Low OG on partial mash

[Wesva]

In attempting my 4th brew ever (a NE IPA), my target OG was 1.068. However, my reading just before adding yeast was 1.052. Much lower than I had hoped. it was an extract brew with 6.6# Pilsen LME, 1# pils DME; I also had:
2# 2 row
1.25# flaked oats
.5# C-60
.5# honey malt

I steeped the grains for 60 minutes at 155° before adding extract & boiled for an hour.
any ideas on why such a low OG?

It is now fermenting nicely so I guess I'll end up with a lower ABV beer than I had hoped for but maybe it will be ok.

feel free to move thread to an appropriated place if need be.

 

[BPal75]

My best guess is that because you had almost 40% adjunct in your mini mash it didn't properly convert with the 2 row being your only source of diastatic power. You would probably need 6 row base malt in that situation. Your mini mash needs at least 30 - 60 lintner DP to convert properly.

If that wasn't it (but probably was a big factor), could also be your crush. If the grains aren't crushed fine enough you could lose some efficiency.

 

[flars]

Did you do a full or partial boil. A partial boil with topping up the fermentor to the full volume often leads to a SG measurement error. It is difficult to get a complete mix of the boil volume and top off water.

 

[Wesva]

I did need to top it off to get to the full 5 gallons.