Missed Start gravity

[BrewJr]

So my first AG brew in 6 years and I had a bit of an issue.. was shooting for a 1.051 and hit 1.035... other then that I felt good about my entire process. I'm trying to narrow down what went wrong to get that low of a OG. Missed mash temp by 2 degrees... aimed for152 and hit 150... Mach calc called for 12.5(at) strike water and I think I was around 13.2(ish) strike water was 5.3 gal and I heated around 6 gal.. my question is would my water volume have lowered my OG? I got about 7.2 Gallons for pre-boil.. all in all other then a low gravity I felt it was a good brew day! Just trying to tweet my process so I don't repeat this again..

 

[shoengine]

What was your grain bill?

 

[BrewJr]

8 lbs 2 row
1 lbs crystal 20
1 lbs Carmel pils

 

[Silver_Is_Money]

Did you perhaps measure your OG pre boil instead of post boil??

 

[John Eberly]

As Silver said - 7.2 gallons at 1.035 boils down to 5 gallons at 1.050.
At which volume did you measure O.G.?

 

[Silver_Is_Money]

Did you remember to cool your OG sample down to about 68 degrees (give or take)?

 

[BrewJr]

I measured pre-boil 1.020, post boil at around 72 degrees and it was 1.035.. the volume should have been around 5.5 post boil

 

[griffi]

Assuming you mashed at 150 for an hour, you should have had better efficiency. What about your grain crush and freshness? How about your water? My understanding is efficient saccharification occurs at a mash ph between about 5.1 to 5.7.

 

[GoeHaarden]

Mach calc called for 12.5(at) strike water and I think I was around 13.2(ish) strike water was 5.3 gal and I heated around 6 gal.. my question is would my water volume have lowered my OG? I got about 7.2 Gallons for pre-boil..

Maybe I'm reading this wrong...Did you use 13.2 quarts or 5.3 gallons of strike water? If it's 13.2 quarts then it seems right. 5.3 gallons is almost double, which would make your mash pH way too high for good conversion...

 

[kh54s10]

I get 12.93 quarts for the strike amount. The pH should not be off.

It is either crush was terrible, the measurement was faulty, or the volume after the boil was WAY too much.

 

[Lefou]

Assuming you mashed at 150 for an hour, you should have had better efficiency. What about your grain crush and freshness? How about your water? My understanding is efficient saccharification occurs at a mash ph between about 5.1 to 5.7.

This ^^.
Your water really matters. After royally messing up my first dark beer, I jumped into figuring out ways to avoid pouring another mistake down the drain.
Since then I've gotten to adjusting my "soft" strike/mash water with CaCl2 and realizing pale and dark beers need minerals, too. With some styles, I've turned a portion of my malt to flour, increased the water/grain ratio, and treated with amylase to boost efficiency - and it works.

 

[BrewJr]

So when it comes to water I got mine tested with ward labs.. threw that data in bru'n'water and it said I would be fine with the grain bill I have. I don't have a ph meter but bru'n'water estimated 5.2.. I bought the grain on Wednesday and brewed on Friday, I left it in my dark room temp closet before brew day..

 

[GoeHaarden]

So when it comes to water I got mine tested with ward labs.. threw that data in bru'n'water and it said I would be fine with the grain bill I have. I don't have a ph meter but bru'n'water estimated 5.2.. I bought the grain on Wednesday and brewed on Friday, I left it in my dark room temp closet before brew day..

What were your volumes?

Strike water?
Sparge Water?
Pre-boil?
Post-boil?

 

[BrewJr]

13 quarts strike water, 5.5 gal sparge, pre-boil was a shade over 7 gal and I ended up a little over 5gal..

 

[GoeHaarden]

13 quarts strike water, 5.5 gal sparge, pre-boil was a shade over 7 gal and I ended up a little over 5gal..

These seem to be about right...

What about your measuring equipment?
hydrometer/refractometer should read 1.000/0 in distilled water

What is your setup like?

 

[BrewJr]

Yup all right on.. I have a tilt hydrometer and also checked it with a regular hydrometer as well

 

[BrewJr]

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1495396218.105786.jpg it's been going to town the last 2 days!

 

[GoeHaarden]

What is you mash process like?

 

[BrewJr]

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1495396295.920375.jpg three tier setup! Braid in the mash tun..

 

[BrewJr]

I heat up the strike water in the HLT, move it down to the mash tun and dough in..

 

[GoeHaarden]

I'd say that if this was the first time you experienced low efficiency with your setup and process (without any accidental miscalculations), then I'm with griffi that something was wrong with your grain or crush...

 

[kh54s10]

Amounts, temperatures and probably pH seem within range. (no pH measurement)

To me that really only leaves grain crush. Do you crush your own or have it crushed? Was it a good crush. If you do your own has the mill slipped? The only other possibility I can think of. Is the temperature of the mash. Is the thermometer accurate?

The beer in the fermenter looks good.

 

[BrewJr]

I had my local store crush it for me I don't have a mill.. I was at their competitor earlier today talking over the issue and that's what they seem to think as well.. my temp gage is accurate, I re-calibrated it the day before.. I would think if they didn't crush the gain well enough some people would be complaining.. next time I brew I'm going some other place to rule this out!

 

[BrewJr]

I honestly didn't look over the grain before I doughed in.. I would think I could trust my LHBS to do their job and crush it the proper way!

 

[GoeHaarden]

Maybe their mill is wearing out...

Either way, your beer looks to be fermenting. Just call it an Extra Sessions brew...

 

[BrewJr]

I hope it turns out good! It's getting busy in there

 

[IslandLizard]

I honestly didn't look over the grain before I doughed in.. I would think I could trust my LHBS to do their job and crush it the proper way!

Most LHBS mill too coarsely. Even more so when it contains any small kernel grain, like wheat or rye. That coarse grist results in pour mash efficiency, although mashing longer, for 90-120 minutes, can alleviate some of that. The finer the grist the faster it hydrates (gets wet inside) the faster (and more complete) the conversion and sparging.

Milling twice may help somewhat, but isn't better than milling right, once. A credit card's thickness (or a little narrower, especially when BIAB) is about the correct gauge on a 2-roller mill's gap.

 

[Silver_Is_Money]

See if your hydrometer reads 1.000 in water at about 68 degrees F.