Question about Est ABV and Actual ABV

I did my 2nd all grain batch yesterday and it seems that I'm off on my ABV's. I can't figure out if I have my equipment set up wrong or maybe I made a mistake in another field. If anyone else could help me out I'd appreciate it. My estimated ABV was 6.4% and BeerSmith says my actual is 7.4%. I must have made a mistake and I'm not sure if its in brewing or in BeerSmith.

I didn't use the BeerSmith recommended mash volumes and such because I'm not sure I get them. These were my mash steps:

Strike grains with 4.54 gal of water at 168 °F.
Mash at 156 °F for 60 min.
Mash out with 0.49 gal of water at 212 °F.
Vorlauf and lauter 3.31 gal in your first runnings.
Add 2.94 gal of sparge water at 168 °F.
Vorlauf and lauter 2.94 gal in your second runnings.
Your combined runnings should be 6.25 gal.

I've attached the .bsmx file if anyone could take a look. If you need anymore information let me know. Bear with me, I'm still a novice.

How close did you come to your mash temperature of 156F?  What was the temperature at the end of the mashing?  Is your thermometer calibrated?

Everyone's process gives slightly different results, but being that far off makes me think of a temperature/thermometer issue.

My starting mash temp was 155.6 and it ended at about 154. I did calibrate my thermometer when I made my starter on Wed. It was brand new and read 32 right out of the box in a glass of ice water.

You brewed this on Dec 11, right? If so, unless you had an explosive fermentation, you don't know your Measured Final Gravity. That field must be based on the actual gravity after fermentation has completed. BeerSmith 2 entered 1.010 as a space-filler. It's a WAG, not a prediction. If you hit the middle of the typical final gravity for the style - 1.016 - your alcohol will be 6.6% ABV. With all the roasted and caramel malts, an OG of 1.066, and having mashed at 154 - 155, that isn't unthinkable.

I have to agree with durettd

It's way too early to tell what your ABV is going to be. Did you go near your estimated OG of 1.067? If not there may be an efficiency issue (even though the numbers you've punched in initially seem a little low to me).

I'd also expect a stout to end up somewhere closer to 1.018 to 1.022 depending on the grain bill and the yeast (and health and quantity and aeration etc). Certainly a bit more patience may help as well as more info.

Cheers

Yes I had an expected OG of 1.067 and hit 1.066 actual. I didn't think about the final gravity being something beersmith filled until I could record it.

What numbers are you suggesting that I've punched in low? I've been a little paranoid that I haven't got thing set up right in BS.

Scott,

I missed the brew date part.  Good catch, durrettd!

The final number is meaningless until you enter your actual measurement of final gravity.  What I have done is start a new recipe and blank out all the user entry fields.  Select your customized equipment profile and then save this as a template.  Then whenever you enter or create a new recipe, these fields will be blank.

Thank you all for your help!  And Oginme, thats a great idea to make a template!

Hi scott

I was referring to the "Total Efficiency" entry box on the Design page where it was shown as 72% (which I thought seemed a bit low) but you know what to expect from your equipment better than I do. The other entry that caught my eye was the "Mash Efficiency" (also at 72%) which seemed rather odd. I'd expect the mash eff to be higher than the total in the normal course of events.

Interestingly, when I ticked the "Calc Boil Vol", it dropped the boil volume by about half a gallon (2 litres) from what was in there. Others are more knowledgeable than me, but is it possible your equipment profile needs to be revised?

Cheers

PS. I don't normally do batch sparges, but is it normal to do a 2 step batch sparge with the first being 0.5 gallons and the second 3 gallons. Just asking the question here.

Great couple of questions on using BeerSmith!

antiphile said:

I'd expect the mash eff to be higher than the total in the normal course of events.

Click to expand...

The equipment profile shows zero for loss to trub. This makes Brewhouse and Mash Efficiency the same. If the OP adds loss, then the Brewhouse Efficiency will have to be reduced accordingly as you pointed out.

PS. I don't normally do batch sparges, but is it normal to do a 2 step batch sparge with the first being 0.5 gallons and the second 3 gallons. Just asking the question here.

Click to expand...

BeerSmith is saying to add 0.5 gallons to the mash before draining. The OP has the "Drain Mashtun" box unchecked and the "Use Equal..." checked. So, BeerSmith is dividing the total sparge water required between the two steps.