SamInNJ
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- Joined
- Dec 13, 2015
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I've done probably 4 or so 5.5 gallon BIAB brew days so far and my starting gravity is coming in consistently a few points lower than I'm estimating on BeerSmith.
I noticed my volume was a bit high on the last batch, so today I took care to make sure that after my mash I had about 6.5 gallons (I had a little extra and boiled a bit before starting my timer to get it down to 6.5). The brew went off without a hitch and I ended up with exactly 5.5 gallons into the fermenter as expected, but was 4-5 points low on the gravity (it was supposed to be 1.040, measured about 1.036).
The recipe is the popular blonde ale recipe from elsewhere in the forums. For reference:
7lb US 2 row
12oz cara-pils
8oz cara 10
8oz vienna
55m 0.25oz centennial
35m 0.25oz centennial
20m 0.25oz cascade
5m 0.25oz cascade
Additionally per bru'n water -> added 0.25g/gal of calcium chloride and 0.25g/gal of gypsum. Also added 5oz of acid malt for PH.
Process:
All of my grains were doubled crushed. I mashed in at 150. 60 minutes later the temp was at 148, I slowly raised the temp to 168 and removed the bag and discarded the grains (did not squeeze as my volume was already sufficient).
Everything seems to have gone without a hitch tho the gravity is low
I thought maybe I would get a higher gravity if I squeezed the bag, but I can't imagine it would account for 4-5 points. Any thoughts on how I can make this up?
My thoughts are on my next batch to use a little less water in the mash (used 7.5 gallons this time, probably use 7 next time) and squeeze the bag a ton to make sure I get 6.5 to start the boil. I was also thinking of buying iodine to test that conversion is complete, or mashing longer to ensure that.
I noticed my volume was a bit high on the last batch, so today I took care to make sure that after my mash I had about 6.5 gallons (I had a little extra and boiled a bit before starting my timer to get it down to 6.5). The brew went off without a hitch and I ended up with exactly 5.5 gallons into the fermenter as expected, but was 4-5 points low on the gravity (it was supposed to be 1.040, measured about 1.036).
The recipe is the popular blonde ale recipe from elsewhere in the forums. For reference:
7lb US 2 row
12oz cara-pils
8oz cara 10
8oz vienna
55m 0.25oz centennial
35m 0.25oz centennial
20m 0.25oz cascade
5m 0.25oz cascade
Additionally per bru'n water -> added 0.25g/gal of calcium chloride and 0.25g/gal of gypsum. Also added 5oz of acid malt for PH.
Process:
All of my grains were doubled crushed. I mashed in at 150. 60 minutes later the temp was at 148, I slowly raised the temp to 168 and removed the bag and discarded the grains (did not squeeze as my volume was already sufficient).
Everything seems to have gone without a hitch tho the gravity is low
I thought maybe I would get a higher gravity if I squeezed the bag, but I can't imagine it would account for 4-5 points. Any thoughts on how I can make this up?
My thoughts are on my next batch to use a little less water in the mash (used 7.5 gallons this time, probably use 7 next time) and squeeze the bag a ton to make sure I get 6.5 to start the boil. I was also thinking of buying iodine to test that conversion is complete, or mashing longer to ensure that.