I considered making this post a new thread but since I think the issue was with the grain or crush at Whole Foods.... So, I am going to tack this post on here.
I have done 3 all grain batches with grain from WF (crushed myself in the store the night before brew day). The hops and yeast I had from William's and Northern Brewer.
First two all grain batches from WF went exactly as my last 10 before had (with my usual acceptable efficiency). I use a copper manifold in rectangular cooler.
But this time.... when I invited 7 guys from work for a brewing demo (wouldn't you know it), I managed to make 6 gallons of American Stout with a starting gravity of around 1.040 using 30 pounds of grain! I thought my refractometer might be broken when I took my first reading. It was my usual 60 minute infusion mash at 154F.
Last night I had first taste of the Stout and it is small and super roasty because of the lack of sweetness and alcohol. I drank 40oz of it no problem... it is a session strength stout.
I know it's hard to tell at this point what went wrong. Was the crush that bad this time? What base malt did I even buy? (I wanted Pale Ale malt and they were sold out, I got the one that looked like 2 row but the label was missing.)
The only good part about that experience is that I was charged $7.22 for the 30 pounds of grain. (they charged me $1.25 for each bag of grain not $1.25/pound!)
Here is the actual recipe for 6 gallons of finished beer. (I often make 8 gallons with 30 pounds of grain, if the efficiency is better.)
(And, I know that is a lot of crystal malt but it comes out of coffee bean type dispensers at WF and I have overshot the amount I want on two occasions.)
I think I need to return to the real LHBS next time.
Amt Name %
16 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) 53.3 %
4 lbs 15.0 oz Caramel Malt - 40L (Briess) (40.0 SRM) 16.5 %
4 lbs 5.1 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L (80.0 SRM) 14.4 %
3 lbs Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) 10.0 %
1 lbs Roasted Barley (Briess) (300.0 SRM) 3.3 %
12.0 oz Wheat, Roasted (550.0 SRM) 2.5 %
(Beer Smith2 says that at 65% efficiency that should have been 1.100 OG)
Thanks for any ideas on this.