High ABV on Pilsner

[Pale Ales and Such]

Hi everyone,

I posted this in the recipe forum but I figured this might be a better place.

I just finished fermenting my first Pilsner and it is currently conditioning in bottles. What is interesting is the ABV came out to 8.27%…which was not expected. I was expecting this to be maybe 5% at most.

Here is my recipe:
Yield: 1 Gallon
Boil Volume: 1 Gallon
Fermentation: 2 weeks at 48 degrees

Malt:
1lb - Pilsen DME
2oz - German Pilsner malt
1.5oz - Carafoam malt
1.5oz - acidualted malt

Hops:
.20oz - Perle (60 minute boil)
.10oz - Saphir (10 minute boil)
.20oz - tettnager (10 minute boil)
.10oz - Saphir (2 minute boil)
Yeast - Fermentis Saflager W-34/70

OG - 1.071
FG - 1.008

At the end of the boil, when I cooled down the wort, I had to top off the wort with about half a gallon of cool water. The amount of yeast I used was about 1/3 to about 1/2 of the package.

Based on this info, how would my FG be so low? I was expecting it to be about 1.033 based on brewers friend calculation. Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy by the end result because it’s so delicious, but the ABV is high.

my main concern is how I ended up with such a high ABV for my Pilsner…too much yeast? Possible invalid OG reading? I performed FG reading at least 6 times and it was always the same at 1.008.

my hunch is that it was an invalid OG reading since the FG came out exactly as brewers friend stated it was expected to be.

 

[VikeMan]

Always make sure to top off to the correct full volume. And always mix the wort and top off water thoroughly before taking a hydrometer sample. My guess is that most of your OG discrepancy is due to the latter issue.

BTW, even ignoring the malts, just the one pound of DME in one gallon of wort would yield an OG of about 1.044, not 1.033. So there's a piece of the discrepancy, even before the other issue(s).

 

[madscientist451]

Yeah, your numbers aren't adding up.
Also the yeast will chew through available sugar, having it stop at 1.033 is very unlikely, but how does it taste?
Sure, you want to hit your numbers, but if the beer tastes good, you did great!

 

[odie]

I think you goofed the OG reading...I don't see enough fermentables to get you that high.