First attempt, low efficiency, low gravity - what to do?

[rarse35]

Hi all - first post!

Attempted my first all grain brew yesterday and was hoping to get some help/critique on my method as the efficiency and OG was much lower then it should've been. The recipe called for 19.5 lbs (I know, may have bit off more then I can chew for the first all grain!) of mostly 2-row with some vienna, crystal and honey malt mixed in as well. I had bought a rubbermaid 10 gallon cooler and rigged it to be able to batch sparge. Mash temp was going to be 150 - i put in 6 gallons at 163 and it fell immediately to 150. I covered her up, threw a sleeping bag on top and patiently waited the hour. After the hour I vorlaufed about a quart to put back in. The wort was coming out clear so I filled the brew pot with about 4 gallons. I then added 1.5 gallons of 168 degree water twice and vorlaufed again each time for my sparge - ended up with just over 6 gallons of wort for my boil, which seemed right. Went on with the boil, hopping, etc (everything went fine here) and after an ice bath down to 70 degrees my gravity was sadly 1.06 (was aiming for 1.09/1.10 range). I threw in a pound of DME just to help out a little bit but my brewsmith efficiency was 47%. Any thoughts on what I could've done differently? I'm getting fantastic action on my fermentation today but still can't help to think I did something wrong in the mash. Thoughts?

Thanks in advance!
Ryan

 

[rarse35]

Of course, I just read the sticky that Flyguy put up on increasing efficiency in Batch Sparging - (sorry, should've done that first) - I guess it'll be trial and error at this point. One thing I'm sure I didn't do was mix up my batch sparge once I put the water in - I only let it sit. That may be the main problem. Secondly, with my temp so low (140) I probably should've sparged with higher temps to get closer to 170. Just happy to be brewing.

Ryan

 

[BigJP]

Stir the crap out of mash before you start collecting your runnings. Also invest in a false bottom, assuming you are using ss braid. Higher temps for sparge water 180 going in should get you closer to 168 after you stir the crap out of it! Let the mash rest for about 10 min after stirring before you collect runnings. Lastly when you get you own mill you can get a finer crush and save cash buying 2row in bulk . Cheers!