That's correct; I'm usually getting around 80% conversion when I use my "standard" base malt (Great Western pale malt). The problem could very well be pH. I don't measure pH, because I don't have any methods for measuring it that I trust. I have a few pH strips that measure in the 4 - 6 pH...

Does Castle's conversion compare similarly to other base malt from your experience? Do you do any particular mash schedule with Castle malt? Any other grains that you use in conjunction?

I'm getting it pre-milled from MoreBeer. Their crush does usually seem pretty coarse, but it's generally consistent across all the grains I get from them. I've been meaning to get a mill for awhile just to make sure that everything is crushed the same way and boost efficiency when needed... Why...

FWIW, San Francisco's tap water tastes really good, and it's what I use to make all my beer. Anyone else located in SF county and use the tap water for brewing? I started thinking about the quality of the water I use for brewing a few months ago, but I couldn't find any recent water reports...

I've made three beers so far with Castle Pilsner malt. Each time, I get around 60% conversion; about 20% lower than my average. I've used it on its own and with other grains, and I get the same result. Mash schedules I've tried, with more or less the same results: - 149F for two hours...

In a brew session, when my mash efficiency isn't what I had planned for, I'd like to have have an easy way to adjust my wort before I begin the boil. I know there's a boiloff/dilution calculator, and that's certainly one way to solve the problem. Sometimes, though, I'd rather just add some malt...

Hey! Thanks for the replies. Tweaking the actual % of the grains was not something I had thought about. I was just thinking about another piece of information to be displayed as I build a recipe. Basically, I'm looking for exactly what Yooper said: to display % based off the actual gravity...

The Recipe Editor gives the percentage by weight of each fermentable in the recipe. For example, if I made a trippel with 13lbs pilsner and 2lbs sugar, the "fermentables" portion of the calculator would report that the fermentables comprise 86.67% pilsner malt and 13.33% cane sugar. It does...