You Make the Call....

[Willie3]

Ok So I brewed on Halloween and it was the best brew day I had in a Long time. I brewed an all grain award winning recipe. My day went flawless. The mashing went without a hitch and the boil went without a hitch. Here is my recipe:

Amount Item Type % or IBU
10.50 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 80.77 %
1.25 lb Chocolate Malt (475.0 SRM) Grain 9.62 %
0.25 lb Black (Patent) Malt (500.0 SRM) Grain 1.92 %
1.00 oz Fuggles [4.50 %] (60 min) Hops 14.4 IBU
1.00 oz Fuggles [4.50 %] (40 min) Hops 12.6 IBU
1.00 oz Tettnang [4.50 %] (10 min) Hops 5.2 IBU
1.00 oz Tettnang [4.50 %] (0 min) Hops -
1.00 oz Licorice Stick (Boil 15.0 min) Misc
1.00 items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 min) Misc
2.00 tsp Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) (Mash 60.0 min) Misc
1.00 lb Honey (1.0 SRM) Sugar 7.69 %
1 Pkgs German Ale (Wyeast Labs #1007) Yeast-Ale

My expected OG was 1.065
My Measured OG was 1.043 -

Pittiful to say the least. I am trying to figure out why. I doughed and mashed at 68*C range to get a more fuller bodied beer.

In order to get 5.5 gals I added about 3 quarts to top off. I don't think that this is the problem as it would only account for a few points.

Any idea where I could have gone wrong. It is driving me insane. I kept telling myself that something was to go wrong. The process seemed to go flawless but in the back of my mind I was saying something was going to go wrong (like a boil over, or forget to take a hydro reading or my yeast would turn out bad). But this, for sure was not expected.

Ideas/comments

- WW

 

[Iordz]

That's quite lower efficiency than anticipated. Could it be the grain crush?

 

[Willie3]

Never had an issue with the crush I use. Don't think that is the issue, but maybe it is. To me the crush looks to be spot on.

- WW

 

[jdoiv]

Did you leave any water in the MLT after the sparge? I did this recently and my efficiency came out lower than expected.

Do you batch sparge or fly sparge?

 

[Willie3]

I batch Sparge and yes left water in the mashtun. I use a 10 Gal Gott. There was hardly a trickle. Have I drained fully to nothing, the grains bare and everything, I would have been better off?

Is this truth?

- WW

 

[Professor Frink]

My last brew was the first time I drained the cooler all the way out, and I ended up with my highest efficiency yet. It doesn't seem like that should make that much of a difference, but it's possible.

 

[Willie3]

Do you use a manifold or a SS braid or bazooka?

- WW

 

[Professor Frink]

I use a copper manifold, the spigot is probably about 1 inch above the bottom of the MLT. I tipped it for the first time my last brew, and I probably got almost half a gallon out of it. I'll be doing that every time from now on.

 

[Dr Malt]

A few points to consider:

If you added 3 quarts of water to get to 5.5 gallons, if my math is right, you had 4.75 gallons with a gravity of 1.050. That is 7 gravity units which might be a little more than you are thinking after adding 3 quarts of water.

You say you mashed at 68 C. For how long and at what pH? pH is important to the optimum activity of the enzymes in malt. If your pH is way off, they do not work as well or as efficiently and will take longer to break down the starch to fermentable sugars.

As others have commented, the grain crush is also a key factor in getting extract. Were their a lot of whole kernels in the crush that you noticed??

I hope this helps.

Dr Malt

 

[ajf]

If you added 3 qts water before testing the gravity, did you stir well before taking the gravity sample, or did you take the sample from the top of the fermenter (which will contain a very diluted wort before it's stirred)?

-a.

 

[ToddBell]

You say you mashed at 68 C. For how long and at what pH? pH is important to the optimum activity of the enzymes in malt. If your pH is way off, they do not work as well or as efficiently and will take longer to break down the starch to fermentable sugars.

I was thinking it was a PH issues as well. You mashed with alot of dark malts as well as added 2 tsp of gypsum. Both those things reduce the PH of the water. I am not sure if that is exactly what the problem is, but it is something to think about.

Todd

 

[Willie3]

A few points to consider:

If you added 3 quarts of water to get to 5.5 gallons, if my math is right, you had 4.75 gallons with a gravity of 1.050. That is 7 gravity units which might be a little more than you are thinking after adding 3 quarts of water.

You say you mashed at 68 C. For how long and at what pH? pH is important to the optimum activity of the enzymes in malt. If your pH is way off, they do not work as well or as efficiently and will take longer to break down the starch to fermentable sugars.

As others have commented, the grain crush is also a key factor in getting extract. Were their a lot of whole kernels in the crush that you noticed??

I hope this helps.

Dr Malt

Thanks it did give me things to consider. However the PH was at 5.3 which isn't bad from what I gather.

The crush was as it should be, no whole kernels but crushed.

- WW

 

[Willie3]

If you added 3 qts water before testing the gravity, did you stir well before taking the gravity sample, or did you take the sample from the top of the fermenter (which will contain a very diluted wort before it's stirred)?

-a.

Thanks for the not so obvious solution (seriously this might have slipped by me) but I shook the h*!! out of the wort (.5 hours) to ensure that I get enuff oxygen for my yeast and take the reading right before I pitch.

- WW

 

[Willie3]

I was thinking it was a PH issues as well. You mashed with alot of dark malts as well as added 2 tsp of gypsum. Both those things reduce the PH of the water. I am not sure if that is exactly what the problem is, but it is something to think about.

Todd

From what I understand the PH should be about 5.3 - 5.5 and mine was 5.3 according to the strip so I think that I was fine. I also think that I should be OK due to the batch Sparge. What I thing might have happened is that I left a ton of sugars in the left over wort that I did not add to my kettle.

So next time I am draining out fully.
It will do two things: 1 give me more wort at the end of boil and 2 extract all the sugars I missed.

It is pluggin away now. Click, click, click, click......


- WW