American Wheat - SG 1.136???

[cebo40]

2nd Brew - Went with True Brew Kit - American Wheat

First SG is supposed to be 1.049 - 1.051.
Final supposed to be 1.012 - 1.014.

After transfer to carboy and top off water, at around 75 degrees, SG reads 1.136. Is this a problem? I did take the sample from the bottom of the pot (possibly more sugar/extract towards the bottom...?).

Only thing I can think is that during the boil, I had a bit of boil over and possibly lost some of the hops.

Is this a problem? Will it come down towards the end?

Thanks!

 

[MedicMang]

That can't be accurate. Temp of your sample? Hydrometer or refractometer? Did you happen to check it BEFORE your top off water?

 

[powermd]

2nd Brew - Went with True Brew Kit - American Wheat

First SG is supposed to be 1.049 - 1.051.
Final supposed to be 1.012 - 1.014.

After transfer to carboy and top off water, at around 75 degrees, SG reads 1.136. Is this a problem? I did take the sample from the bottom of the pot (possibly more sugar/extract towards the bottom...?).

Only thing I can think is that during the boil, I had a bit of boil over and possibly lost some of the hops.

Is this a problem? Will it come down towards the end?

Thanks!

I think you should explain step by step exactly what you did, with particular attention to the amount of malt extract and water at each step. The gravity issue has nothing to do with the hops. It sounds like you were supposed to dilute your batch with water by half at some point and forgot to do that.

One possibility is that you measured your gravity at a high temp, saw that it was low, and kept adding malt extract to bring it up to about 1.05. Then when you measured the gravity again at 75F, it overcorrected big time.

1.136 OG is going to be a very heavy and alcoholic wheat! Not at all what you were going for.

If I were you, I would divide the batch into two separate carboys, then dilute each 100%. That should give you an OG of 1.065 (or so) in each carboy. You could even dilute one of them even further to come down to 1.051. Since you are going to lose a lot of hop bitterness, you could counter that with some interesting dry hopping for aroma, or add some fruit extract to make an apricot or peach wheat.

If you really wanted to add hop bitterness back to the beer, you take your dilution water, boil it up with some hops, and then add that to your remaining beer. That could work.

 

[cebo40]

That can't be accurate. Temp of your sample? Hydrometer or refractometer? Did you happen to check it BEFORE your top off water?

Sample was 75. Hydrometer. Did not check it before top off.

I tested a few times and got the same. Let the bubbles dissolve. Not sure why it was so high. Followed instructions to a T.

 

[k_mcarthur]

If you used a kit this is absolutely not possible. People who like to make big beers try very hard to get an OG that high, and it would be very hard to have it happen on accident. I agree you should tell us step by step your process and volumes, forget the instructions at this point, and we can help you get to the bottom of this. Also have you tested your hydrometer in distilled water to make sure it's at 1.000?

 

[BrewerTom]

Unless your kit was some monster wheat wine, which it doesn't sound like it was, something is off. I'm guessing more than likely it is your hydrometer that is off.

 

[chickypad]

After transfer to carboy and top off water, at around 75 degrees, SG reads 1.136. Is this a problem? I did take the sample from the bottom of the pot (possibly more sugar/extract towards the bottom...?).

^ This. It's highly likely to be a mixing issue as it's hard to get an accurate reading after topping off. If you added just the extract in the kit and your volume is 5 gallons then just go with the kit OG. Do NOT dilute your beer.

 

[cebo40]

If you used a kit this is absolutely not possible. People who like to make big beers try very hard to get an OG that high, and it would be very hard to have it happen on accident. I agree you should tell us step by step your process and volumes, forget the instructions at this point, and we can help you get to the bottom of this. Also have you tested your hydrometer in distilled water to make sure it's at 1.000?

Just checked hydrometer with distilled. Measured 1.002 at 75 degrees.

Steps as follows:
Sanitize
Bring 1.5 gallons water to boil
Added extract and hops
Boiled and stirred through initial hot boil (7 min)
Continued boil 30 min
After boil put pot in cooler with ice water. Stirred wort continuously to cool down to 75 degrees (about 7-9 min)
Filled sanitized carboy with 3 gallons distilled water
Added wort
Pretty generous shake of carboy.

And as I'm typing this I just realized I took SG sample PRIOR to carboy and distilled water!:smack:

So 1.136 reading from approx 1.5 gallons of 75 degree wort! What's that equate to?

 

[cshamilton]

Just checked hydrometer with distilled. Measured 1.002 at 75 degrees. Steps as follows: Sanitize Bring 1.5 gallons water to boil Added extract and hops Boiled and stirred through initial hot boil (7 min) Continued boil 30 min After boil put pot in cooler with ice water. Stirred wort continuously to cool down to 75 degrees (about 7-9 min) Filled sanitized carboy with 3 gallons distilled water Added wort Pretty generous shake of carboy. And as I'm typing this I just realized I took SG sample PRIOR to carboy and distilled water!:smack: So 1.136 reading from approx 1.5 gallons of 75 degree wort! What's that equate to?

In that case you got 1.5 gallons of 1.136 beer. 136*1.5 = 204 points. 204/4.5 gallons is 45 points or approx 1.045 for your sg

 

[MaxStout]

Just checked hydrometer with distilled. Measured 1.002 at 75 degrees.

Steps as follows:
Sanitize
Bring 1.5 gallons water to boil
Added extract and hops
Boiled and stirred through initial hot boil (7 min)
Continued boil 30 min
After boil put pot in cooler with ice water. Stirred wort continuously to cool down to 75 degrees (about 7-9 min)
Filled sanitized carboy with 3 gallons distilled water
Added wort
Pretty generous shake of carboy.

And as I'm typing this I just realized I took SG sample PRIOR to carboy and distilled water!:smack:

So 1.136 reading from approx 1.5 gallons of 75 degree wort! What's that equate to?

About 1.045 at a diluted total of 4.5 gallons.

 

[cluckk]

And as I'm typing this I just realized I took SG sample PRIOR to carboy and distilled water!:smack:

I have to say that this line made my whole night. Don't let it get to you though. We've all done this sort of thing.

 

[kh54s10]

Go with the previous couple of calculations, the predicted OG from the directions, or if fermentation has not started you could take another reading. I would just assume to be very close to the predicted OG and wait for a while to enjoy a nice homebrew.

 

[cebo40]

I'm closer to 3.5 gallons of added distilled putting me at 5 gallons total. That's 1.040 which is slightly below the 1.049 that is shown on the instructions.

What does that equate to in the beer itself? Slightly watered down?