Low OG. Fifth time!!
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JuanMoore
Getting the banned back together
Fly sparging should be done at a slower flow rate than that, it should take 45 min to an hour. We need more info to be able to troubleshoot though. What efficiency were the recipes you used calculated for? What has your efficiency been? How is your crush? Are you doing a mash-out? How accurate are your volume measurements? What thickness are you mashing at? Have you calibrated your hydrometer and thermometers recently?
Till you figure out what the issue is, I suggest investing in a refractometer and dme. Check your gravity before you start boil, if you are off then adjust accordingly......and keep trying to refine and brew and figuring where you are having issues.
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Okay, not sure if this is your 5th or 2nd batch but it seems like your efficiency is lacking. Can you provide some info on your equipment and process. Also, I would suggest to forego the fly sparge in favor of a batch sparge process.
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janivar123
Well-Known Member
How do you predict your OG
If its lower then ekspected every time you should adjust the persentage till it is correct and use that for your next recepie
You can also do batch sparge once with stirring at each step,
and if it is notably better you will know that you need to improve your fly sparge prosedure
If its lower then ekspected every time you should adjust the persentage till it is correct and use that for your next recepie
You can also do batch sparge once with stirring at each step,
and if it is notably better you will know that you need to improve your fly sparge prosedure
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Gustavo
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i use a 48qt. cooler for mashtun. I poor water in @166 first shut and wait for about 5min. to give cooler time to heat up. I add the grain slowly mixing with a spoon. I mix graing in for about two or so min. making sure i dont miss any dough balls. Temp was averaging around 150*. Set for one hour and sparged with boiling water, Fly sparge was only about 20-25 Min. boiled 60min. and cooled with wort chiller. Trans into secondary and pitched yeast. @ aprox 80
If it only took 20-25 minutes to fly sparge, then you probably had significant channeling in your grain bed. This will allow the sparge water to go through the channels, instead of rinsing your grains. Either slow down the fly sparge, or go to batch sparging.
IME, thicker mash produces better conversion results. I would also suggest batch sparging instead of fly and stir the eff out of your grain between sparges, vorlauf before you pull your runnings. I also find that getting the grain bed temp up to around 168-170 before I laughter to give me higher effec. I would also invest in your own crusher if you're going to keep this up.
I recirculate so it's not the same process as you but I have found that the following repeatable steps give great results. All of this information can be found right within this amazing forum.
Mash thicker 1.25 qt per pound.
Crush finer and crush your own
Adjust your mash water according to the beer you're brewing with the proper brewing salts/minerals
Check your mash pH
Use iodine to test your starch conversion and don't use time to tell that. Just a drop in the wort on a plate will tell you. Purple, keep mashing, no change, conversion done
Raise the mash temp to 168 before sparging.
Have some DME handy in case you miss your numbers.
I recirculate so it's not the same process as you but I have found that the following repeatable steps give great results. All of this information can be found right within this amazing forum.
Mash thicker 1.25 qt per pound.
Crush finer and crush your own
Adjust your mash water according to the beer you're brewing with the proper brewing salts/minerals
Check your mash pH
Use iodine to test your starch conversion and don't use time to tell that. Just a drop in the wort on a plate will tell you. Purple, keep mashing, no change, conversion done
Raise the mash temp to 168 before sparging.
Have some DME handy in case you miss your numbers.
Yes. A thinner mash will increase your efficiency and it will also provide you with more first runnings, which is better quality wort than what is sparged. I suggest 1.5qt/lb+ Try it next time and see if it actually helps you.
Keep in mind I believe most recipes OG are probably calculated at 70% efficiency.
If you get the notion to batch sparge. Take your sparge water to 180-190F. I heat all my brew water at the same time. When I get to my strike temp, i drain the amount of water I want into my mash tun then I continue heating the remainder of the water for sparge. I heat that(usually 4-5gal) to 200F or so then drain it into a 5 gallon round cooler. Put the lid on it and it is normally about 185F when I'm ready to sparge.
2 things. First, I've had issues with my crush from NB, it really doesn't seem great, I'd either try a LHBS or get a mill and crush your own. Thing 2, your sparge is way too fast. WAY too fast. If you're fly sparging, shoot for it to take a minimum of 45 minutes. Or try batch sparging, which you can do faster but SOME say is less efficient (not getting into that discussion here). You should be able to get to a consistent efficiency of at least 70% with this (consistency is more important than getting your efficiency as high as possible, IMHO).
When I order grain from NB, I request a double crush. Crush has been great.
First I would agree with batch sparging. Use one of the many spreadsheets available online to get your mash temp on target. If you choose to fly sparge I would get a sparge arm or make something that will allow your process to be slow and steady. Get yourself a cooler and a good false bottom. The best advice is to choose what works best for you. Stick to your process and try be consistent. That is the best way to learn. Take a lot of notes on what you do.
The other thing is that I would sit down and learn how to calculate your formulas on paper instead of any software. Start with figuring your recipes based on the efficiency you are currently getting. If you come up short you can correct it by adding extract to the wort pre boil. Once you are doing that you could tweak your process to get a better efficiency.
bastardbrew
Member
I have to disagree with the notion of resorting to DME. You know what results you expect from your brewing process and you should not simply count on course correction through significant additions of dry malt extract. Your goal is to figure out what exactly it is that you expect from your brewing process and gradually hone in on the steps required to achieve that end result. Introducing a DME dependency now will add another variable to account for, thereby decreasing your consistency (At least this is one philosophy. I like to call it THE RIGHT ONE 
)
I personally despise the idea of gravity-correction using ingredients that are not otherwise included in my recipe. You are an all-grain brewer; you use DME for yeast starters and (maybe) bottling. You obviously have an existing desire to calibrate your process to make this happen. Good for you!
What you have now is a great opportunity to correct your brewing process in a significant, permanent way in order to achieve the consistency AND efficiency you want. If you are hell bent on fly sparging, you will need to play around with some brewing variables to make things happen.
While my gut reaction was to second the votes for batch sparging and consistency over efficiency, you are obviously going to keep fly sparging now that you have the equipment to do so. That being the case, you will need do more reading on the subject. Try consulting some more verified sources than the conflicting opinions often offered on HBT. Read something with a glossary, footnotes, and (better yet) citations. I would recommend Brewing Better Beer by Strong.
Some practical knowledge for fly sparging provided by Strong:
I do, however, agree with the suggestion to crush your own grain. If you want consistency, you need to control as many elements as you can. Personally crushing your own grains is, perhaps, one of the most fundamental changes you can make in the handling of your raw ingredients, short of becoming a maltster. I have improved my brewhouse efficiency by almost 10% by crushing my own grain.
I'm sure you've been given a lot to consider. Weigh each piece of advice according to your personal brewing philosophy and, most importantly, your expectations for the final product.
)I personally despise the idea of gravity-correction using ingredients that are not otherwise included in my recipe. You are an all-grain brewer; you use DME for yeast starters and (maybe) bottling. You obviously have an existing desire to calibrate your process to make this happen. Good for you!
What you have now is a great opportunity to correct your brewing process in a significant, permanent way in order to achieve the consistency AND efficiency you want. If you are hell bent on fly sparging, you will need to play around with some brewing variables to make things happen.
While my gut reaction was to second the votes for batch sparging and consistency over efficiency, you are obviously going to keep fly sparging now that you have the equipment to do so. That being the case, you will need do more reading on the subject. Try consulting some more verified sources than the conflicting opinions often offered on HBT. Read something with a glossary, footnotes, and (better yet) citations. I would recommend Brewing Better Beer by Strong.
Some practical knowledge for fly sparging provided by Strong:
- Closely monitor and adjust pH of brewing liquor (sparge water) to match that of your mash
- Closely monitor and adjust the temperature of your brewing liquor
- Sparge slowly; allow 30-60 minutes for fly sparging.
- Avoid "channeling" (sparge water not rinsing all grains) by gently "cutting" a grid into your grain bed with the mash paddle.
I do, however, agree with the suggestion to crush your own grain. If you want consistency, you need to control as many elements as you can. Personally crushing your own grains is, perhaps, one of the most fundamental changes you can make in the handling of your raw ingredients, short of becoming a maltster. I have improved my brewhouse efficiency by almost 10% by crushing my own grain.
I'm sure you've been given a lot to consider. Weigh each piece of advice according to your personal brewing philosophy and, most importantly, your expectations for the final product.
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