettle was 8.9, so I'm way under gravity and a gallon over on pre-boil volume. I don't even know where to start troubleshooting this.

Chainbreaker White IPA
American IPA (14 B)
Type: All Grain
Batch Size: 5.25 gal
Boil Size: 7.91 gal
Boil Time: 60 min
End of Boil Vol: 7.41 gal
Final Bottling Vol: 5.53 gal Fermentation: Ale, Single Stage
Taste Notes:
◯ Create a yeast starter with 2.00 l of wort ◯ Clean and Prepare Brewing Equipment ◯ Total Water Needed: 10.12 gal
◯
Date: 12 Jul 2014
Brewer: Ryan H.
Asst Brewer:
Equipment: Ryan's System Efficiency: 72.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 99.0 % Taste Rating: 30.0
Prepare for Brewing
Water Prep
Mash or Steep Grains Mash Ingredients

Amt
Name
Type
#
%/IBU

1.00 tbsp
PH 5.2 Stabilizer (Mash 60.0 mins)
Water Agent
1
-


Amt
Name
Type
#
%/IBU


5.3 oz
Rice Hulls (0.0 SRM)
Adjunct
2
2.7 %


7 lbs 1.8 oz
Pilsen Malt 2-Row (Briess) (1.0 SRM)
Grain
3
58.1 %


2 lbs 7.4 oz
White Wheat Malt (2.4 SRM)
Grain
4
20.1 %

2 lbs
Wheat, Flaked (1.6 SRM)
Grain
5
16.4 %
Mash Steps


Name
Description
Step Temperature
Step Time

Mash In
Add 18.00 qt of water at 160.2 F
148.0 F
60 min
◯ Batch sparge with 2 steps (1.27gal, 4.35gal) of 168.0 F water ◯ Add water to achieve boil volume of 7.91 gal
◯ Estimated pre-boil gravity is 1.056 SG
Boil Ingredients


Amt
Name
Type
#
%/IBU


1.00 oz
Columbus (Tomahawk) [14.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min
Hop
6
35.3 IBUs


5.2 oz
Corn Sugar (Dextrose) [Boil for 30 min](0.0 SRM)
Dry Extract
7
2.7 %


1.00 tsp
Irish Moss (Boil 15.0 mins)
Fining
8
-


0.50 tsp
Yeast Nutrient (Boil 10.0 mins)
Other
9
-


10.50 g
Orange Peel, Sweet (Boil 5.0 mins)
Spice
10
-


3.15 g
Coriander Seed (Boil 5.0 mins)
Spice
11
-


1.00 oz
Centennial [10.00 %] - Boil 0.0 min
Hop
12
0.0 IBUs


1.00 oz
Citra [12.00 %] - Boil 0.0 min
Hop
13
0.0 IBUs

0.50 oz
Cascade [5.50 %] - Boil 0.0 min
Hop
14
0.0 IBUs
◯ Estimated Post Boil Vol: 7.41 gal and Est Post Boil Gravity: 1.062 SG Cool and Transfer Wort
◯ Cool wort to fermentation temperature ◯ Transfer wort to fermenter

◯ Add water if needed to achieve final volume of 5.25 gal
Pitch Yeast and Measure Gravity and Volume Fermentation Ingredients

Amt
Name
Type
#
%/IBU
1.0 pkg
Abbey Ale (White Labs #WLP530) [35.49 ml]
Yeast
15
-
◯ Measure Actual Original Gravity _______ (Target: 1.062 SG)
◯ Measure Actual Batch Volume _______ (Target: 5.25 gal)
◯ Add water if needed to achieve final volume of 5.25 gal
Fermentation
◯ 12 Jul 2014 - Primary Fermentation (14.00 days at 67.0 F ending at 67.0 F) ◯
Dry Hop and Bottle/Keg
◯ Measure Final Gravity: _________ (Estimate: 1.010 SG)
◯ Date Bottled/Kegged: 26 Jul 2014 - Carbonation: Keg with 12.54 PSI
◯ Age beer for 30.00 days at 65.0 F
◯ 25 Aug 2014 - Drink and enjoy!
Notes
1/2 Campden tablet into mash water 1/3 bag rice hulls
Used 2 lbs. wheat malt. Clone recipe called for 1.56 lbs. (scaled to my system)

 

[vinnythering]

Boil it down a while before adding any hops. That'll get your gravity up and your volume down.

 

[blizz81]

As far as volume goes, I'm not real sure how BeerSmith is getting the 18qt of strike water, but it seems like it would be a fairly thin mash in this case.

Just going with kind of a "standard" 1.25qt per lb of grain, I would think you'd end up with something like the below. Can change the 1.25qt / lb, and the absorption factor (.11 gal per lb) might vary slightly...

114oz (2row) + 39oz (wheat) + 32oz (flaked wheat) + 5.3oz (rice hulls) = 190 / 16 = 11.875lb * 1.25qt = 14.84qt = 3.71gal strike water

Absorption: 11.875lb * .11 = around 1.31gal
First Wort: 3.71gal - 1.31gal = 2.4gal
Sparge: Boil Volume (7.91gal) - 2.4gal = 5.51gal


As far as not reaching your OG, first sort your volume issues out, and if you're still off, read up on efficiency tips.

 

[charliehorse]

One of the things that I preach all the time is that when you look at the output of software that doesn't look right, it probably isn't. Look at your inputs. Did you "fat finger" something? If you're doing a 5 gallon batch, unless you live in a ridiculously dry place in high altitudes, you shouldn't be starting with 7.91 gallons of preboil volume. Test your system by boiling a premeasued volume of water for an hour. Cool it down and measure how much you have left. If I were a betting man, I would be that you're not loosing 2.41 gallons to steam over an hour. In fact, I'd be surprised if you loose more than a gallon.

 

[Hello]

To me, it looks like your equipment profile is not at all dialed in correctly if you're looking for nearly 8 gallons of pre-boil volume.

However, a way to recover or prevent a low OG is check your pre-boil gravity through the sparge. Break it up in 3's so check it 1/3rd of the way, then 2/3rd and so forth. Stop sparging when you come close or hit the desired OG. If your volume is too low, you can continue to sparge but you may want to offset with adding DME. If you don't care about low volumes then go with it. I personally care more about hitting my numbers than volumes. The next time I work towards hitting my volumes. It takes practice and time.

You can boil for hours to boil down to the correct OG, you may end up with under the volume you anticipated…which to me is adding unnecessary time if you were to have caught it earlier like I was mentioning above. Again, it's something that you need to dial in with your grain absorption and boil off.

You will have beer, just not the ABV you intended most likely.