A little help for an FNG!

[FARRIER]

Hi my names Patrick and started brewing a few months ago and this is my 5th batch. I went to my local brew supply and was helped by a familiar face. He helped with an awesome porter I made recently. We were chatting simple recipes as I transition to steeping grains. I think he forgot how much I don't know. The recipe called for:
8# light dme adding for last 15
1# Crstal Malt 40L
.5# Carapils
1.5 oz Zythos For the boil
2oz cascade last min
2oz cascade dry hop
I used 1 lb of the 8 dme at the beginning of the boil to aid with the bittering hops, which was in 2 gallons. Added the other 7 with 15 minutes left. After I finished the boil and cooled the wort it was extremely thick. It barely made it through my mesh screen. And in turn i ended up short after adding my 3 gallons of chilled water into the carboy. Was this too much extract for two gallons? Or did I do something wrong. gravity right before i pitched my yeast was 1.060. Thanks for any thoughts....Patrick

 

[amandabab]

8lbs in 2 gallons is going to be a syrupy (is syrupy a word?) wort.

It will turn into beer though.

 

[Calder]

Find a bigger pot. You should be fine.

8 lbs of DME in 5 gallons would give you 1.072. Add the steeping grains and you should be around 1.077.

I suspect the sugars didn't mix well and you ended up with a low reading.

 

[FARRIER]

Yeah im thinking thats my next move. Hopefully it stills has some good flavor. Is there a steadfast rule for dme to water ive seen many different ratios.

 

[Pezman1]

The only rule is to boil as big as you can. In other words, boil as big as your heat source will allow, and get as big a pot as your pocketbook can handle.

I would at least look for a four gallon pot and try to boil 2.5-3 gallons.

I do 4 gallon partial boils on my stove top with a 5 1/2 gallon pot and top off with boiling water throughout the boil to keep me around 4 gallons.

Pez.