First recipe, OG seems low.

[jmh286]

So this is my third batch as a brewer. I have done a good amount of research on making beer, so I felt confident on a slight deviation from a recipe. I wanted to make a Winter Beer for Christmas/New Years so I was going to order the Northern Brewer Winter Spiced Ale kit. I decided to help support my LHBS and purchased my ingredients from there and added a few things.

The recipe I used:

1 lb Crystal 60 (Steeped until ~168F)
6.5 lbs Gold Malt Syrup
1 oz East Kent Goldings (60 min)
3 oz Cinnamon Sticks (60 min)
1.5 oz Mulling Spices (15 min)

Started boil with 3 gallons of water and topped off to ~5.5 gallons in Better Bottle.

I took a gravity reading before pitching my yeast and was at 1.032-1.033 @ 78 F. I didn't want it to be that low on alcohol so I added half a pound of corn sugar and shook up the bottle to dissolve the sugar. I took another reading and it was 1.040 @ 78 F. My question is, what would cause the OG to be so low in the first place? I don't really want to add any more sugar if I don't have to, but I was hoping to get something stronger than 3.5-4.0% ABV. Which if it finishes around the other two extract batches I've had will be between 1.015-1.020. I was expecting an OG of 1.047 or so before I added the extra sugar. Any ideas of what may have happened?

 

[DocScott]

Your wort probably wasn't mixed well and you were reading the gravity of a sample which had more water than sugary wort in it. This is super common in extract batches. With extract, you can assume your OG is correct based on the recipe unless you miss your volumes as the amount of sugars in the extract is basically guaranteed.

Look up revvy's sticky on the beginners forum for more info.

 

[IanPC]

I agree...I've got 8 kits under my belt and I've had weird OG's. I now don't bother any longer. If I were doing a partial mash or AG I would. I do take an FG of course, but I've had no ill effect with my beers after nixing the OG reading. If you don't feel comfortable doing that I suggest mixing the water topper up a little better next time. Cheers!

 

[jmh286]

Maybe...I had swirled the Better Bottle fairly well to aerate the wort. I was about to pitch the yeast when I realized that I hadn't taken a reading. I'm worried that I got crap extract and that I didn't get enough sugars into the wort

 

[whoaru99]

NB sells enough stuff that I doubt you got crap extract.

 

[carsonwarstler]

With the ingredients and the amounts of each, I think you'd end up with an OG around 1.036, so 1.032 isn't terrible. You're not mashing so there isn't a whole lot you can change.

 

[carsonwarstler]

With the ingredients and the amounts of each, I think you'd end up with an OG around 1.036, so 1.032 isn't terrible. You're not mashing so there isn't a whole lot you can change.

If you want a higher abv, boost the amount of extract. Also, you may be able to grab a couple extra points if you steep the crystal at 150-160, meaning don't add them to the water until it reaches that temp range.

 

[Revvy]

We get this question 10 times or more a day. Read this for an explanation of why your initial gravity was off.

Attention new brewers, yes your original gravity reading is wrong. Don't panic.