MRMARTINSALES said:
Hi,
I did a golden ale brew today all went well except that my beersmith recipe anticipated that i would achieve 1.046.
I mashed at the correct temperature in an insulated mash tun and extracted the exact amount of beer from my batch sparge.
Ive ended up with a refractometer reading of 9.7 (which gives me an SG of 1.038).
Ionly used maris otter pale malt for this brew. Anybody any ideas as to why ive fell short?
Thanks
If you have a refract, there really isn't much of a reason to miss your OG. Its too easy to take SG readings during the mash.
MO is a little bit toasted so, it "can" have less enzymes available for conversion. So, its possible for it to take a little longer without some basemalt....but, there's plenty to get the job done if you are a little patient and measure the process. Mashing durations are guidelines, not prescriptions---although most simple brewing texts make it sound like 60mins is the be-all-end-all. You should mash until the wort has reached the right SG, not based on a timer. Conversion will generally continue up to about 120 minutes, and the wort SG will rise commensurately during that time.
Did you check the gravity of the mash before sparging? That's the easiest way to avoid these types of issues. Its not very hard to calculate what your first running gravity is supposed to be. I have BS include it in my custom brewing report. Then you just maintain the mash until the wort reaches the desired SG.
In my own process, I measure the wort SG starting at 45 minutes. I'll measure again at the 60m mark and from there project an expected completion time...eg, I gained 0.05 points in 15 minutes, I have 0.05 points to go, so maybe 15 more minutes. I chart all this data for every batch (I measure pH, temp and SG). So, I have a good history for my processes and its easy to see when something is amiss.
I do a very similar thing for the sparge batches. I know how many gravity points I expect from each sparge, so I track each of those and add it all up as I go. When you do this you simple never miss Pre-boil SG.
PS: Looks like I really need to update my sig. I'm pretty sure every one of those beers is long dead. Of course, since I haven't brewed since somewhere around the last time I posted here....the "fermenting" and "next up" lists would be woefully empty. Hmmm....
PPS: for those who remember me...."Hi! its been a while."