What am I doing wrong?

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ejg700

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First of all, isn't "sweet wort" suppose to be sweet? That's been my problem. Every wort I've done comes out tasting like grain water, with barely any sweetness. I've tried mashing at 152, and 148 with the same results. I've even tried adding amylase to no avail. The fermentations always take off, and do well, because I add honey, and brown sugar to the wort. Here is the process I used last time, maybe someone can tell me where I've gone wrong.

6.5 pounds of Munich malts
.5 caramel 120
.5 golden naked oats

2.49 gallons of mash water heated to 164. Once grain was added, the temp dropped down to 160. I added ice to get it down to 152 where it stayed for 90 minutes. I put my covered brew kettle in the oven@ 160. The temp stayed stable for the whole time. I even added one teaspoon of amylase, but to no avail. What the Frank? Iodine test say no starch present, but there is no sweetness. Any advice?
 
The only time I tried using Munich as the only base grain, I got lousy attenuation. Since then I go 50-50 Munich with 2-row (max). I'm not really offering advice, since obviously I had a similar problem and didn't really solve it.

Make a batch with extract, and see how that tastes. Maybe your expectations are off.
 
Are you sparging? And I'm pretty sure that you need some other malt with that Munich to convert the other ingredients. Munich's diastatic power is just enough for itself. Try adding equal amounts of 2-row and Munich.
 
Munich Malt has a malty sweet flavor characteristic and adds a reddish amber color to the beer. It has enough diastatic power to convert tself, but needs help from another malt, such as 2-row malt, to convert other grains.

Need to use 2-row to convert other grains in the grain bill.
 
Munich malt should have sufficient power to convert the extra 1 lb of adjuncts.

I assume you crush the grain.

I question your temps. Adding 7.5 lbs of grain to 2.5 gallons is about 1.3 quarts/lb. That's about what I use, and I get a 10 degree drop in temp when the grains are added. If you are adding ice too, your temp may be too low. Make sure your thermometer is correct and you are getting an average temp. I use three thermometers to make sure my readings are correct.
 
I think your temps are off also. Diastatic power is 50 degrees lintner for many Munich malts, compared to 140 or so for 2 row brewers malt. Plus that's a pretty small grain bill to begin with (if you're doing a 5 gallon batch.

What was your OG?
 
I was doing a 3 gallon batch to blend with another batch. I found the problem- it was a faulty thermometer. Temp was about 12 degrees too high. Going to the lhbs to get a digital. Thanks, your suggestions helped as well.
 
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