First Partial Mash Brew, Gravity failure - Help!

[zenon222]

Long time reader, 1st time poster.
Please Help.

I made my 1st partial mash kit this evening. The instructions are linked below. I followed everything and ended-up with a wort of 1.028 gravity. The kit is supposed to end at 1.040 -> 1.050. Can I save this situation?

Here are the ingredients:

3.3 lbs light DME
2 lbs Pilsner Grain
1 lbs Munich Grain
1 oz Saaz hops (bittering)
1 oz Cascade hops (flavour)
1 oz Saaz hops (aroma)
1 tsp Irish moss

Water to 23 litres in the Carboy




Instructions Link

 

[blizzard]

What temperature was the wort when you measured it? That can make a big difference. There are online calculators to help you make the adjustment.

Also, how well did you mix things together before measured? It takes a lot of mixing to get the top up water mixed into the wort. Try more shaking/stirring and then measure again.

 

[zenon222]

The wort is in a 60 liter demijohn, I gave it a few real good swirls to mix everything up.

I chilled the mash pot in an ice bath. The mash was about 78F and top-up water room temp.

Does the ingredient list sound about right?? I'm worried now that maybe the kit doesn't have enough DME.

 

[blizzard]

23 liters is just over 6 gallons, which seems a bit high. That said, you should be getting about 1.035-1.040 with that grain bill and volume. If you have more extract you can add it. Dissolve it in a small amount of water before adding to the fermenter.

 

[RM-MN]

A few swirls, no matter how good, are not enough to mix the concentrated wort evenly with the top off water. I'm betting your OG is pretty close to what the kit called for and that the lower measured OG is simply a measurement error.

Here's something to try so you can see for yourself how difficult it is to mix the concentrated wort with the top off water. Take a glass tumbler and fill it half way with water. Add 2 tablespoons of honey, as dark honey as you can get. Now swirl them to get them to completely mix. I'll bet you can't get all the honey mixed unless you swirl for many minutes. Same goes for the concentrated wort.:rockin:

 

[narl79]

I just had to top off with water on my last batch for the first time and my readings were way off. People sayed the same as RM so im going to just this one sit and see how it comes out.

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