original gravity not expected

[jeibl]

Hey guys,

I did my first partial mash and I think it turned out bad. I brewed a wit and used 6 lbs of grains, and used 3 lbs of malt extract. I did my partial mash for 90 mins at about 160 degrees. when finished, and put into my carboy, i took an OG of 1024... no way was this reading right for a wit. Is there anything I should do for my future brews and how can I fix this brew???

[dminnery]

that is low, what were you expecting?
How did you rinse the grains, share more about your process.
160 is too high to mash, generally 150-154 is a more typical range. What temp was the water you used for rinsing the grains, ideally that should be 168.

[jeibl]

I was expecting a gravity around 1040.

I used 2 lbs pils malt
2 lbs wheat malt
1 lbs carapil malt

then a container of wheat extract

I never tried a partial mash before but I was getting bored with just extract brews so I asked a friend and he didn't say anything about washing the grains. I just let the grains sit in the water at 160 degrees wrapped in a massive cheese cloth for 90 mins. after, I put that into another 5 gallon pot for 10 minutes for the sparge and then I transferred the wort over and added the liquid extract. I am guessing I did the process wrong?

[Ozwald]

I was expecting a gravity around 1040.

I used 2 lbs pils malt
2 lbs wheat malt
1 lbs carapil malt

then a container of wheat extract

I never tried a partial mash before but I was getting bored with just extract brews so I asked a friend and he didn't say anything about washing the grains. I just let the grains sit in the water at 160 degrees wrapped in a massive cheese cloth for 90 mins. after, I put that into another 5 gallon pot for 10 minutes for the sparge and then I transferred the wort over and added the liquid extract. I am guessing I did the process wrong?

By rinsing, I'm pretty sure he meant the sparge. Some important data you left out, what was the batch size? How long did you boil?

160 is high. For a wit I would try 152 or 153, but definitely between 149-156 for almost every style. You may have lost a few points there, but it's going to effect the final gravity more than the original. You can also cut down the time a bit from 90 minutes, depending on a few variables (volume of water/grain-to-water ratio etc.) For your recipe, I'd try soaking the 3 lbs in 1 gallon for 45 minutes. If you soaked the grain in the entire pre-boil volume (assuming over 5 gallons), you may have lost a few points there. But again, this is a very small loss.

Walk us through more of your process, something doesn't smell right (besides JP).

[jeibl]

The recipe was for 5 gallons. I boiled for 60 minutes when the hops were added. I did the rest of the process just as if I was doing only extract. I used a wort chiller and transferred to the carboy and i took the OG from that point and added the yeast.

I used all the grains in about a gallon and a half of water, then sparged with another 2 gallons of water. Is this what you are talking about with the ratio? Should I have used less grains or more water?

also, is there anything I could do to fix this beer now that it is in the carboy, like maybe adding some sugar, or do you think I should just let it play out...

[dminnery]

what was the temp of your sparge water and how much did you sparge with?

[jeibl]

I sparged with 2 gallons at 160 degrees.

[dminnery]

that may be part of the problem, mash at a lower temp like 152 and sparge with water at 170.
your efficiency is not going to be that high doing partial mashes, at least mine never were.