Nowhere near OG

[hop-a-long]

Hi guys,

I can't figure out what I'm doing wrong.
I brewed an IPA today, loosely based on GH's 60 minute IPA.
I only got to an OG og 1052, where I expected to be somewhere around 1077. At least OG1077 is what Beersmith3 comes up with.
Malts used:
5,5kg pale malt
1kg extra pale malt
1kg torrefied wheat
Mash profile: 4 step mash with fly sparge.

I've used this 4 step mash in the past with much better results, although I never get close to the OG's Beersmith is predicting.

 

[cheeseyfeet]

Are you sure that your equipment set up on your profile is correct?

It took me ages to dial in my efficiency properly using beer Smith.

Probably because I kept changing my equipment every brew! I'm now within a few points each time, good enough for me.

 

[simon12]

I assume thats a 23L batch so your only getting around 50% efficiency which is very low. If you can't find why I suggest you try batch sparging to see if the problems in the sparge.

 

[Cestrian]

Why not try a simple single temperature infusion mash at 66C.

 

[hop-a-long]

I use a Grainfather for my brews.
I have no idea how to do batch sparging with this setup.

Thinking this through; As I mill my own grains, could it be that my grist is to coarse?

 

[hop-a-long]

Having just done a brew, this is what the spent grains look like.....if it's of help to my question.

 

[Cestrian]

It’s difficult to see from the picture. I had a similar problem recently with malt i’d bought crushed, my efficiency dropped off and I was picking up astringency too, because the malt was over crushed, too fine.

 

[xozzx]

I have a GF and my efficiency drops right off with grain bills >6kg. I started doing reiterated mash for my stronger beers (search on youtube, David Heath has a good video on how to do it). With 7.5kg grain bill I would expect about 55 -60% efficiency on GF30 without doing reiterated mash. Can get about 75% with reiterated

 

[chrisb8]

I find that if I sparge too quickly (ie. if the mash tun is emptying too fast) then I get a drop off in efficiency. As others have said, I would look at your sparging process...

 

[Deadhead]

I find on the GF, I’ve learned that I need to use some rice hulls with large grain bills and that I need to trickle the sparge water- takes ages, but works much better. Also, I will take out the grain basket into another bucket and let it sit there whilst I come up to a boil.There is a lot of wort that drains out, So I dump that in too. Lots of sugary goodness.

 

[foxy]

Though I have advised against it I have stirred at regular intervals during the mash and my efficiency has lifted. 3 years ago I did a side by side test against the BM. Both came out the same OG from the same grain bill, now the BM effectively stirs itself every 10 minutes with the pump break, but I can't remember if I stirred the mash in the Guten on that day. I now think I most likely did. The other thing if you think your grain crush is to coarse, check your grains for any intact kernels, if you have quite a few then reduce the gap only slightly, you will get other problems if you go to fine.

Intact empty husks is what you should be looking for.

 

[hop-a-long]

Kegged it today with an FG of 1008 after leaving it a lot longer than normal in my FastFerment. So with an ABV of 5,8% I'm fairly content after my OG being so far off.

Next time I'll follow David Heath's suggestions for my sparging.

This is what's come out of the test tube. Tastes very good, even without any carbonation.