Trying to track down the problems I'm having hitting OG...

[HitTheTwit]

This thread is long dead, but I had hoped to poke it with a stick anyways. Did you ever get your efficiency up? Was it due to poor grain crush?

 

[tamoore]

This thread is long dead, but I had hoped to poke it with a stick anyways. Did you ever get your efficiency up? Was it due to poor grain crush?

Hey,

It was due to several factors, but all of the help I got in bringing it up I received from this thread.

First for me was the crush. I got a monster mill, and set it to 'destroy'. My crushed grain is absolutely shredded, and the grain I was getting from my LHBS and online seller was more-or less just cracked.

Second, was paying attention to the volume my batch sparges, and calculating each run off being exactly equal. I think previously, I'd run my first batch off, and then just add as much water to make up the rest of my volume, which I'm sure was throwing me off.

Third was properly stirring the mash. I wasn't giving enough stirring time. Now, I stir the mash after dough-in a good 5 minutes before sealing up the tun, and another 5 minutes each before starting the sparge. I had always previously been concerned that I was losing too much heat when stirring after dough-in, but I've since found that the mash will hold the heat pretty well, and stirring is much more important than the half degree you'll lose.

Lastly, was proper water adjustments for PH.

I just did a 10 gallon batch of India Brown Ale yesterday, and my target pre-boil OG was 1.044 (70% calculated), and I hit 1.048, which is 77%.

Thanks for all the help, homebrew talk!

 

[HitTheTwit]

Awesome, thanks for your well thought out thread and response. I've got a mill coming for XMAS, and I hope it will make all the difference in the world

 

[overdbus]

Thanks guys this just cleared up what I didn't understand
about batch sparging and mash out .