Gravity Measurements

[John Burns]

Hi guys, I've been brewing for over a year now. I have been doing partial mashing since I started however, recently I switched to all grain method using BIAB style. What I've been having some difficulty getting is my target efficiency. The first time I brewed I only reached 50% and had to use corn sugar to get to my original target gravity. I made a Simcoe SMASH recipe. Here was my procedure and recipe.
3 Gallon Recipe (preboil 4.5 gallons)
4.5 lbs of maris otter
.5 lb of carapils
Mash Temp 152 F for 60 mins
.5 oz simcoe at 20 mins remaining
.5 oz simcoe at 15 mins remaining
.5 oz simcoe at 10 mins remaining
.5 oz simcoe at 5 mins remaining
1 oz simcoe dryhop 7 days in fermentation
Boiled for 60 mins
Estimated Original Gravity 1:060
Actual Gravity: 1.030 (used 3 lbs of corn sugar to get predicted estimate)
IBU: 52.9
ABV%: 6

I read John Palmer's book and made several modifications from my previous attempt. I realized I did not have the right pH to get the alpha and beta amylase's to convert the sugars so I bought calcium chloride and gypsum. I repeated the same process and added 1 teaspoon at a time of each material until I got my pH to 5.5 which the book said is the optimal pH for efficient conversion. Sadly after brew day I still got the same exact gravity as my first attempt without changing the pH. I'm not sure at this point what I'm doing wrong and would love some suggestions or advice. For some more background I use the "Wort" app to help make style guide recipes (maybe I need to upgrade to a better app?) My only thoughts are to 1) increase the amount of grain 2) use less water or boil off more. Please give me and suggestions or advice. I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks.

 

[grampamark]

Low efficiency, especially when doing BIAB, is often linked to grain crush. For BIAB you can literally grind it into flour. If you are buying crushed grain online or getting it crushed at the LHBS you probably aren't getting a sufficiently fine grist.

 

[RM-MN]

For less than $25 you can get a Corona mill knockoff that will mill your grain really fine which does 2 thngs. It increases the mash efficiency because the smaller grain particles convert the starches to sugars nearly completely, and it reduces the amount of time that you need to maintain the mash temperature to get that nearly full conversion.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Zimtown-...ns-Shelled-Nuts-Commercial-Home-Use/707023671

 

[Immocles]

For less than $25 you can get a Corona mill knockoff that will mill your grain really fine which does 2 thngs. It increases the mash efficiency because the smaller grain particles convert the starches to sugars nearly completely, and it reduces the amount of time that you need to maintain the mash temperature to get that nearly full conversion.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Zimtown-...ns-Shelled-Nuts-Commercial-Home-Use/707023671

+1
Bought that exact one a few weeks back. It helped my efficiency substantially.

 

[John Burns]

Low efficiency, especially when doing BIAB, is often linked to grain crush. For BIAB you can literally grind it into flour. If you are buying crushed grain online or getting it crushed at the LHBS you probably aren't getting a sufficiently fine grist.

I have a local brew supplier that can crush the grain for you. I told him I brew in a bag and to finely crush it but maybe your right. I'll try to buy a mill and maybe do it myself.

 

[John Burns]

For less than $25 you can get a Corona mill knockoff that will mill your grain really fine which does 2 thngs. It increases the mash efficiency because the smaller grain particles convert the starches to sugars nearly completely, and it reduces the amount of time that you need to maintain the mash temperature to get that nearly full conversion.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Zimtown-...ns-Shelled-Nuts-Commercial-Home-Use/707023671

Thanks I will definitely go out and buy one. My local brew supplier crushes the grain for me and I've told him it's BIAB but maybe I need to do it myself to be sure.

 

[ElJefeBrews]

Not sure if this applies to your system but when I started brewing i had serious efficiency issues too. Turns out my sparge technique suuuuuucked and fixing that solved the issue.