OG Too high + Beersmith2

braziliain · Feb 25, 2017

Hi,

Last night I brewed an AG DIPA and brew day went really well with one exception...

I overshot my OG by a long way.

Target was 9L in the fermenter @ 1.059

I ended up with 9.25L @ 1.067

This was my first time using Beersmith2 on my mobile and it is calculating that my mash efficiency was 90.9% while my brewhouse efficiency was calculated at 81.5%.

If my DIPA finishes at the estimated 1.012 it will be over 7%abv.

I'm all for good efficiency, but I'm using a 15L pot on my stove with a bag and a dunk sparge. Something doesn't seem to stack up.

Anybody with any experience of this in Beersmith2?

Should I have adjusted with water somewhere along the way?

Any help much appreciated.

cheapbrew · Feb 25, 2017

you can liquor back with water to hit the correct OG, or leave as is and have a stronger beer and next time reduce your grain amounts to compensate for your great efficiency.

braziliain · Feb 25, 2017

Do you think the efficiencies are realistic? In the end I didn't back liquor as I worried about diluting the flavours and bittering.

A bit more info about the grain bill and mash.

2.0kg Best Malz Pale 2 Row
0.3kg Thomas Fawcett Maris Otter
0.08kg Carafa III
0.09kg Chocolate (not labelled with supplier)

Mashed this for 60min in 5.5L with initial mash temp of 67.2 which fell to 65.3 in the hour. (Was aiming for 66).

Then drained the pot and brought 7.8L water to 78C. Dunked the grains back in and the temp fell to 73, then left for 15mins.

Combined both first and second runnings to get my 11.8L pretty boil volume, bang on estimate.

Pre boil SG was 1.057 (only 2 points under my target OG!)

In my previous 2 AG batches with the same equipment I was almost bang on OG. The only difference being that I didn't use Beersmith2, but just factored down the Greg Hughes recipes for my small volume.

I tested my hydrometer this morning which reads 1.0 @ 20C in water and also weighed remaining grains to check I hadn't weighed incorrectly. Couldn't find anything wrong there...

cheapbrew · Feb 25, 2017

I think it sounds realistic from the grain bill, so I would reduce the base amounts slightly next time.

I get great efficiency from fine crushed grain, a good amount of water to grain ratio (runny mash), a good 15 mins dunk sparge/mashout at 75-80C and squeezing the feck out of the grain. :thumb:

geigercntr · Feb 25, 2017

Have you set your equipment profile up correctly?

I'm a BS2 newcomer myself and found that this guide helped me get reasonable prediction:
http://www.beersmith.com/forum/index.php?topic=5140.0

DoctorMick · Feb 25, 2017

Did you check the temp of the wort when you measured the og?

braziliain · Feb 25, 2017

DoctorMick said:
Did you check the temp of the wort when you measured the og?

Yeah it was 22C.

Simonh82 · Feb 26, 2017

80%+ brewhouse efficiency is entirely possible. It is easier to get with a small grain bill like you are using as it's easier to squeeze the wort out. Also if you are pouring all of your wort into the fermentor rather than using a larger vessel with a tap then you won't lose any to dead space. This will help your efficiency too.

BTW, your OG is entirely appropriate for a double IPA. 1.059 would have been much more like a standard IPA.

OG Too high + Beersmith2

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