First all-grain beers really dry

[bradmccoy]

Looking for help. I've done 4 all grain batches now. First two were really dry. Mashed at 68C and used some crystal malts. Ended up with FGs around 1.008-1.010. With the second two brews, I tried mashing a little higher (70C) but still ended up with quite dry tasting beers.

Any clues? Maybe I need more accurate thermometers for the mash? Anything else I could be doing wrong? It seems like my mash thickness is fairly middle-of-the-road.

Thanks in advance.
Brad.

 

[Yob]

Yep, Id be checking / getting new thermometer, good place to start. What sort do you have? Good quality alcohol glass types from cookware shops are (usually) reasonable quality.

 

[HBHB]

Brad, could be a mash temperature related issue, as Yob said, but I wouldn't have called 1.010 as providing a very dry finish.

What Base malt/s have you used in those brews? ie Galaxy Malt by any chance?

Martin

 

[manticle]

Might be used to high finishing extract beers.
Check all measuring equipment, reduce mash time, use less attenuative yeast, use more dextrinous malts, add crystal late in the mash.

 

[bradmccoy]

Might be the yeast. Planning on trying something different next. Been using safale US 04 and 05 up til now.

Been using a range of malts. Usually Australian (pale) as a base, but also pilsner/munich mix for one beer. With crystal light, carapils, special b. Might try adding late in the mash - how long do you recommend?

Wkll check the thermometer. Been using a cheapies from ebay but they seemed to agree with each other.

 

[RelaxedBrewer]

Check the thermometer by measuring boiling water and iced water temps. It should read 100C and 0C respectively.

 

[jyo]

Are you preheating your mash tun for a good 10 minutes or so? If not, and you add the grain while the tun is still absorbing temp, then this could be an issue (from my own experience when starting AG).

Had a similar problem to you a while back with over-attenuation and it ended up being the thermometer.