My last batch had an OG of 1.043. ProMash predicted 1.052 at 75% efficiency. I couldn't for the life of me figure out what went wrong until I thought about my sparge procedure on this batch. I Normally vourlof (recirculate the runnings) in the mash then start my sparge arm and trickle the hot water over the grains. I then start to drain into the brew pot. This was a smaller grain bill and I thought I could save time by pouring the entire sparge (4 gallons) into the mash, stirring it up, and then doing the vourlof. When the sparge water ran low (it was below the grain bed and particulates began running out) I tested the gravity. It was 1.030! In hindsight, I think this procedure was a mistake. The runnings that are vourlofed should be very high gravity. They were recirculated back to the top of the water above the grains. I don't think those first runnings got rinsed out of the grain bed because they were poured over the 4 gallons of sparge water. If I would have recirculated the first runnings and then used the sparge arm to trickle the water over the grains, the first runnings would have been under those 4 gallons of water and would have had a better chance of being rinsed into the brew pot.
Does this make sense or am I just rambling?
Does this make sense or am I just rambling?