High Gravity reading on third runnings of batch sparge

[DavidDutton]

This weekend I was mashing a grain bill of the following:

13lbs 2 Row
1lbs Crystal 60
.25lb Chocolate Malt

I started my mash with 20 quarts of 167 degree strike water (for a mash temp of 154). I also did a batch sparge aat 168 degrees However the gravity on my third runnings still seemed pretty high (1.029 after i took the temperature into account). Naturally, my final gravity was off (by about 12 points)
What would cause my efficiency to be so low? I ended up putting 6.75 gallons into my kettle before the boil and it seemed like i had a lot of sugar left over in my mash tun. i just got a brand new false bottom and i hit my mash temperature right where i wanted it. is that a grain crush issue or a perhaps water volume or ph issue? perhaps something else altogether that I'm missing?

 

[Yooper]

This weekend I was mashing a grain bill of the following:

13lbs 2 Row
1lbs Crystal 60
.25lb Chocolate Malt

I started my mash with 20 quarts of 167 degree strike water (for a mash temp of 154). I also did a batch sparge aat 168 degrees However the gravity on my third runnings still seemed pretty high (1.029 after i took the temperature into account). Naturally, my final gravity was off (by about 12 points)
What would cause my efficiency to be so low? I ended up putting 6.75 gallons into my kettle before the boil and it seemed like i had a lot of sugar left over in my mash tun. i just got a brand new false bottom and i hit my mash temperature right where i wanted it. is that a grain crush issue or a perhaps water volume or ph issue? perhaps something else altogether that I'm missing?

It sounds like a lautering issue, if you're leaving so much sugar in the MLT at the end.

Did you stir your sparge water in very thoroughly both times you sparged? Usually that's the cause of leaving so much sugar behind when batch sparging.

When I batch sparge, I drain the MLT, then stir the sparge water in like the grain owes me money. Stir, stir, stir, stir. Stir some more, and then once again. Then vorlauf and drain quickly. I usually only do one round of sparging, as it almost always fits in my MLT but some brewers have to do it twice if they have a small vessel.

 

[DavidDutton]

It sounds like a lautering issue, if you're leaving so much sugar in the MLT at the end.

Did you stir your sparge water in very thoroughly both times you sparged? Usually that's the cause of leaving so much sugar behind when batch sparging.

When I batch sparge, I drain the MLT, then stir the sparge water in like the grain owes me money. Stir, stir, stir, stir. Stir some more, and then once again. Then vorlauf and drain quickly. I usually only do one round of sparging, as it almost always fits in my MLT but some brewers have to do it twice if they have a small vessel.

yup, i gave a good stir both times. i usually stir and then give it 20 minutes for the grain bed to settle down again. is this unnecessary for me to do? my vessel is 10 gallons so its big enough to do it all at once. i think i'm just used to doing two from when i had a smaller one

 

[Yooper]

yup, i gave a good stir both times. i usually stir and then give it 20 minutes for the grain bed to settle down again. is this unnecessary for me to do? my vessel is 10 gallons so its big enough to do it all at once. i think i'm just used to doing two from when i had a smaller one

Yes, letting it sit is unnecessary and it's possible that the sugars resettled as well as the grain settled. I stir like I mean, then vorlauf and drain fast.

I do it all at once, but some believe that they may get a greater efficiency from doing two smaller batch sparges. I don't.

 

[DavidDutton]

cool, i'll give that a shot the next time i brew. thank you!