Lowest OG ever???

OK, a bad day of brewing is still better than a good day at work.

Yesterday I did my second all grain biab. I wanted to try the Blue Balls Belgian Wit from the recipe page. Last week I did the Centennial Blonde with good success, but didn't have as good luck with this one.

Everything was going good until the mash was over and it was time to lift the bag from the kettle. The flaked wheat absorbs A LOT of water and 9 lbs of grain (4.5 Pale Malt & 4.5 lbs flaked wheat) swelled so large it was difficult to pull up from the pot. I put it on top of the pot with a bar-b-que grille to hold it, but the bag swelled so large it over hung over the sides and was dripping down the sides of the pot. OK, back in the kettle. I get the metal basket that came with the pot (King Kooker) and lifted the bag into it and then put it back on the grille. Now I was able to sparge and "most" of it went back into the pot. After draining & sparging the water level was very low (started with 6.5 gallons - sparged with 1 gallon) so I added some more water to the level I had last week prior to boil.

The boil went fine and it was time to cool. I put the pot in a large bucket filled with ice water and stirred. (I don't have a wort chiller yet) and got it down to about 90 degrees. Then I put it in my freezer and it took 2 hours to get down to 76 degrees for pitching.

Now I take my gravity reading and with temperature allowance it is 1.013??? WTF?

OK, I don't know what to do so I decide to pitch the yeast anyway. My first experience with liquid yeast and the damn thing explodes like a shaken soda can. There goes 1/2 my yeast. So I pitch and hope for the best.

Good news is today there is activity in the airlock and it seems to be fermenting, but I have a feeling it's going to have the ABV of an O'Doul's.


Still, after all that it was still a good day and I finished it off with a few pale ales I brewed last month.

First thing I would say is that with your ice to cool it could have diluted it a bit. Try mixing it with a spoon and checking again.

Sounds like near-beer.

Next time, you might consider a hoist. My buddy built a 2x4 frame that sits on the counter over his boil kettle (oh, he is also electric). The frame has a pulley so he can crank up the bag and let it drain into his kettle, though I think he has similar problems trying to sparge.

If the grain is all packed by being lifted, I dont know how you could run water through it effectively, to wash the rest of the sugars into your kettle. The water is going to take the path of least resistance down the outside of the bag and if it isnt centered over the kettle, it will drip outside.

Maybe someone who has more BIAB experience can respond with more actual advice than my ramblings...best of luck!

One other thought...maybe a walmart (cheap) pizza pan with holes drilled through it....put that on top and sit the bag of grain on that...the lip of the pan should keep everything inside and the holes give the liquid somewhere to go, while the weight is spread out enough that the grain might be more receptive to sparge water?

DuckiesRevenge said:

First thing I would say is that with your ice to cool it could have diluted it a bit. Try mixing it with a spoon and checking again.

Click to expand...

No, I didn't put the ice in the wort. I put the kettle in ice water.

My first AG batch was abysmal with efficiency- ended up with 1.030, but there's a place for low abv beer too. You'll just have to have 3 or 4 of those next time you brew.