Apparent Low Attenuation Problem

[brynn]

Hey all,

Being new to all grain I thought Id put this out here and ask for feedback/opinions.

I did a stovetop BIAB Chocolate Maple Porter as follows

11 L final batch. Expected OG 1.065 FG 1.011

Grain bill
2.5kg 2 Row
.25kg Carafoam
.25kg Black Malt
.25 kg Chocolate Malt
.25kg Crystal 40

Mashed in 10L @ 167 - Held 163 for 90 min

Dunk sparged in 10L @ 100

Preboil Gravity 1.047

Boil 60 min

25 g Willamette for 60
14g Willamette for 15

Add .25 kg maple syrup @ flameout

Postboil Gravity 1.056

The lower then expected FG was due to the boil not being sufficiently vigorous as I ended up with 15L in bottling bucket

Fermentation
US 05 for 4 weeks @ 67

FG 1.018, Bottling Volume 15L

My question is, is the high FG appropriate given the info provided above? Was it caused by higher mash temp, use of choc and black malt, or maple syrup?

I'd appreciate any feedback, thanks Brynn

[Chris Craig]

That is a pretty high mash temp.  I wouldn't expect 1.011 for anything mashed that high.  Why such a high temperature?  I would have mashed at about 150 if I wanted to ferment down to 1.011.

[brynn]

Beersmith gave me 163.7 as strike temp which according to my notes I read as 167...

Brain fart

[jamie_savoie]

I'm surprised that you even got 1.018 with a 163F mash

[brynn]

So were agreed that mash temp is the problem? Well its bottle conditioning now so well how it turns out. The hydrometer sample tasted pretty good, it wasn't too sweet for me.

[jamie_savoie]

163 for mash temp (not strike temp) is definitely too high.  Like Chris said, 150 would've been appropriate.  Target 149-154F for most brews, 149 would be on the drier side, 154 on the sweeter side.  At least it's drinkable but I bet a lower FG would've made a different beer

[pliny]

Not too knowledgeable about BIAB but I use Beersmith and it may tell you something like "initially heat your water to 163.7F to end up at 152F for the mash."

- You didn't ask about the volume but you ended up with a higher volume than planned due to the boil not being sufficiently vigorous. Personally, I don't think the boil needs to be super vigorous.

In my opinion it would look like there are two things here and they both relate to your settings/setup in your equipment profile in Beersmith.
- Did you correctly setup your equipment profile in Beersmith to reflect what you have for gear?
1) your mash profile and 2) what type of kettle your using.

Equipment profile setup is one thing: http://www.beersmith.com/forum/index.php?topic=5140.0

I've tweaked some settings and values in Beersmith many, many times to reflect my gear. Everytime I change or update my equipment, I almost always end up changing some values in the equipment profile.

It takes a good five batches to get your head around the whole thing - Your gear, your boil-off, your volume, trub loss, etc.

1.018 for FG for this style is just fine. Good job.
Yes, your mash temp was high, but you didn't end up with a FG 1.032. And even if you did, it's no big deal. (Some batches don't come out how you think they will and other batches you think you totally messed up end they end up great. )

Also, don't get overly obsessed with efficiency. If you're in the ballpark that's great.

I'm not sure this is what you wanted to hear. I think you're doing everything fine, just a few minor adjustments and you'll be in great shape.

[brynn]

Ive been workin on equip profile and I set up for 5g BIAB with appropriate numbers dialed in. Guess my boil off needs fine tuning. I'm getting a 10g pot and burner for outdoor brewing of 5-7g batches. I'll work through the equipment profile and get everything dialed in prior to 1st batch. Thanks for the tip