Low OG....bad grain crush?

[Red86yota]

Hello. I brewed up some kolsch today, and missed my OG big time. Was shooting for about 1.046, and ended up at 1.032. This is just my second all-grain, but I did a good job hitting temps and water volumes. After looking at the spent grains in the compost pile, I think they weren't crushed very well. As mentioned, this is just my second all-grain, so hoping to get some feedback from the veterans if my grain looks ok, or not ok like I suspect.

I nailed the OG on my first AG batch last week, and bought/crushed the grains at the same place but at different times. After the first batch I was hopeful that I was figuring out my efficiencies and on my way to making tasty AG beers.

Thanks!

 

[pdxal]

That doesn't look like a good crush, but when the grain is wet we might not be able to see some of the flour and smaller particles that have settled.
Crush is typically the first thing to look at with poor extraction.
Tell us about your equipment and process for all grain and maybe we can pick up something else to help you out.

 

[Red86yota]

My equipment:

Cooler MT with braided stainless filters - this works surprisingly well...only dropped 1-2 degs after 75 min mash. I did pre-heat the MT for 1/2 hr or so.

Process:

This beer called for an infusion mash @ 151F for 75mins, then batch sparge at 168F. The mash was right on time/temp, my sparge was a little low (162F) for 15 mins.

 

[pdxal]

Then it had to be the crush, unless you measured your gravity or volume incorrectly.

 

[ChefRex]

i'm still new to AG but with the varying crushes i have received i ordered a mill so i can control it.
Heck it will pay for itself..............eventually

 

[pdxal]

i'm still new to ag but with the varying crushes i have received i ordered a mill so i can control it.
Heck it will pay for itself..............eventually

+1

 

[Red86yota]

The LHBS has a self-serve mill, maybe someone before me adjusted it for larger grain? I probably won't buy a mill right away, but I will take a closer look at the mill next time. Doing some googling, it looks like the mill they have is a barley crusher model which is adjustable. Thanks for the replies. I guess I just made my first lite beer. Hope it tastes ok.

 

[ChefRex]

You'll still have made beer! I have a dunkel on tap now that had a SG not much higher than yours, tastes great and i can drink it all day.

 

[RoundKid]

Did you measure the gravity of the first runnings? And what was your water to grain ratio on the mash?

 

[Red86yota]

Did you measure the gravity of the first runnings? And what was your water to grain ratio on the mash?

No I did not measure the gravity of the first runnings. Haven't been in the habit of doing that, but may start doing that.

For the mash, I used 4.5 gals of h2o with 8lbs of grain.

 

[forstmeister]

How many sparge additions? Did you stir the mash after each addition and then vorlauf again?

 

[Red86yota]

How many sparge additions? Did you stir the mash after each addition and then vorlauf again?

I did one sparge. And yes, did stir and vorlauf.

 

[brewkinger]

Then it had to be the crush, unless you measured your gravity or volume incorrectly.

+1
I ran into a similar problem with my 3rd AG batch that I did up at a friends house so that he could learn the process.
We ended up way low on OG for our American brown ale.
I had done 2 other batches with same equipment and had efficiency in the high 70s on both.
I spent some time on the forum and found the answers I was looking for.
Crush was the same so eliminated
Water profile was discussed as possible.
Ended up finding out that my "trusty" thermometer that I had not used on previous batches was the culprit as it was at least 6 degrees above actual.
So I mashed at 148, sparged at 161, you get the point.
Could have been any or a combo of all the above.