Question regarding volumes and gravity

[619Brewer]

Ok so I've got a few batches under my belt all grain, but I've gotten new equipment seemingly on each batch so it sometimes feels like I'm starting all over each batch since the new equipment throws off the process and expected results.

With that said, I'm finally to a point where I think I'm done with new equipment that will/could change my efficiency. The latest addition was buying my own grain mill and it worked great.

So the question is in regards to my last batch. I brewed a pale ale that was set to have an OG of 1.068 (yes I know a bit high for a PA, but I like it that way). I ended up getting a OG of 1.061, not horribly off, but I'm trying to learn how to get better at this... Well I got my volume for my boil (60 min boil) and stopped sparging (fly sparge). Halfway through my boil I realized I didn't take my last runnings gravity to see if I was done and it came in at 1.020 which is too high meaning I had sugar left in the mash.

So the question(s) is this: Should I have just collected more wort and adjusted my boil times? Or is there something else I should be doing in an effort to nail my desired gravities/volumes?

NOTE: There was one factor that effected my OG and that is I decided to mash 1-2 degrees higher than the recipe called for, but that doesn't make up for nearly the whole difference.

Thanks.

 

[IvanBrew]

Having sugar left at the end of sparge isn't a surprise, especially with a moderate to high gravity beer. Even with everything perfect, you'll usually leave sugar in the MT, which is why some cultures/breweries went to parti-gyle brews (making multiple beers from a single mash).

If you calculated a pre-boil gravity, and you were under it before you started the boil (despite being at volume), you have a number of options. You could continue to sparge and then extend your boil time to hit volume, or you could make up the gravity with DME. Either is completely acceptable. Making up gravity with DME makes the hops schedule a little easier to deal with, but (again) both options are fine.

One thing to look at in this situation is sparge rate. If you sparge too quickly, you'll collect a larger volume of lower gravity wort. Slow the sparge rate, and you'll increase the gravity for the same volume.

 

[619Brewer]

Having sugar left at the end of sparge isn't a surprise, especially with a moderate to high gravity beer. Even with everything perfect, you'll usually leave sugar in the MT, which is why some cultures/breweries went to parti-gyle brews (making multiple beers from a single mash).

If you calculated a pre-boil gravity, and you were under it before you started the boil (despite being at volume), you have a number of options. You could continue to sparge and then extend your boil time to hit volume, or you could make up the gravity with DME. Either is completely acceptable. Making up gravity with DME makes the hops schedule a little easier to deal with, but (again) both options are fine.

One thing to look at in this situation is sparge rate. If you sparge too quickly, you'll collect a larger volume of lower gravity wort. Slow the sparge rate, and you'll increase the gravity for the same volume.

Thanks. I forgot about the new sparge arm that I had fabricated and was using for the first time. That makes sense. Something to make note of and change for next batch.