First AG Expected gravity 1.068 ended up at 1.034. 6.5 gallons Mashed 60 minutes. No iodine to check conversion. Temps fine throughout the mash. 14 lbs grain. 5.25 G strike water Final sparge runnings 1.10 Now what do I do?? Run to get some DME?
That much grain should yield something over sixty on most systems. But you already know that. Before panicking, relax, step back, and go over your process. Your wort is about to be boiled, so there's no need to rush. The fact that you mashed that much grain and didn't get the gravity points offers some possibilities: 1. your gravitometer isn't functioning correctly. Do you have a backup? 2. you made a mistake in measurement (obviously double + triple check with multiple gravitometers). 3. your mash temperature was off (what temp did you use, is your thermometer working, do you have a backup?). 4. your water ratios and amounts were off (not real likely, but go over your numbers again). How much strike/sparge water did you use, and what was your water to grain ratio? 5. you're already on your ninth homebrew and your judgement is way, way off (always a possibility with homebrewers, so I had to mention it). 6. something else that will result in a eureka moment when you figure it out That seems like more strike water than I usually use for similar amounts of grain (but honestly, not by a whole lot). You don't need iodine to figure this one out. Go over everything again. Only run for extract if you figure out what you did wrong, and realize that 1.034 is for sure the correct current OG.
I almost hate to ask . . . but did you adjust gravity for your wort temp? http://www.brewersfriend.com/hydrometer-temp/ With a wort temp of 150+ the correction factor is a mighty big number.
OK. Just got back from LHBS. (picked up some Amarillo for dry hopping as well) Talking to the guy there (very knowledgeable) he said more than likely I did not mash long enough to get complete conversion. He also said since I batch sparge my numbers may be a bit low. 1.034 at 145 degrees is actually 1.050 when adjusted for temperature so not as bad as I thought. Thanks Port Largo! Yes, grain was crushed. No, too early to be drinking and brewing. Going back to the recipe from Jamil and he says "with the low mash temperature, you may need to lengthen rest time to 90 minutes to get full conversion" So that is probably my biggest issue. So. To raise my my Gravity by .018 I need a bit of DME. 2.5 lbs at 44 PPG should give me what I need for 6.5 g starting volume
Sounds like you may have this sorted out now. But I can't tell from the context... do you know that your OG before the boil should be (and will be) lower than your OG after the boil? Volume is key.
Yes because as you boil your wort gets concentrated. FG should be about 1.077 Right on the edge of an IIPA. 6.5 g to start 5.5 G into fermenter. Side note: 6.5 gallons rolling boil in 7.5 gallon pot. No boilovers Thanks Fermcap! Thanks Vike.
Yep, your post boil OG (not FG) should be right around 1.077 if you hit 5.5 gallons (from 1.065 @ 6.5 gallons). One of the common mistakes I've seen is when people end up with a different volume than they wanted/expected (either pre or post boil), and forget that that will also affect gravity.
