Heady diagnosis?

Here's the story.

Dec 30 I brew a liquid extract stout with added dme, crystal & roasted barley. Og 1.052
Jan 9 I check it, gravity 1.019
Jan 19 I check it, gravity 1.019. I bottle.
Feb 2 I taste... Best beer I ever made, but with almost no head.

Feb 25 I brew the exact same recipe, except add 4 oz more barley to the steep. Og 1.043
Mar 8 I check it, gravity 1.021. Since the time is longer than the fermentation required on the first batch, I go ahead and bottle.
March 22 I taste... Thin, weak flavor and WAY over carbonated.

Did I just not give it enough time in primary or can anyone offer other ideas as to how I screwed up?

Thanks!

Well first and foremost, something is clearly up when the OG was that far off when only adding 4oz more barley. If anything that should have slightly raised the OG. I imagine you diluted too much somehow, since your gravity was lower, and the you claim it tasted thin and weak.

Per the bottling not sure... make sure you watch your sugar usage for bottling and make sure the gravity is done moving before bottling.

Just regarding your heady problem (the OG problem might have been a bad reading on your second batch? all sorts of reasons this could occur...), it sounds like you didn't reach final attenuation yet... and/or added too much priming sugar... and/or didn't get an even distribution of priming sugar while bottling.

Chalk it all into the been-there-done-that category and move on...... next time making sure you have a ton of patience (the number ONE ingredient we all LEARN to add in), let that yeast work your FG down some more, make sure you measure well for your priming sugar (and many would tell you to gently stir, periodically, while bottling), and mind the head spacing in your bottles.

Cheers!

Thanks for the comments.

I'd forgotten to mention that I primed the whole batch with boiled Dry Malt Extract, same as the first time. So I'm not sure there error is there.

I think you're right about the low OG though. Not sure how that happened.

Oh well, good excuse to try again!

Cheers.

Looks like you bottled too early on the second batch. The yeast continued to ferment out but the CO2 was trapped in your capped bottles, so it built up and over carbonated your beer. Next time leave in primary for longer and ensure that FG is reached by checking your gravity a few times over a couple of days to ensure stability prior to bottling.

why is your OG off in the second batch? Not sure without more info. Poor conversion, too much volume, bad reading. Could be a lot of things.

Edit: just re-read your original post: since this is extract, if you used "top off water" after the boil, your low OG is likely a result of poor mixing of the wort prior to taking your reading. Its tough to miss an OG using extract unless your water volumes are off