I brewed my second batch of beer yesterday, which happens to be my first all grain brew as well. Through a combination of things such as a slightly low mash temperature and maybe a bit too course of a grind (I am doing a sort of BIAB approach but with a sparge) I ended up a little low on both my pre-boil and post-boil gravity readings. What is the concern of having a lower than expected OG? I understand that the ABV will probably be on the low side, but what other implications are there?
I’m not too concerned about it right now as I am expecting this to be a learning process, just curious more than anything.
Also, is it common practice to bump the gravity up with some DME pre-boil or even post-boil to get to the target gravity? In the end I am guessing I should bump my grain bills up a little if my readings stay on the low side.
Not a big deal, it will just be a lower alcohol beer of course. If you want to beef it up with a little extract, go for it. I’ve done this dozens of times. If you don’t care, then don’t. You’ll still make beer either way.
In the future, crush a little harder. If your local homebrew shop is grinding the grains for you, run them through twice. Your efficiency should skyrocket.
I actually got my grains from NB directly, and they did seem a little course to me but then again I have never seen properly crushed grains so what do I know? I seem to live in an area with no good local homebrew shops (or any bad ones for that matter), so perhaps investing in a grain mill might be my next step. Sounds like a good Christmas present actually.
I say congrats on making the jump to AG after only one batch. Well done. Add more grain instead of DME. Then like you say, get a mill. Here is a good crush from my JSP.
