Low gravity

[jsvog]

I recently brewed a 10 gallon batch of gg Holiday Ale by using 2- 5 gallon all grain kits. According to directions the SG was supposed to be around 1.065, mine ended up around 1.052. My mash temperature was a little high. It called for 154 degrees, and I was around 156 degrees. I figured it would drop, a couple degrees through the mashing process, but it did not. The strike water was 165 degrees. I let mash for an hour stirring 2 times. Then sparged with 170 degree water for an hour while it ran into the brew pot. Most of my brews end up having a lower gravity than what the directions call for. Do you have any suggestions on what I am doing wrong? The other brews have all tasted good, but have always had a low gravity reading. Will the Christmas ale still turn out ok even with that low of gravity?

[grapeadmin]

It will turn out ok even though you have a lower than anticipated s.g.. How much volume are you collecting during the sparge? How much volume do you have after the boil?

john

[jsvog]

I had approx 13.5 to 14 gallons in the boil pot after the sparge(I know a little much). I took a gravity reading before I started the boil and it was 1.018. I am not sure what the gravity reading was supposed to be or if that reading even tells me anything. After the boil I had 11 to 11.5 gallons that I drained into two separate fermenters. Does the temperature of the mash affect the gravity reading? I am using a cooler that had 7 gallons of 165 degree water then poured in the grains. Let rest for 1 hour then started my sparge by letting 10 gallons of 170 degree water drip down on the mash for 60 min while I drained the wort into the boil pot. Thought I would give you that back ground in case I am doing something wrong. One more issue I had is the lid blew off my conical fermenter because the blow off tube must have got clogged. What are the chances of the beer being contaminated now? I am usually not that worried about my brewing problems, but I am really looking forward to the Holiday Ale. I made two batches last year and they were great.

[grapeadmin]

Very little chance of contamination. Temperature makes a big difference. For every 10 degrees F that the wort is above 70 deg F you have to add 2 points of specific gravity. So, if the wort temp is 100 deg F, you would have to add 6 points so a 1.050 would really be a 1.056. This may be the issue.

john