Mahanoy
Active Member
I've brewed three or four batches of a Rye IPA that borders on being a double IPA and each time I've brewed it I've missed my OG by 20 points or more. This is the only beer I've ever had trouble with in terms of hitting my OG (my system's efficiency is generally in the range of 65-70%). It's frustrating because it's a lot of grain and I'm not getting the bang for my buck. I don't know what the issue is with this beer in particular, but something is going on that's causing problems and I really want to figure out what that is so I can fix it! Here's the malt bill and my mash and sparge schedule:
10# 2-row
4# Rye malt
1# Crystal 40
0.5# Crystal 80
0.25# Carapils
0.25# Special B
0.25# Rice Hulls
Mash - 6 gallons @ 164 (target 152) - 60 minutes (stir every 15 minutes)
Batch Sparge - 4 gallons - 45 minutes to collect wort
1.5 qt/gal
14% grain absorption rate
10% boil off/hour
(All of this per MoreBeer's Sparge Calculator: Sparge Water Calculator | MoreBeer)
I lose 1/2 gallon in the mash tun and another gallon to trub left behind in the boil kettle.
I ended up with 7.75 gallons pre-boil and 6 gallons into the carboy.
When I brewed this beer the other day my software (BeerSmith) put the OG at 1.071. When I checked the gravity before I pitched the yeast it was 1.050. Missing gravity by 20 points is a lot!!
I have no idea where I'm losing this many points. Like I said, I don't have this problem in any other beer on this system - this is the only one that comes in so much lower than it should. I'm at a loss and I would really like to figure out how to hit my OG target for this beer.
10# 2-row
4# Rye malt
1# Crystal 40
0.5# Crystal 80
0.25# Carapils
0.25# Special B
0.25# Rice Hulls
Mash - 6 gallons @ 164 (target 152) - 60 minutes (stir every 15 minutes)
Batch Sparge - 4 gallons - 45 minutes to collect wort
1.5 qt/gal
14% grain absorption rate
10% boil off/hour
(All of this per MoreBeer's Sparge Calculator: Sparge Water Calculator | MoreBeer)
I lose 1/2 gallon in the mash tun and another gallon to trub left behind in the boil kettle.
I ended up with 7.75 gallons pre-boil and 6 gallons into the carboy.
When I brewed this beer the other day my software (BeerSmith) put the OG at 1.071. When I checked the gravity before I pitched the yeast it was 1.050. Missing gravity by 20 points is a lot!!
I have no idea where I'm losing this many points. Like I said, I don't have this problem in any other beer on this system - this is the only one that comes in so much lower than it should. I'm at a loss and I would really like to figure out how to hit my OG target for this beer.