Low OG - inefficient conversion? weak michigan malt?

[ishkabibble]

I'm stumped. Please advise. My pale ale target OG was 1057 and I rung up 1041.

9# Michigan 2-row
1# crystal 40
.5# dextrin

Doughed into 3G at 170 (1.14Q/#), mashed at 152 for 60 min. Iodine test said conversion was complete. Fly sparged with 4.5G at 170, collection took 65 min, yielding 6.25G at 1030. Post boil was 5G at 1041.

What did I do wrong? Normally I batch sparge and hit the numbers every time. I thought flying was supposed to be more efficient.

Any fellow Michiganders know if this MI 2-row is weak?

Can I do anything at this point (with the yeast in) to boost the gravity?

Should I expect any related issues like a weak body or nonexistent taste? Or is the ABV just low? I don't care about that, I just can't abide by the inconsistency.

 

[RM-MN]

Fly sparging can be more efficient but it isn't necessarily always. If you ended up with channelling in the grain bed it can be worse than batch sparging.

 

[mccabedoug]

That exact thing happened to me last weekend. I always hit my numbers and last weekend's batch missed horribly. The normal culprits were checked prior to brewing: grain weight, crush, water volumes, temps hit, etc. The one thing that I didn't check was the calibration of my thermometer. So I borrowed a calibrated glass thermometer from work and calibrated all my thermometers in my house. Turns out that my brewing thermometer was 10 degrees low! So my 150oF mash was 140oF.

Can't say that is your issue but it was mine. Good luck.