Missed OG bad. At a loss.

[scCraft]

Long time lurker, first time poster!

So I have quite a few beers under my belt, I *think* I know what I am doing....at least enough to be confused by missing my OG today on an AG IPA, bad. Looking for 1.063 and came out with 1.050.

Couple questions.

A. Am I over thinking it? Seems like a big miss and I am usually right on point. Never missed this bad.

B. I lowered my Mash temp from 152 to 149 looking to crisp the beer up and get more of the hop profile to come through. Previously the body hid some of the hop and I have been looking to bring it out. Did I need to increase my mash time from 45 min to 60 min or more? I ran it at 50 min.

C. Should I stfu and enjoy these 5%, 70 IBU IPA's once they are ready (and dry hopped a couple times) and quit nit picking?

D. Every single centimeter of my MT was used to fit the grain bill and strike water. Any chance the minimal stirring I was able to do near end of grain pour lead to a dry pocket where sugars weren't efficiently extracted and washed during sparging?


*I should mention, thought its not a big enough deal to account for the miss, that the one lb of Carastan came in UNMILLED, so I punched it a couple times and mashed it in anyways. Rest of the bill: 19lb 2 row, 3 lb Crystal, 1lb Munich.*

Help, thoughts, opinions?

 

[JLP]

I wouldn't worry too much about the beer that has already been brewed, as you cannot turn back the clock. What was your final running gravity?

 

[ScottG58]

When I max out my mash tun, efficiency goes down. I have not had conversion in 45 minutes. I check with iodine rather than rely on timer.

Poor crush would effect efficiency. If you fly sparge, could have had a channel.

 

[Black Island Brewer]

Long time lurker, first time poster!

So I have quite a few beers under my belt, I *think* I know what I am doing....at least enough to be confused by missing my OG today on an AG IPA, bad. Looking for 1.063 and came out with 1.050.

Couple questions.

A. Am I over thinking it? Seems like a big miss and I am usually right on point. Never missed this bad.

B. I lowered my Mash temp from 152 to 149 looking to crisp the beer up and get more of the hop profile to come through. Previously the body hid some of the hop and I have been looking to bring it out. Did I need to increase my mash time from 45 min to 60 min or more? I ran it at 50 min.

C. Should I stfu and enjoy these 5%, 70 IBU IPA's once they are ready (and dry hopped a couple times) and quit nit picking?

D. Every single centimeter of my MT was used to fit the grain bill and strike water. Any chance the minimal stirring I was able to do near end of grain pour lead to a dry pocket where sugars weren't efficiently extracted and washed during sparging?


*I should mention, thought its not a big enough deal to account for the miss, that the one lb of Carastan came in UNMILLED, so I punched it a couple times and mashed it in anyways. Rest of the bill: 19lb 2 row, 3 lb Crystal, 1lb Munich.*

Help, thoughts, opinions?

The lower mash temps can take longer to convert, so you may have ended up sparging before conversion was complete. As I understand it, though, today's malts are so highly modified, 50 minutes MAY have been enough. An iodine test for starch would have let you know. The unmilled crystal would have hurt some, but in a 5 gallon batch, even if NONE of it converted, that would only amount to 7 points or less overall. The dough balls are a possibility, and another possibility, especially if you fly sparge with a braid or manifold (rather than a false bottom) channeling would have caused a greater impact due to the greater distance from the top of the grain bed to the braid or manifold.

 

[wilconrad]

What's your water situation? Have you checked mash pH?

 

[Cathedral]

The lower mash temps can take longer to convert, so you may have ended up sparging before conversion was complete. As I understand it, though, today's malts are so highly modified, 50 minutes MAY have been enough. An iodine test for starch would have let you know. The unmilled crystal would have hurt some, but in a 5 gallon batch, even if NONE of it converted, that would only amount to 7 points or less overall. The dough balls are a possibility, and another possibility, especially if you fly sparge with a braid or manifold (rather than a false bottom) channeling would have caused a greater impact due to the greater distance from the top of the grain bed to the braid or manifold.

This. I'm going with dough balls; or you didn't have uniform temperature distribution--where you were measuring might have said 148, but two inches to the left and down was only 130, which will majorly affect your OG.

 

[pelipen]

I'd concur with the temp and inability to stir.
Maxing out a cooler tun is not good. Since you can't stir properly, you have few assurances of proper mixing or even heat distribution. As well, if the temp is missed, you're left with pulling decoction portions to increase temp, but since you can't stir it back in well, there is no way to know if you're on target.
I've done two mashes back to back, then single kettle boil before. That works well, just takes an extra hour.

 

[brewboy04]

Why do people use iodine, I know it identify a starch but , it does not identify oligosacharides which can't be fermented so I don't think it's a great indicator

 

[pelipen]

Why do people use iodine, I know it identify a starch but , it does not identify oligosacharides which can't be fermented so I don't think it's a great indicator

Because starch is definitely not wanted, but some unfermentable substances are desirable for mouth feel and body. Iodine is the easiest way to determine the existence of starch available to the home brewer.

Maltose is an oligosaccharide, and is fermentable, it just happens to have its own name.