High OG- What did I do?

[Beardless]

So I just finished a planned 10 gallon batch of a session IPA that I’ve made a few times on my old system (as a 5 gallon previously).

Recipe:
23 lb 2-row
3.5 lb Caramel Malt 40L

Mash at 152F for 60 min

1 oz centennial 60 minute
2 oz cascade 20 minute
1 oz centennial 15 minute
2 oz cascade 10 minute
4 oz citra whirlpool 10 minute (I did this at 170F)

Recipe and what I’ve done previously is a dry hip of 2 oz citra, 2 oz cascade. This time I’m going to do only 1 oz each with cryo hops.

I collected 13 gallons of 1.068 SG for the boil.

Onto the question-
1.068 seems high based on what I’ve seen in the past. To make matters worse, my boil off was slightly higher than previously as well. So I ended up with ~9 gallons of what appears to be 1.081 SG (taken with hydrometer, corrected for temperature difference of ~12F). My BeerSmith recipe says this should be ~1.060, I’m usually pretty close (I confirmed with my notes).

I have a gas fired HERMS system, and held temperature 152-153F the whole mash until mash out. Mashout takes a little bit of time (didn’t measure, but at least 5-10 mins going from 152 to 165ish).

Is the long temp rise for mashout causing high non-fermentables? Or could the large hop bill be causing the higher OG reading? Obviously I tried to keep as much hop trub out of the sample, but it was a tall task and had a little in there. I let a lot settle out before my reading.

I’m sure the efficiency was a little better than expected based on my runoff OG being higher than expected. Having the boiloff be higher didn’t help either.

Think there is something I did wrong or is it simply that my new system is causing higher efficiencies that I’ll need to start accounting for?

I’m thinking about topping off the fermenter with some boiled / chilled water to dilute it down a little and get the volume back up.

Any thoughts are appreciated.

 

[Beardless]

Picture of OG sample in primary.

 

[FatDragon]

1.060 is an IPA, not a session IPA. 1.081 is an imperial or double IPA.

Where you went wrong is using 26.5 pounds of grain in a ten gallon session batch. A true session IPA would use half that. Boiling off to a lower than intended volume exacerbated the issue - you can just top it off with water to get back to your intended volume, or even top it off all the way to your intended OG.

My guess is that you're used to pretty low efficiency in your old setup. The new equipment seems to be working out better for you in that regard. You're going to have to account for that in your recipe building in the future.

And whatever you do, keep telling your friends that this is a session IPA. That way, you can watch them drink copious amounts of it thinking it's <5% and laugh at all of the resulting shenanigans.

 

[Beardless]

Thanks for the input. Didn’t really think about this, but either I or the software added extra 2row when I made the recipe for a 10 gallon batch vs 5 gal. My notes show as a 5 gal it was 9 lbs 2-row, somehow I upped it to the 23 lbs. Even at 9 I guess it isn’t a true session, but much smaller than what I have going on. Good call.

I think the efficiency set up in BeerSmith got the best of me. Probably had it set higher already and then when I upped the recipe size it probably made it bigger. Especially since with that grain bill BeerSmith still shows a 1.058 OG.

 

[Beardless]

Just made some edits in the recipe based on the comment above and some numbers from today’s brew. Changed the batch volume (had said 12 gals), and fixed the efficiency (was 72%, changed to 78%), grain bill, boil off volume, etc. Changing grain bill to 18 lb 2-row and 2 lb caramel it comes out with a 1.057 OG. So by fixing my batch settings, even with subtracting 6.5 lbs of grain it comes to a lower expected OG; like more of what I was expecting. Guess I should’ve kept it old school and used my notebook and pencil instead of the app! (Just kidding, the app works I just need to figure out how to use it better).

 

[FatDragon]

Ah yes. When the new profile is set to a lower efficiency and higher batch size, that's going to throw you off if you don't catch it in time. For what it's worth, I top-off all-grain brews all the time these days. If you've got the fermenter space, you can absolutely top this up to 12 gallons or more. You'll drop your IBU a bit (but it should be right around what your recipe called for since that's what the profile was set for) and you'll probably want to add another ounce or two of cryo hops to the dry hop to make up for the greater volume, but it should come out just fine.

 

[Beardless]

Thanks for all the help to all. Boiled and chilled some water and added, was able to get up to like 11.5 gal with the equipment available to me (lets just say it was a “don’t try this at home” moment).

Still not a session, but I’m thinking I will end up drinking it regardless. Just was worried about how I’d get through 8-9 gals of 9% IPA. I think 6-7% will be better off.

 

[FatDragon]

What's so "don't try this at home" about boiling and chilling some water to top off? Is it a question of headspace in your fermenter(s)? If that's the concern, I've done over 6 gallons in the standard 6.5 gallon ale pail several times. A blowoff tube is an absolute must and you'll be cleaning a lot of krausen off of your lids, but I've never had a beersplosion from it.

 

[Beardless]

Well part laziness, part me wanting to top off prior to active fermentation (ie not waste time) and a lot of me trying to not be ripping and tearing and wake the child.

So I boiled and chilled in a very large kettle, then balanced said kettle off center on an upside down five gallon bucket, which was resting on the corner of a workbench, with me trying to hold it all in place on a step stool while opening up the kettle valve and holding the hose in the top of the conical.

Reminded me of something in a dr Seuss book:

Only I was every person in that picture at once.

 

[FatDragon]

I stand corrected, haha. I will indeed not try that at home. I top off with water from my RO system, chilled in 4.5L jugs the night before brewday. If I were in a bind and needed to boil some water and then chill it for extra top-off, I'd boil half in the 3 gallon soup pot and half in the electric kettle, then do a water bath chill in the sink with some occasional stirring and water changes over the course of an hour or so.

 

[RM-MN]

Thanks for all the help to all. Boiled and chilled some water and added, was able to get up to like 11.5 gal with the equipment available to me (lets just say it was a “don’t try this at home” moment).

How bad is your water that you need to boil and chill it to add to your fermenter? My tap water is clean enough to add without the boil.

 

[Beardless]

How bad is your water that you need to boil and chill it to add to your fermenter? My tap water is clean enough to add without the boil.

I seriously considered not boiling. I use a yarn (I forget the micron size) and carbon block filter on my water source as I have yet to venture into the world of R.O. Here in southern NJ my water often has the smell of chlorine they add so much, so I mostly try to rid myself of that at least. So in my head I was thinking “a ton of chlorine means there probably isn’t anything living in it that I’d worry about”. But then I thought about the filter setup could grow something nasty in between batches. Eventually my good conscience won out.

When I was doing 5 gallons I would buy spring water, now that I’m doing 10 gallons I got a (relatively) cheaper alternative until I dial in my system and then move to learning something new: water. I also considered buying some water and adding directly, but once again good conscience won out.

 

[Dr_Jeff]

I don't see anything wrong with a 9% IPA.

 

[Beardless]

Final update: just got home from vacation and the first thing I did was grab a sample of this beer. Strong grapefruit aroma and an awesome tropical hop flavor. Currently at about 1.014 SG with temp correction, making this beer at about 6.6% ABV. Perfect for what I was looking for. Thanks again for anyone’s recommendations/advice/commiseration!

Next step is a cold crash and keg it!