So I put together all the left over crap of grains I had to make a chocolate wheat beer. This is my second AG batch and my first batch had a low efficiency as well. I changed some things and hoped for a much better efficiency but it came out to about the same. Here's the grain bill ( Don't Lol at my numbers, it was left over grains =])
Briess wheat - 4.25 lbs
Muntons 2-row - 4 lbs
Briess Crystal 20L - 0.5lb
Briess Crystal 40L - 0.25lb
Chocolate malt 350L - 1lb
Flaked oats - 0.5lb
I don't have the numbers in front of me but I think at 100% efficiency it was a BG of 1.076 and I got a BG of 1.040 ( stirred well before taking). My OG came up to 1.050 due to a fruit extract so I'm not too worried about the beer not being strong enough. Soooo.....
I single infusion mashed in a 10 gal rubbermaid with a copper manifold (homemade) with 13.1 quarts @ 152F for 60 min (1.25 qts/lb). I had to add 1 quart of water to bring the temp up ( I forgot to preheat the tun... stupid.) First runnings came up to 2gals and I didn't get a gravity for this. Then I batch Sparged 19 quarts @ 170F, stirred really well and let sit for 10 min then drained. Took about 30 minutes. I guess I could have taken more time with this part. I collected a total of 5.5 gal and had an extra gallon of wort that I can't fit into the boil pot due to size. I tested the pH and even added a teaspoon of Gypsum to bring it down to what I think was a pH of 5.4 but it was kind of difficult to read due to the color of the wort staining the pH strip. I used half Arrowhead half Las Vegas city water. I think I'm going to try that 5.4 buffer stuff I keep reading about. The Grain was milled at the LBS. Only two things strike my mind for why my BG was so low thus my efficiency super low (54%). 1 - The extra gal of wort collected that could have been boiled down and 2- The mill at the LBS is janky.
Hopefully this should be enough info for some help. Any tips or tweeks or maybe something I don't know that could be making me feel like a brewing loser? The only constant I see is the LBS mill but to me the grist looks like it's fine.
It's like efficiency is related to penis size, and mines tiny. Especially when compared to everyone elses huge efficiencies. (sadface)
Briess wheat - 4.25 lbs
Muntons 2-row - 4 lbs
Briess Crystal 20L - 0.5lb
Briess Crystal 40L - 0.25lb
Chocolate malt 350L - 1lb
Flaked oats - 0.5lb
I don't have the numbers in front of me but I think at 100% efficiency it was a BG of 1.076 and I got a BG of 1.040 ( stirred well before taking). My OG came up to 1.050 due to a fruit extract so I'm not too worried about the beer not being strong enough. Soooo.....
I single infusion mashed in a 10 gal rubbermaid with a copper manifold (homemade) with 13.1 quarts @ 152F for 60 min (1.25 qts/lb). I had to add 1 quart of water to bring the temp up ( I forgot to preheat the tun... stupid.) First runnings came up to 2gals and I didn't get a gravity for this. Then I batch Sparged 19 quarts @ 170F, stirred really well and let sit for 10 min then drained. Took about 30 minutes. I guess I could have taken more time with this part. I collected a total of 5.5 gal and had an extra gallon of wort that I can't fit into the boil pot due to size. I tested the pH and even added a teaspoon of Gypsum to bring it down to what I think was a pH of 5.4 but it was kind of difficult to read due to the color of the wort staining the pH strip. I used half Arrowhead half Las Vegas city water. I think I'm going to try that 5.4 buffer stuff I keep reading about. The Grain was milled at the LBS. Only two things strike my mind for why my BG was so low thus my efficiency super low (54%). 1 - The extra gal of wort collected that could have been boiled down and 2- The mill at the LBS is janky.
Hopefully this should be enough info for some help. Any tips or tweeks or maybe something I don't know that could be making me feel like a brewing loser? The only constant I see is the LBS mill but to me the grist looks like it's fine.
It's like efficiency is related to penis size, and mines tiny. Especially when compared to everyone elses huge efficiencies. (sadface)
