How Low is Too Low OG?

[Iowa Brewer]

Hi all,

Brewing a friends witbier recipe that I brewed a couple weeks ago, to great success.
Last time I brewed I had OG: 1.042 and FG 1.008

Had some mishaps, today, and had OG: 1.036

I've already pitched the yeast (1.5L starter of Wyeast Strong Belgian Strong Ale, decanted), about 20min ago. Should I add a pound of honey?
Am I going to end up with a Coors Light strength beer? Session Wit?

Any advice greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[bracconiere]

When i miss my target, i add table sugar myself...honey would probably be better though...

 

[Iowa Brewer]

When i miss my target, i add table sugar myself...honey would probably be better though...

Thanks, Bracconiere. Is it okay to add after yeast is pitched?

 

[bracconiere]

Thanks, Bracconiere. Is it okay to add after yeast is pitched?

i do it all the time...it will ferment, someone else would have to chime in on infection and what not. keep in mind i started this other thread also! lol

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/cuss-me-out-for-being-a-crappy-homebrewer-lol.654988/

if you use honey i'd say, for sanitation. you could nuke it for a few minutes.... then pour into the fermenter...

edit: (and i did the math with beersmith, to compensate for that gravity discrepancy..you'd need to add 12oz sucrose or 1lb honey to a 5 gal batch to bring it up to `1.042...)

 

[IslandLizard]

I usually add honey and sugar syrups when fermentation has slowed down. That to prevent early binging.

I add enough water or wort to the honey or syrups so they are more fluid, and pasteurize them at 150F for a few minutes. If you're using raw honey you may need to take the temps or duration up a slight notch. Like 10-15 minutes at 160F or so.

Just be aware, honey and sugars don't add body, only alcohol, so they'll be drying it out even more. Instead, you could add some DME, dissolved in just enough boiling water to make a pourable syrup, to make up for the 6 missing points.

DME delivers around 44 ppg.
So 6 points * 5 gallons is 30 points to make up.
30/44 = 0.7 pound of DME needed.
You could use Wheat DME, it's usually 55-65% wheat, the balance is barley.​

Any clue what caused the low OG? Poor crush on the wheat malt perhaps?

 

[Iowa Brewer]

i do it all the time...it will ferment, someone else would have to chime in on infection and what not. keep in mind i started this other thread also! lol

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/cuss-me-out-for-being-a-crappy-homebrewer-lol.654988/

if you use honey i'd say, for sanitation. you could nuke it for a few minutes.... then pour into the fermenter...

edit: (and i did the math with beersmith, to compensate for that gravity discrepancy..you'd need to add 12oz sucrose or 1lb honey to a 5 gal batch to bring it up to `1.042...)

LOL! Thanks, bracconiere!

 

[Iowa Brewer]

I usually add honey and sugar syrups when fermentation has slowed down. That to prevent early binging.

I add enough water or wort to the honey or syrups so they are more fluid, and pasteurize them at 150F for a few minutes. If you're using raw honey you may need to take the temps or duration up a slight notch. Like 10-15 minutes at 160F or so.

Just be aware, honey and sugars don't add body, only alcohol, so they'll be drying it out even more. Instead, you could add some DME, dissolved in just enough boiling water to make a pourable syrup, to make up for the 6 missing points.

DME delivers around 44 ppg.
So 6 points * 5 gallons is 30 points to make up.
30/44 = 0.7 pound of DME needed.
You could use Wheat DME, it's usually 55-65% wheat, the balance is barley.​

Any clue what caused the low OG? Poor crush on the wheat malt perhaps?

This is incredibly helpful, IslandLizard. Thanks!

For some reason my wort cooled down in the tun more than it ever has before. I was trying to maintain 152F, but when I took a temp after the 60min it was down to 143F.
Lets see... I also forgot to close the valve when I poured in the sparge water *sigh*, so lost a bit of those sugars, there. I think I also overshot my water. Basically I didn't get much sleep the night before and was a total space cadet *lol* que sera sera, right?

 

[Jako]

Hi all,

Brewing a friends witbier recipe that I brewed a couple weeks ago, to great success.
Last time I brewed I had OG: 1.042 and FG 1.008

Had some mishaps, today, and had OG: 1.036

I've already pitched the yeast (1.5L starter of Wyeast Strong Belgian Strong Ale, decanted), about 20min ago. Should I add a pound of honey?
Am I going to end up with a Coors Light strength beer? Session Wit?

Any advice greatly appreciated. Thanks!

i let it ride out and figure out what i need to do to fix the issue.

For me i mill my whole batch then mill half of it again works like a charm.

 

[Iowa Brewer]

i let it ride out and figure out what i need to do to fix the issue.

For me i mill my whole batch then mill half of it again works like a charm.

Sounds good, Jako. Think I’ll try the same!