I know its not possible but please help!

[sborz22]

3rd brew ever today.

Same thing from the past two

My Pre boil is on target, post boil is always misses its target by .01 ie est. 1.041 actual 1.031.

Volume is right on target.

What the hell is happening to my fermentables?

I understand the logic of brewing but this seems completely illogical and its been a trend since starting.

HELP!

 

[brew_darrymore]

OK, we need more details about your recipe, extract or all grain? How big is your batch? How long did you boil it for? Did you add water after the boil?

 

[sborz22]

OK, we need more details about your recipe, extract or all grain? How big is your batch? How long did you boil it for? Did you add water after the boil?

All grain-BIAB

Start with 7 gallon

Pre boil - 6.5 g

Post - 5.5 g

60 min boil

No addition post boil

I have calibrated my hydrometer and its dead on. I checked the wort 3 times as well.

 

[helibrewer]

Your grain bill would be helpful....If your pre-boil volume is correct and the gravity is correct, your post boil gravity has to be correct if the volume is correct.....something is off here. Extract cannot disappear during the boil.

Need:
grain bill
mash temp
pre-boil volume
pre-boil gravity
post boil volume
post boil gravity

 

[waldoar15]

What temps are your hydro samples at when taken?

How are you cooling your wort? You could have a water leak in your chiller.

Other than that, IDK

 

[brew_darrymore]

You said you do BIAB, are you doing a full volume mash or a variation of it with some sort of sparging?

 

[sborz22]

You said you do BIAB, are you doing a full volume mash or a variation of it with some sort of sparging?

I do no a sparge. I add 6 gallons directly to mash tun and leave a gallon on the stove to heat up mash when it drops too low.

 

[sborz22]

What temps are your hydro samples at when taken?

How are you cooling your wort? You could have a water leak in your chiller.

Other than that, IDK

I've taken them around 120,100 and 85. Taking into account the heat differences they all show the same result. I cannot get this off of my head. The only thing I can think of is that my hydrometer is not calibrated correctly but that still doesn't account for the correct pre boil reading.

 

[divrack]

So im assuming you are able to see the volumes clearly and that you are adjusting the hydrometer reading using the standard heat conversion calculator. because literally the only possibility is you aren't reading something right or your hydrometer somehow has different physics.
i suppose a very distant possibility is that your pre boil liquor is not mixed properly and you are extracting a denser fluid to measure than the overall concentration. Are you extracting from the bottom of a large vessel that has had the lighter last runnings layering on top maybe? it is possible but not at all likely with your no sparge method if i understand you right.
the other possibility is fruitbats flying in and staling your sugar while you are looking the other way and pissing in the wort.
id assume the error is in your pre boil gravity reading of course. post boil and chill it is what it is.

for what its worth id just add a bit of boiled sugar to it and next time reduce your efficiency expectaton a bit. what is your expected efficiency btw?

 

[sborz22]

So im assuming you are able to see the volumes clearly and that you are adjusting the hydrometer reading using the standard heat conversion calculator. because literally the only possibility is you aren't reading something right or your hydrometer somehow has different physics.
i suppose a very distant possibility is that your pre boil liquor is not mixed properly and you are extracting a denser fluid to measure than the overall concentration. Are you extracting from the bottom of a large vessel that has had the lighter last runnings layering on top maybe? it is possible but not at all likely with your no sparge method if i understand you right.
the other possibility is fruitbats flying in and staling your sugar while you are looking the other way and pissing in the wort.
id assume the error is in your pre boil gravity reading of course. post boil and chill it is what it is.

for what its worth id just add a bit of boiled sugar to it and next time reduce your efficiency expectaton a bit. what is your expected efficiency btw?

I am doing another brew on Monday and I am going to take pics and if the same error occurs I am going to post and hopefully someone can find my error!

 

[Horseflesh]

I have had a couple of weird reads like that, which I attributed to stratification from letting the pot sit undisturbed.

 

[ProblemChild]

gravity units are gravity units. measure of sugar in the water and all that stuff. as said above, the GU do not disappear. Do the math at the end to count gravity units i.e. 6 gallons of pre-boil at 1.050sg = 300 gravity units. post boil of 5 gallons at 1.060sg = 300 gravity units. if the numbers do not jive (within reasonable error) one of your measurements were taken incorrectly.

also stated above, stratification of the sugar has impact. if you take a sugar-rich sample for the OG, then boil down, you are effectively reading two different things as the boiled wort is homogeneous and the OG is not.

I would get a refractometer, start the boil, stir a little bit and then take a reading and compare that with your OG reading from your hydrometer. at the end of the run, do the same and compare readings.

Keep in mind that operator error is always more probably than we want to admit.