BeerBorg

BlackDuck wrote:Wow. That's fantastic. Mine is set to 68% and I can't even hit that number. I suck!!


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I would never disagree with you so yes, you do suck!
I guess the question would be, what are you doing different now than when you were hitting your numbers? I still wonder about the amount of grain and don't want to cast blame on the LHBS but maybe next time, check their scale against yours.
When you ordered the 3 kits you got from NB, how did your readings look as compared to their recipe? If they were close, than maybe it is the grain.

As a side note, read this: http://brulosophy.com/2015/11/23/mind-t ... t-results/ I admit, it doesn't answer your question and only makes me ask more questions but it is interesting.

The fact the coarse crush beer had a lower OG than that of the fine crush beer yet finished with a higher FG was confounding to me. I would have at least expected both batches to be be within a similar attenuation range, but that didn’t happen, not by a long shot– the coarse crush batch was at 63% while the fine crush batch had a drastically higher 76% attenuation.

I looked back on a couple recipes. All the settings are exactly the same. That's a good thought to check those kits that I bought. I'll definitely do that.

So maybe it is the scale/weight. Or maybe it is the crush.


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When I had my problem not hitting the number it ended up my gap on the mill. Just because it was done at LHBS does not mean that it may not have changed, or someone felt the gap was too small for their batch and did not reset.
My 2 cents!

After thinking about why I was low on my last batch I realized I did two things differently:\
1) I didn't stir during the mash
2) I sparged much quicker than previous batches


And when I say "low" I mean I didn't beat my projected gravity like I've been doing lately....so no harm no foul here.
Sorry Duck.

Stirring could be part of the problem. I did stir twice on this one, once after 30 minutes, then again 15 after that. I usually stir at 15 minutes, then 30, then 45. As for the gap at the store...I think they have it set so only one of the employees can adjust it. That doesn't mean that it can't be off...I've actually been a little leery of the mill since they put a sign on it that says "Check your crush, if it's not good enough, mill it again". That tells me they've had issues and they know it. Maybe it's time for a Cereal Killer or Barley Crusher.

I went back and checked the 3 AG kits that I bought from Northern Brewer a while back. First, a few notes in general regarding those recipes. I ordered whole grain and I had to modify their recipes by adding grain to account for my set up. For the Ace of Spades and the Kiwi Express, I took the grain with me to the LHBS, added the additional needed grain and ground all the grain on the stores mill (same mill as referenced above). For the Czech Pilsner, I had the additional grain at home already, so I ground all that grain using my Corona style mill. Here's the specs:
Ace of Spades: Predicted OG was 1.068; Actual OG was 1.067: Damn near nailed it.
Kiwi Express: Predicted OG was 1.061; Actual OG was 1.057: Low a little bit.
Czech Pilsner: Predicted OG was 1.046; Actual OG was 1.041: Low, this is the one I ground at home and even had a note of uncrushed grain after the mash in BeerSmith.

I'm beginning to think the mill at the store is unreliable in getting a consistent crush. If the weight was off on either of my last two recipes, it would be user error, since it's self serve weigh and grind. And this is completely possible. They have a 5 pound scale, so in order to measure 12 pounds; you have to weigh 5 pounds, dump that into the bucket, weigh 5 pounds and dump that into the bucket, then weigh the final 2 pounds and dump that. Any time you have to weigh in sets like this, it opens up the possibility of error.

The little common sense I own tells me that's where you start.
Do you have any friend brewers in your area with a mill so that you can try theirs? Also, what about a scale? Mine isn't great but can measure up to 18 lbs but I use a big bowl and usually measure 3 lbs at a time, dump into my bucket then mill into another bucket.
My only other thought is where you're ending up volume wise. Are you getting what your recipe is set for going into the fermenter? 1/2 gallon can easily make a 4-5 point difference.
My final thought is......how are the beers? If you liked them, you were successful. <cha-ching>

None of my buddies brew, so borrowing a mill is out. I'm thinking about just buying my own mill and scale (new thread coming). My volumes are fine. I see what your saying about an extra 1/2 or so gallon of water could result in a lower gravity, but that doesn't seem to be the case. The volumes are all consistent from recipe to recipe. The beers are good, don't get me wrong. But when you writing a recipe for an IPA with an OG of 1061 and I get 1054, doesn't that somehow make a difference in the final product? A difference in actual IBU's or flavor or something?

Sure they'll be different but I'm just saying that it could be worse and suck. I've been there before.
You'll love milling your own. Next you'll be buying 50 lb sacks.


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I think I may have finally fixed this problem (fingers crossed). I recently bought a Cereal Killer grain mill and a refractometer and finally put them to use yesterday. I hit my numbers!!! The boil volume should have been 1.048 and I hit 1.047. The OG should have been 1.063 and I hit 1.062. I know it's not exact, but I call that hitting the numbers. That's close enough for me. So the mill really did make a difference. I noticed that the crush was better than I have been getting at the store. More flour, yet the husks looked like the were broken in half lengthwise. The mill was money well spent.

That's great news!

I truly believe the LHBS mills are abused, not cleaned and checked regularly and many people overlook that. You won't regret either purchase and will be using both a long time.

Good to hear. Had a feeling it would come right back with the mill. I resolved my problem when I checked the gap after 4 misses, now it tkaes a second to check the gap before I mill.