Remedy for missed OG?

[drakeskakes]

I missed the OG on my Cream Ale, which was supposed to be .047 and was .032.

This was due to bad calculation in Beer Smith which I'm still figuring out. Thankfully I found the problem and it won't happen again.

I was going back on forth about adding honey in the primary, but now I'm almost certain I need to. Obviously this will boost the ABV, but can this be a solution to a fixing a shy OG in a pinch? I did some research and it seems that Extract brewers use DME. So what is the all grain solution? Any other ideas?

 

[JLem]

I did some research and it seems that Extract brewers use DME. So what is the all grain solution? Any other ideas?

DME as well.

Honey or sugar will work to raise your OG, but will also thin the beer out, especially if you need a lot.

I've never tried fixing an OG post-boil, but I'm sure someone around here will have some advice for you.

 

[Revvy]

Before you try to "fix" something, make sure it's "broken" first. Read my thread entitled-"Attention new brewers, yes your original gravity reading is wrong. Don't panic"!

 

[drakeskakes]

Before you try to "fix" something, make sure it's "broken" first. Read my thread entitled-"Attention new brewers, yes your original gravity reading is wrong. Don't panic"!

I did an all grain and sampled the OG 3 seperate times from the transfer. I ended up with almost 2 gallons of extra wort post boil. I had my Equipment profile set to my usual 10 gallon batch and changed it to 5 for this test batch I wanted to do... (i.e. I didn't click "Scale recipe" I just changed the final volume to 5)

It didn't count the volumes right and I had a pre-boil volume of 8.25 which is high and I'm still too new to catch that it wouldn't make sense. So In essence it was just a very diluted boil. I could have boiled it off for longer but I was concerned with the IBU since this is a cream ale and I had some 5 minute additions, which in turn would have become 35 minute additions and just thrown the whole thing off.

I'm fairly certain my reading was right.

 

[Yooper]

I did an all grain and sampled the OG 3 seperate times from the transfer. I ended up with almost 2 gallons of extra wort post boil. I had my Equipment profile set to my usual 10 gallon batch and changed it to 5 for this test batch I wanted to do... (i.e. I didn't click "Scale recipe" I just changed the final volume to 5)

It didn't count the volumes right and I had a pre-boil volume of 8.25 which is high and I'm still too new to catch that it wouldn't make sense. So In essence it was just a very diluted boil. I could have boiled it off for longer but I was concerned with the IBU since this is a cream ale and I had some 5 minute additions, which in turn would have become 35 minute additions and just thrown the whole thing off.

I'm fairly certain my reading was right.

One pound of DME (boiled in as little water as possible) will give you about 9 points in a 5 gallon batch.

I'd boil up 1.5 pounds of DME ( or 1 pound of DME and .5 pound of honey), in a small bit of water for 10 minutes or so, then cool it and add gently to the fermenter without splashing. That would work well.

 

[drakeskakes]

At $16 worth of DME, it costs more than the original batch to fix the problem...might be worth it to just redo it and hit the numbers

 

[tjwor]

At $16 worth of DME, it costs more than the original batch to fix the problem...might be worth it to just redo it and hit the numbers

The most a LB of DME should cost you is like $5, it is one of those things that is always nice to have a few extra LB on hand though... I'd say give it a shot at a fix, with it being a Blonde the DME should be a good substitute for a diluted batch. I'd do what Yooper said with the batch...

 

[drakeskakes]

The most a LB of DME should cost you is like $5, it is one of those things that is always nice to have a few extra LB on hand though... I'd say give it a shot at a fix, with it being a Blonde the DME should be a good substitute for a diluted batch. I'd do what Yooper said with the batch...

$7.99 at my LHBS for 1lb of DME

How would honey compare to DME?