14 replies to this topic

[chadm75]

Alright guys, I had a new experience brewing yesterday. I brewed my first Rye Pale Ale ever and came in extremely high on the gravity side. So I thought I'd run my process and recipe by the board to see what thoughts you guys have.First, here was my recipe and target numbers:OG: 1.055FG: 1.012SRM: 12IBU: 40ABV: 5.5%8.75 lbs. American 2-Row1.25 lbs. Munich Malt1.25 lbs. Rye Malt.66 lb. Biscuit Malt.5 lb. Honey Malt.5 oz. Columbus (14.2%) 60 mins.5 oz. Willamette (5.9%) 30 mins.5 oz. EKG's (5.4%) 20 mins.5 oz. EKG's (5.4%) 10 mins1 oz. Cascade (7.4%) 1 min2 oz. Amarillo (8.5%) Dry Hop1056Now onto my process. My target mash temp on this was 154 but it started out high at 157 and by 30 mins left in the mash, I was at 154 where it held for the last 30 mins. I boiled and hopped on schedule. My target pre-boil gravity was 1.047 but ended up with 1.052. So I knew I was going to be high but adjusted my hop schedule for my target IBU's. I chilled for 30 minutes and took my OG sample which came in at 1.062....seven points high!!!I have been brewing a little over two years and am about 40 batches into my "career". I have never been high on OG readings before, let alone that high. Looking back, the only thing I missed on was my strike/mash temp being high by 3 degrees. Could that have been my downfall? Would three degrees high on my mash temp cause me to be that high? This is will be a good beer, I have no doubt. I just have never missed high like that before and was looking for some input.Thanks all!

[stellarbrew]

Did you use any malts in this recipe that you haven't used before? One thing to check is that the maximum extract yield that you assumed for each malt you used is consistent with what is published by the maltster. If the actual pppg of a particular malt is higher than what you assume in your calculations, it can make your efficiency seem higher that it actually is.

[ncbeerbrewer]

Alright guys, I had a new experience brewing yesterday. I brewed my first Rye Pale Ale ever and came in extremely high on the gravity side. So I thought I'd run my process and recipe by the board to see what thoughts you guys have.First, here was my recipe and target numbers:OG: 1.055FG: 1.012SRM: 12IBU: 40ABV: 5.5%8.75 lbs. American 2-Row1.25 lbs. Munich Malt1.25 lbs. Rye Malt.66 lb. Biscuit Malt.5 lb. Honey Malt.5 oz. Columbus (14.2%) 60 mins.5 oz. Willamette (5.9%) 30 mins.5 oz. EKG's (5.4%) 20 mins.5 oz. EKG's (5.4%) 10 mins1 oz. Cascade (7.4%) 1 min2 oz. Amarillo (8.5%) Dry Hop1056Now onto my process. My target mash temp on this was 154 but it started out high at 157 and by 30 mins left in the mash, I was at 154 where it held for the last 30 mins. I boiled and hopped on schedule. My target pre-boil gravity was 1.047 but ended up with 1.052. So I knew I was going to be high but adjusted my hop schedule for my target IBU's. I chilled for 30 minutes and took my OG sample which came in at 1.062....seven points high!!!I have been brewing a little over two years and am about 40 batches into my "career". I have never been high on OG readings before, let alone that high. Looking back, the only thing I missed on was my strike/mash temp being high by 3 degrees. Could that have been my downfall? Would three degrees high on my mash temp cause me to be that high? This is will be a good beer, I have no doubt. I just have never missed high like that before and was looking for some input.Thanks all!

Chad,What do you use to calculate your recipes and your target SG and FG? I use Beersmith and your recipe for 5 gallons: at 75% efficiencySG= 1.066Preboil=1.0585.25 gallons at 75% efficiencySG= 1.063Preboil=1.055My thought is that you got a better runoff from your grains than you expected. Did you underestimate your efficiency perhaps? I don't see any reason as to why your mash temp would effect how much sugar you extracted either. If you collected 5.25 gallon to your fermenter it looks to me that you hit your gravities according to my calculations. I would just think there was an underestimation of your grain bill. Hey you will definitely have some beer of course too!! Cheers

[MtnBrewer]

Just knowing the OG doesn't really tell us much. How much wort did you collect pre-boil? If you collected less wort than usual, the gravity would likely be a bit higher.Assuming that you really did collect more gravity points than you expected, it could be due to a higher yield if you're using new grain. In this case, your efficiency isn't really higher, you're just getting more out of the grain.

[chadm75]

Chad,What do you use to calculate your recipes and your target SG and FG? I use Beersmith and your recipe for 5 gallons: at 75% efficiencySG= 1.066Preboil=1.0585.25 gallons at 75% efficiencySG= 1.063Preboil=1.055My thought is that you got a better runoff from your grains than you expected. Did you underestimate your efficiency perhaps? I don't see any reason as to why your mash temp would effect how much sugar you extracted either. If you collected 5.25 gallon to your fermenter it looks to me that you hit your gravities according to my calculations. I would just think there was an underestimation of your grain bill. Hey you will definitely have some beer of course too!! Cheers

Just knowing the OG doesn't really tell us much. How much wort did you collect pre-boil? If you collected less wort than usual, the gravity would likely be a bit higher.Assuming that you really did collect more gravity points than you expected, it could be due to a higher yield if you're using new grain. In this case, your efficiency isn't really higher, you're just getting more out of the grain.

Thanks for the input Gents!I am using three new grains in this batch that I've never used before...Biscuit, Honey, and Rye. I collected 6.5 gallons of pre-boil wort.The only thing I can think is that I got better extraction from my grains than I thought I would.

[EWW]

Do you have your own mill or could your higher og be explained by the lhbs adjusting their mill?

[chadm75]

Chad,What do you use to calculate your recipes and your target SG and FG? I use Beersmith and your recipe for 5 gallons: at 75% efficiencySG= 1.066Preboil=1.0585.25 gallons at 75% efficiencySG= 1.063Preboil=1.055My thought is that you got a better runoff from your grains than you expected. Did you underestimate your efficiency perhaps? I don't see any reason as to why your mash temp would effect how much sugar you extracted either. If you collected 5.25 gallon to your fermenter it looks to me that you hit your gravities according to my calculations. I would just think there was an underestimation of your grain bill. Hey you will definitely have some beer of course too!! Cheers

I use BeerTools. These are the numbers I came up with:Predicted:5.5 gallons: at 72% efficiencySG: 1.055Pre-Boil: 1.047Actual:5.5 gallons: 72% efficiencySG: 1.062Pre-Boil: 1.053My efficiency was dead on, I guess I just got more out of my grains than I thought I would. And like I said, I adjusted the hop schedule accordingly so my IBU's come out where I want them. This was one will be interesting!

Do you have your own mill or could your higher og be explained by the lhbs adjusting their mill?

I've had my own mill for over a year now and have kept the factory settings on the rollers.

[stellarbrew]

I use BeerTools. These are the numbers I came up with:Predicted:5.5 gallons: at 72% efficiencySG: 1.055Pre-Boil: 1.047Actual:5.5 gallons: 72% efficiencySG: 1.062Pre-Boil: 1.053My efficiency was dead on,

On what basis do you say that your efficiency was dead on?

[chadm75]

On what basis do you say that your efficiency was dead on?

Based on my grain bill, collecting 6.5 gallons of pre-boil wort (5.5 gallons post-boil) to a gravity of 1.053...that is an efficiency of 81% correct? Not 72%. So my efficiency was higher than expected? Now I'm confused!

[stellarbrew]

Based on my grain bill, collecting 6.5 gallons of pre-boil wort (5.5 gallons post-boil) to a gravity of 1.053...that is an efficiency of 81% correct? Not 72%. So my efficiency was higher than expected?

Yes, I agree. Assuming the maximum yield of your grain bill is actually what you assumed, then you got around 80 or 81% efficiency.

[Thirsty]

Do you batch or fly sparge? If you fly and your sparge water was 5-10 degrees higher than normal, that can also lead to less viscous runoff and more dissolved sugars. Just a thought. I am going with the good grain/good crush theory though.

[djinkc]

tastybrew.com's calculator comes in at 77% assuming their potential yields.

[EWW]

I'm stuck on the mill, did you have a dedicated motor, drill, or handcrank? A significant difference in the speed of the rollers can effect your Crush/efficency.

[chadm75]

I'm stuck on the mill, did you have a dedicated motor, drill, or handcrank? A significant difference in the speed of the rollers can effect your Crush/efficency.

I've always used a handcranked mill.

[Deerslyr]

I think you need to do your next batch with your typical malts that you use, but otherwise use the same procedure. If it comes out high(er) again, then you need to up your efficiency. Let's face it, you'd rather have the problem that you've got than have it come in too low!