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Low OG Readings

noreaster

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I've been brewing for awhile, mostly extract but have been trying some all grain recently also. My ongoing problem seems to be I usually end up with a low OG no matter which method I use. I believe I follow the instructions so I'm at kind of a loss. I like to have a full 5 gallons of beer when I keg so I do add water to the primary to help cool it down and to bring up the volume of the beer in the primary. My thinking is that when I transfer the beer from the primary to the secondary and then to the kegs I'm leaving a bit behind to try to keep the beer as clear as I can. So to have 5 gallons in the end I start out with maybe 5.5 in the primary. Is this making sense?

Now I've read somewhere that when I'm doing all grain I could increase my OG by increasing my grain bill. I wouldn't mind doing this but just how do you know how much to increase it by? Do you increase each grain by, say, 10%? Any ideas are welcome. Thanks.
 
There could be quite a few things going on here. Most of us have chased this rabbit down the hole pretty far.

The first thing to say would be to check your equipment setup, which is not as critical for extract brewers. You can find information about equipment here: http://beersmith.com/equipment_setup.htm. If your equipment is not setup correctly your numbers wont be correct, and arbitrarily adding malt is not the way to go about resolving low efficiency...

After you have checked your settings the next thing to do is look at your recipe. If you don't mind posting your last recipe, maybe we could give you some pointers on whats going on.

Next you need to look at the grains. Ask your supplier to run it through the mill twice. That may help. If you can afford a mill you can control this much better. Along with the crush of your grains is how long and the speed of which you pull the wort off the grain and if you are getting everything out of them. The trick is slow and steady. Crush the grain, Add the water, wait, Drain, add more water, wait, drain, add last of the water, wait, do a starch test, drain, then boil.

Let us know how we can help.

Cheers
Preston
 
Noreaster ...
There is no mention if you use a computer program or not to help with your brewing.
If you don't have one, just get one and learn to use it!
Beersmith (created by the owner of this forum) is a challenge when you first open it up, but it will get better.  And it will be worth it!  There are also several other brewing software out there.
I am still learning after a few years.
But what I like about it, is that it allows you to 'play' with your recipe.  Change a little here, a little there, and see what happens to the recipe and final numbers, etc.
You could change the grain bill any number of ways and it will show you what you should end up with.
Best $25 or so that you will spend on brewing!
Do the Demo and get a feel for what it can do.
When Preston (Useless Brewing) is talking about equipment setup, that is an important part of Beersmith.
You enter all manner of information about your equipment, etc, so Beersmith can make the correct calculations.  With volumes, temps, times, etc.
Good luck ...
Bob
 
Thanks for the replies.

SkyFlyer - I do have Beersmith and am still trying to learn how to use it. It's amazing all the things it can do but learning how to get it to do what I want is kind of frustrating sometimes. Maybe I'm not using it right but I'm learning and look forward to the day when I understand it better.

Useless Brewing - (by the way, there's no such thing  ;) ) I think my equipment is ok and the recipes I've used have been the ones that have come with the kits I've bought from Northern and/or Midwest so that shouldn't be an issue. I do know I have more learning to do when it comes to all grain brewing though. I've read quite a bit, probably too much, because some things contradict others and in the end it comes down to just doing it and see what works for you. So that's what I've been doing. I do batch sparging in a cooler that I made up myself. But the thing is I have this issue when I do extract brewing too so that's why I scratch my head.

I am working on trying to come up with an English Ale recipe using the software. If I knew how to post it I'd post it here for you to look at.

Anyway, thanks for the feedback and I'll keep on trying.
 
In your recipes folder, find the recipe with a .bsm extension and attach that to the post.
Click on Additional Options at the bottom of where you are entering the post and do the attachment.
We can then look at the recipe with Beersmith.
Bob
 
Do you know what your Brew House Efficiency (BHE) is? Maybe you have your efeciency set to high. 60% is a good number to start with.

We still may be able to help you if you attach your recipe for us to view. Here is how to do that:

To export/save a recipe as a beersmith (.bsm) file do the following:
1. Open your recipe's and highlight the recipe you want to export
2. Go to the File menu and select Export as
3. Select the following;
    a. Export only the items that are selected
    b. Use the BeerSmith File Format
    c. Select the location to export to.
    d. click ok

Once those steps are completed, come back here and reply. choose the + next to additional options, and attach the file by choosing the browse button.

Cheers
Preston
 
Here's my try at a recipe that I'm trying to put together for an all grain 5 gallon batch. I just started putting it together so am open to input. Thanks.
 

Attachments

  • Rendezvous English Ale.bsm
    10.3 KB · Views: 3
I don't know if this is the recipe that this thread started about...... but the missing mash data is important.

ERROR - No mash steps are included in this recipe!
--  WARNING: Preheat Mash Tun - No equipment adjustments made!

For an English Ale (IMHO) a 60 - 90 min mash at 158ish followed by a single batch sparge seems appropriate. THE Marris Otter is a plus.
 
One more question?  What's the temperature of your wort when you are taking your SG reading?  For instance.  If your wort temperature is 190F and your OG reading is 1.010 then your actual OG is 1.042.  Big difference.
 
I typically take a reading right out of the mash tun, at the mash temp (152-158), and then again after the boil after making its way through the counterflow chiller. Usually at about 65 degrees. Either way, I use the Hydrometer adjustment tool in Beersmith to get the "corrected" OG. I also use a refractometer, although I haven't really gotten to a point where the numbers I get jive with all the different calculators (including the one in BS).
 
I was having the same low OG problem until I went back to the source: my refractometer was off by several points. I recalibrated it with distilled water and am nailing my estimates (BH efficiency = 78%).
 
Yeah, my refractometer is dead on with distilled water...... the problem I meant was that when I use it to calculate fermented beers (finished or fermenting) gravity with the calculator(s), those gravity calculations never are near the numbers I get with an ACTUAL hydrometer reading taken at the same time.  But I can certainly track progress and eventual slowdown-stop of fermentation, which is really all that matters.
 
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