by yeastmeister » Sun Aug 29, 2010 6:02 am
Is that 1.071 before or after the addition of the malt extract and sugar? If its before, then your efficiency is coming in at 68%, if its after then your right, your efficiency is coming in at 42%.
If its 68%, then you probably just need to adjust your water a little to get it higher. If its 42%, then the only thing that makes sense to me is that your temperature is way off. Either it stayed at 165 too long (which is possible, enzymes are not like a light switch, but thats just about enough time to turn them off), or your thermometer isn't calibrated correctly.
It takes about 5 minutes for the grain to pull the heat from the water in normal water/grain ratios. If you measured 165 right after pouring it in, it would read much lower 5 minutes in. If you measured it a couple of minutes in, and it came out at 165, then you were much higher than that at initial infusion.
My best guess at this point is a little of both, but probably the high mash temp is what did it.
No worries, it will still make a drinkable beer. Every all grain setup is a little different. Your just in the calibration phase of yours.
FYI - the style guidelines say up to 20% white sugar are used in the authentic versions, so you probably would have been a little better leaving out the wheat extract, and just adding 3 lbs (17% of the bill) of sugar.