Been brewing on my system for 6 yrs now and have dialed in my efficiency years ago, using beer smith for my calculations I haven’t missed an OG in yrs and usually come in a point or three higher than calculated. So my lhbs where I was buying and milling my grains has closed so I have to now use the other closest store. Made a neipa, and using ro water and building my profile through Bru’n water I brewed last Tuesday. Everything went as planned, mashed in with 7 gal strike water into 17lbs grain for 90 min, sparged and collected my pbv. Boiled an hour and all went as planned, collected my usual 5.5 gal into fermentor. However during transfer to fermentor I collected my OG sample which was cooled to 68 deg, and it read 1.074, projected was 1.082. So I’m just curious if anyone has any thoughts why or how I missed my OG. Could it all be the crush I’m getting from the new store? That’s the only difference in this equation otherwise all other factors are the same techniques etc I’ve been using for years.
Thoughts for why low OG
- Thread starter olotti
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RevA
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Might be they are using different company for their malt. Here in South Africa if you use local malt one company vs another could reduce up to 5% effiency. So if all else in your process remains the same I would guess the malt is not as didastic as the malt your previous LHBS had...
The simplest answer is the crush was coarser...
Cheers!
Cheers!
olotti
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so besides adding more malt to the bill to adjust for the decrease in efficiency should I also start thinking of keeping dme on hand to add like 1/2lb to every batch to adjust/compensate for loss. Other than milling my own grain that’s the only idea I can come up with to compensate.
my god man, brewing all-grain for 6 years...and you still don't have a mill?
This is a good reason to measure your preboil gravity with every batch. You can calculate your mash efficiency, but also do a little simple math and see where your OG will be in time to add DME if needed.
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If this is a recipe you previously brewed and you are sure your procedures were the same then as mentioned it could be the grain from the new store. I'm going to mention a problem a friend of mine encountered. He had 2 or 3 batches where his efficiency was off. After which, he figured out his thermometer was faulty and his mash temps were off. I think it was a small dial thermometer. I had a Blichmann thermometer on one of my vessels that I knew was 10-12 degrees off. I assumed at first that it was a bum one because it was new and so far off I thought it was beyond adjusting. I finally got to reading how to adjust it and it spins a lot further than I would have expected! (It simply adjusts the face, not some interior mechanism).
olotti
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good point.
olotti
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lol I know. Hey I just got into kegging so the mill is my last thing I need.
Rackrunner
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Like others have said, verifying the OG and the temps are worthwhile, but with 6 years of consistent results under the belt, I'd definitely be focused in on what's changed! Does the crush look/feel about the same compared to the previous place or maybe a different brand of base malts than you're used to?
I suppose this depends on the new place, but other than adding more grain or DME, could you ask for them to double crush the grains? I've seen comments from a number of BIAB brewers that request this from their LHBS, but not sure if that would be overkill. Maybe even asking what their mill is set for could provide some insight.
I suppose this depends on the new place, but other than adding more grain or DME, could you ask for them to double crush the grains? I've seen comments from a number of BIAB brewers that request this from their LHBS, but not sure if that would be overkill. Maybe even asking what their mill is set for could provide some insight.
olotti
Well-Known Member
that’s a good idea. Maybe I’ll have em double crush it next time.
