O.G. Issue

[Dylfish]

Just finished my first partial and i went to take its OG, issue is on beer alchemy it should be about 1.059. Mines come in at a lousy 1.025.

All the same ingredients were used as per the recipe. the only issue i see is that my wort only came out @ 6.5 ltrs, so I just scaled it down to be diluted to 21ltrs.


Does anyone have a possible theory on what went wrong?

 

[manticle]

What was your recipe, your step by step process and the temperature of your wort when you took a reading?

 

[Dylfish]

1) got 8 ltrs of water to 70c
2) mashed grain biab style for 40 mins @ 65c
3) sparged grain using collander back into wort using 2.5 ltr of water
4) Rose to boil for 60 mins
5) added hops at hop intervals
6) added LME and stirred with 10 left of boil
7) Chilled using Esky and a shitload of ice until about 35c
8) diluted with water to bring up to 21 ltrs
9) took reading @ 24c (due to diluted water bringing temperature down.

There were a few changed to the recipe (due to supply contraints)

Used Fat Yak as my basic recipie except i had no pale crystal 100gm, and changed nelson hops for amarillo.

the LME can only came in 1.5ltr cans and not the 1.7 specified.

 

[felten]

That doesn't sound right, beersmith says 1.5kg of liquid extract by itself with a 21L batch size comes out at 1021.

Maybe the sample wasn't mixed properly? or the grain wasn't milled

 

[Screwtop]

Just finished my first partial and i went to take its OG, issue is on beer alchemy it should be about 1.059. Mines come in at a lousy 1.025.

All the same ingredients were used as per the recipe. the only issue i see is that my wort only came out @ 6.5 ltrs, so I just scaled it down to be diluted to 21ltrs.


Does anyone have a possible theory on what went wrong?

I don't really understand this.

2) mashed grain biab style for 40 mins @ 65c

Or why you mashed for 40 min.


1.5Kg of extract and 2Kg of grist should give you somewhere near 1.038 in 22L


I'd say you duck fupped somewhere !

Screwy

 

[Dylfish]

yeah i think i duck fupped it somewhere too.

I had read some conflicting information so i think when ive mashed it all together ive fudged the hell out of it.

instead of 40 mins with the grain @ 65, what should it have been?

to be honest the place i got my grain couldn't mill it for me and i had to do with a mortar and pestle, so i think i may have been a little too gentle and not cracked enough of the grains

I think this may be a good learning curve for me

 

[manticle]

While starch/sugar conversion can supposedly happen within 15-20 mins it is customary to mash for 60 mins to ensure conversion is complete. Until you have the process down pat and have a reason for wanting to mash for 45 or 90 or whatever - probably best to stick with what's customary.

If you are biabing you can crack the grain a bit more vigorously. Some BIABers might tell you how they do it and what their success rate is. As it's a partial, you can add more extract in to bump up the gravity. You can also mash and chill a second wort and add that in - you will get more volume so obviously you'll be trying to calculate a stronger wort to bump it up.

Extract or live and learn is probably your best bet. The beer will be more bitter than the one specified. Alternatively you can get another brew on the go, ferment it out then rack them both into the same vessel to blend.

Last question - is your hydrometer reading correctly?

 

[Screwtop]

While starch/sugar conversion can supposedly happen within 15-20 mins it is customary to mash for 60 mins to ensure conversion is complete. Until you have the process down pat and have a reason for wanting to mash or 45 or 90 or whatever - probably best to stick with what's customary.

If you are biabing you can crack the grain a bit more vigorously. Some BIABers might tell you how they do it and what their success rate is. As it's a partial, you can add more extract in to bump up the gravity. You can also mash and chill a second wort and add that in - you will get more volume so obviously you'll be trying to calculate a stronger wort to bump it up.

Extract or live and learn is probably your best bet. The beer will be more bitter than the one specified. Alternatively you can get another brew on the go, ferment it out then rack them both into the same vessel to blend.

Last question - is your hydrometer reading correctly?

As manticle says, convention dictates 60 min, however different enzymes work at different temps and over varying times, for a good fermentable wort I mash lowish (64.5C)for 90 minutes.

Gotta start somewhere, but no more Ready Fire Aim, ok! A little planning for the next brew will pay off, order your grain crushed and find a HBS who sells the 1.7Kg cans or add DME to arrive at the desired OG.

Cheers,

Screwy

 

[Dylfish]

ill have to look into the hydrometer part.

i'll let this run its fermenting course and then see what the product is like, chances are ill throw it out and re try it.

are there any grain mills you can get on the cheap thats worth the effort? or anyone online in the perth area who stock and mill grain?

 

[manticle]

Check gryphon brewing. Alternatively you could order from craftbrewer

 

[Dylfish]

excellent thanks! i just got another et of gear donated by my uncle so i might give it another go