Efficiency higher than expected, what do I do?

[triskelion]

I'm currently waiting for my wort to boil, I measured the gravity. adjusted for temperature, its at 1.050. I have 29l and was planning on boiling down to 23l and around 1.056. according to brewers friend it will be 1.063. should I dilute my wort to around 25l and add more hops? I only have 1 pack of dry yeast.

 

[triskelion]

is that many points difference a big deal?

 

[neosapien]

I'd just let it ride as it is. Won't be too big of a deal, you're looking at maybe adding another 0.5% to 1.0% of abv.

Formula for calculating is (starting gravity-final gravity)*131.

 

[perbe31]

I think it's a matter of personal preference. What kind of recipe are you following? I look at it as putting one in the win column. If you're trying for something specific, then you have a harder question to answer.

I have recently changed my sparging techniques and have seen an increase in efficiency. Doesn't bother me at all...

 

[triskelion]

I was going for something like brewdog's punk IPA, its close but not a clone really, heres my recipe:
http://www.brewtoad.com/recipes/punk-ipa-clone-attempt

Its my first all grain so I was expecting to have lower than normal efficiency if anything.

high efficiency does sound like one for the win column, I just have to decide if i want a higher abv or more beer.

 

[perbe31]

I assume you're bottling, so in this case, yes quite the dilemma. I keg, so the choice is very easy. I must fit all of the beer in the keg, so higher abv always wins. I would dillute, keep the recipe, and get more beer. Then, adjust your grain bill the next time to account for the higher efficiency.

 

[triskelion]

It came out at 1.053, guess the brewers friend calculators aren't all that great. Also I boiled for an extra 15 mins because I was distracted, waiting for water to cool for hydrating the yeast. it was suppose to be 43 IBU but it will probably be closer to 60 IBU. My very bitter beer should serve as a good reminder to pay more attention next time. I also lost 2L of wort between the kettle and the chiller somehow, I think the hops drank it.

 

[Hex23]

How are you measuring SG? I've had a few occasions when the opposite happened and I added DME and ended up overcompensating. I ultimately chalked it up to bad volume measurement or poor accuracy on the hydrometer correction. Or, if you're using a refractometer, of course you have to apply a WCF, which is wort dependent.

 

[triskelion]

I use a hydrometer, I have it calibrated to tap water at room temperature.

 

[skydvr74]

Did you account for wort loss to trub/hops? If you started with 29L at 1.050 and boiled off 2L you would get 27L at 1.053. If you lost 4L to trub/hops you would collect 23L at 1.053.

 

[zacster]

Whatever you did, you will end up with a very hoppy beer and you will be a happy beer drinker. That's a lot of hops in that brew.