I think I F**ked up

[bperetto]

Lot of good things in this thread

Yes, higher gravity usually means crappier efficiency. I've charted it.

158 is an ideal Scotch ale mash temp, so you'll be okay there.

Keep DME on hand for emergencies (if you're really concerned with hitting a certain OG)

If you hit a high mash temp, just add some cold water. I take the amount of cold water I add out of my sparge water, so it all works out in the end.

For a bigger grain bill, I've found that you don't get as much heat loss at dough-in. I guess it's the bigger thermal mass. Usually I lose 10 degrees from strike temp to mash temp. On bigger brews, it can be 5 degrees.

[hopbumpingbrewer]

The one thing no one has mentioned is the crack of the grain.

Some brew shops have very inconsistent mills. Sometimes they mill fine and the next time you go.....not so fine.

Try to find out how consistent your brewshops mill is. I consistently get 78% efficency from my brewshop. It is a stone mill. I love it.

The old shop I went to...I never knew what I was going to get. Sometimes 75% the next time 60% with the same recipe.

The other thing would be the speed of your sparge. If you sparge fast you'll get less efficiency. Try to go really slow. Like 45 minutes to an hour for your 5 gallon batch.

Just a few things to add......hope it helps,
Carlo

[BeerMan]

[quote="hopbumpingbrewer"]
The other thing would be the speed of your sparge. If you sparge fast you'll get less efficiency. Try to go really slow. Like 45 minutes to an hour for your 5 gallon batch.

I found my efficiency increased 20% when I lengthened my sparge time I average about an hour for a 5 gallon batch

[Sykomiko]

Thank again for the help folks.

I don't think it was the grain mill. I've had a pretty consistant crush and efficiency. I usually am right around 75% +/- 2%.

Here's what I think happened. I've always batched sparged. I usually sparge twice. After I pulled off my first runnign into the kettle I added my extract (since, as I said earlier my mash tun isn't large enough for 16.5 lbs of grain). That brough the volume in my kettel up a full gallon. So... In order to have a pre-boil volume of 6 gallons I ended up having to leave out a gallon of sparge water. I'm guessing that's where my 9 points went...

The new problem I have is that we had a bit of a cold snap this week, and my basment dropped to 55 degrees. That effectively killed my fermentation. I brought it into a warmer part of the house today and I'm hoping I can rouse it...

mike