Troubleshooting - What threw me off target the most?

[Tyler.W]

I was brewing a pumpkin ale yesterday and while the process was relatively successful, my efficiencies were much worse than expected.

I brew 3 gallon batches on the 6.5 gallon Anvil Foundry. My grain bill was 7lb plus 2+ lb of canned pumpkin. The system has a limit of 8lb of grain, so I was definitely pushing it. I crushed my grains at 0.035” to try and improve lautering compared to previous brew days. About 10 minutes after dough-in I took a pH reading. I was targeting 5.35, but did not account for the pumpkin, and came in at 5.09. Also, my strike temperature seemed to be a bit off as I was targeting a mash around 153F but would up in the low/mid 140s for most of the mash. Needless to say all this amounted to me missing my OG by 15 points; target of 1.059 and actual at 1.044).

So, for the more experienced folks out there, what do you think messed with my efficiencies the most? I am trying to plan a rerun of this beer before long and want to try and get a bit closer to the target…

p.s. My last brew was a Czech dark lager, pretty light on the grain bill with a mash efficiency of 80+%. I know it is definitely not an apples to apples comparison, but I have had decent efficiencies in this system that leads me to believe something with this brew went seriously wrong.

 

[CascadesBrewer]

what do you think messed with my efficiencies the most? My vote is: "wound up in the low/mid 140s for most of the mash" with a side of "I crushed my grains at 0.035”"

One of the few times I will do a longer mash (say 90 mins) is if I am mashing at 148F or below. My understanding is that the process just takes longer at those temps (which may or may not be true with today's malts). The low to mid 140's seem way too low. Do you not have the recirculation kit with the ability to hold mash temps? A fine crush will help speed up conversion.

 

[Jaybird]

Mash temp would be my guess. If this happens in the future just do a basic decoction and pull like 10-15% heavy mash, bring to a boil in another vessel, boil for about 5 min then mix back into your mash. That is IF you have no other way to raise the mash temps in your system.

My vote was mash temp. You can also always have a couple # of Golden light DME on hand and boost it. I figure if the pros boost with DME you can too.

Cheers
Jay

 

[csantoni]

You can also always have a couple # of Golden light DME on hand and boost it.

This ^^^

I kept all my DME when I went all grain. A recent batch of Belgian Wit was coming in very low preboil so I bumped it up with about a lb of DME. Nobody can tell the difference from previous batches.

 

[Tyler.W]

Thanks for the insight. I do have my own recirculation system, and I did a mash out at 168, but I don’t think it flows through quick enough to really change the temp of the whole mash before I pull the grains.

I think next time I will drop the grind size down to 0.032” as well. My last batch at 0.028” got stuck, but maybe I was recirculating too fast. Back to the drawing boards!