Missed my dog gone gravity again!!! WTF???

[Taco29wps]

Got a question for the big guys...

I recently upgraded to 10 gallon batches and I seem to be continuously missing my FG. What I have been doing is taking a 5 gallon batch recipe and just doubling it. Any problem with that, or should I be making adjustments for a larger batch?? I recently made a 10 gallon batch of Edwort's pale ale and it turned out 1.042 and it should have been 1.051. I don't feel like I missed anything in the process. Tonight I brewed the 90 min IPA from Scottland, on the recipe page and it called for a 1.085 FG and mine finished 1.072...i seem to be missing my FG by about 10 points. I followed the recipe to the letter. I'm stuck.

This seems to be a trend with me and it makes me wonder if there is just some tweaking that needs to be done that I don't know i'm supposed to do.

Thanks for any input.

Bob

 

[Qhrumphf]

Given that this is in the all grain and partial mash section, I'm assuming you're doing full boils, and not a smaller boil topped off with water? If you're topping off then the reading really can't be trusted, especially if you're doing any mashing more than a very trivial partial mash. When I was doing partial boil all grain, I would take the gravity reading before top off, and use the same math used for preboil gravity to determine where I needed to top off to to hit my desired OG.

Now, if you're doing full boils, is your volume correct? Are you ending up at the volume you're supposed to? If you're ending up with a bigger batch than the recipe calls for, there's your answer. I use the "batch size" for recipe purposes as the volume after chilling the wort, in the kettle, and then the rest is considered loss. Some folks do the recipe this way, and some don't. But point is if the recipe says it's for 5 gallons, and you go to 5.5 gallons to allow for trub loss (which many folks do), if all else is equal you would need to increase the grain to account, or you will be under gravity.

If you're doing full boil and not topping off, and the volume is correct, then you just likely are getting lower mash efficiency than is listed in the recipe, which you need to account for going forward. There's a lot of factors as to what can cause your efficiency to be lower and you'd really have to detail your entire process and your entire system for any real help. But I'd start combatting that by crushing grain a little finer, first of all, second performing a mash out step, and third collecting enough runnings to do 90 min boils instead of 60.

 

[The Pol]

I'd start with the mash. PH, check for conversion, who mills your grain?

I'd start at the beginning.

Then, check your final volume.

Brew up another batch, mill it well, maybe even condition the malt. Check for conversion, check PH, then verify your volumes. You will find the problem.

 

[bd2xu]

Yep check ph. I had same issue, about 10 pts low on several batches. Started using 5.2 ph buffer salt (1 tbsp per 5 gallon batch) and my numbers are now dead on.



Primary: Maibock, Helles (first partigyle batch)
Secondary: Mojave Red, Irish Stout
On tap: Orange Belgian IPA, Turbo IIPA
Bottled: Dwarven Gold Ale, La Fin Du Mond clone, Hefeweizen

 

[Taco29wps]

I guess the post boil level was a bit over. I guess that could be it, and come to think of it, I don't seem to get the boil off predicted in the software. I used mash PH stabilizer but maybe not enough. Don't have the equipment to check to see if the conversion was complete, just going by "process times". I'll keep trying to nail it down, and thanks for the inputs.

Bob