Missing Extract O.G.?

[greenfrog5]

First batch (American Amber), I didn't take an OG reading (recipe said 1.056). FG ended up on target (1.016). 2 weeks in bottles, and beer tastes ok, but a bit sweet and not fully carbed.

Second batch today, recipe OG was 1.052 but the OG I measured from the carboy was only 1.040-ish. Recipe is a typical Pale Ale recipe kit (FG 1.014). I steeped 1/4 lb wheat for 30 mins. in 3 gal, then added a gallon for the boil and added malts (6 lbs LME, 1 lb DME). 3 hops (1/4 lb ea) additions at 60, 15 and 0. Topped up to 5.5 gal after pitching yeast, then took OG reading (1.040 @ 70 deg)

From what I understand, extract brewing is hard to miss the OG. Would insufficient boiling contribute to this? It is never at a raging boil, like the bottom half of 4 gal are boiling with large bubbles coming up. Is it because I took the OG after topping-up to 5.5 gal? What else would cause a lower than expected OG for an extract recipe?

Thanks
A

 

[WrongCoastBrewery]

I dont ever get to a raging boil and I can only do about a 3 gal. boil. My OG and FG are usually either spot on or maybe 0.002 off. That much malt extract you should be a bit higher. It might be the second addition of water to the boil. Usually the instructions dont have you do a water add. Just boil whatever your heatsource can handle. Then top off after the wort goes to your fermenter.

First beer sounds like you need to give it more time to condition and carb. It can take 3+ weeks. And if you dont take the FG, just let it sit for two weeks and that should ensure the yeasties have carbonated your brew.

 

[wyzazz]

If you do a partial boil then top off with water then just use the OG that came with the kit. Chances are (unless you mixed with a paint mixer for 5-10 minutes) you didn't mix up the wort & water enough so your OG reading was skewed. No worries though, once fermentation starts up the yeasties will mix it up for you just fine.

 

[Revvy]

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From what I understand, extract brewing is hard to miss the OG. Would insufficient boiling contribute to this? It is never at a raging boil, like the bottom half of 4 gal are boiling with large bubbles coming up. Is it because I took the OG after topping-up to 5.5 gal? What else would cause a lower than expected OG for an extract recipe?

Thanks
A

It has nothing to do with your boil, and nothing is really wrong.

You sort of missed one part of the "in extract brewing is hard to miss the OG" equation.

It IS hard to miss your OG in an extract batch, and in reality you more than likely DIDN'T.....It's just that it is USUALLY difficult for the original gravity to actually REFLECT this fact.

It's a pretty common issue for ANYONE topping off with water in the fermenter (and that includes partial mashes, extract or all grain revcipes) to have an error in reading the OG...In fact, it is actually nearly impossible to mix the wort and the top off water in a way to get an accurate OG reading...

Brewers get a low reading if they get more of the top off water than the wort, conversely they get a higher number if they grabbed more of the extract than the top off water in their sample.

When I am doing an extract with grain recipe I make sure to stir for a minimum of 5 minutes (whipping up a froth to aerate as well) before I draw a grav sample and pitch my yeast....It really is an effort to integrate the wort with the top off water...This is a fairly common new brewer issue we get on here...unless you under or over topped off or the final volume for the kit was 5 gallons and you topped off to 5.5, then the issue, sorry to say, is "operator error"

If your target volume was correct, then it will be fine.

More than likely your true OG is really what it's supposed to be. And it will mix itself fine during fermentation.

This is one of the most common newb first time posting topics on here. It happens to everybody.

Your beer is fine, and you don't need to mess with it, or try to fix it.

 

[bknifefight]

I brew extract and NEVER take an OG reading because I was getting so frustrated with it being wrong (due to the wort not mixed evenly). Just trust the recipe and/or brewing software.

 

[frazier]

I brew extract and NEVER take an OG reading ... Just trust the recipe ...

QFT. Learning to do the math with gravity points was a real eye-opener for me. I do all-grain, and I take a reading on the pre-boil runoff. After that, the OG can be calculated based on volume, so I don't bother taking another reading until I'm ready to bottle.

 

[Wingfan13]

I have brewed three batches and I don't take gravity readings at all. I may be wrong but once you get your wort together and before you pitch the yeast, if the gravity isn't correct, what are you going to be about it anyway ? I understand having the OG to see where the beer ends up but what can be done if the OG isn't right besides knowing it isn't right.

 

[greenfrog5]

Thanks all, good to hear things are fine. I'm not one to panic about 'fixing' my beer and such, I just want to make sure I'm constantly improving my process and learning from each batch. I read a lot on HBT, but I guess I hadn't come across similar questions relating to insufficient mixing of top-off water.

 

[VincentS84]

I just ran into this issue and emailed the supplier about low og. He told me a bunch of reasons this could happen mostly at first saying human error on volumes I was insulted and then went into stratification which is explained above with the mixing of water topped off with. I never missed an OG with extract before this and wasn't convinced that it was stratification. The reason being I took multiple samples within first 10 hrs. I told the rep this and he said must be due to fermentation occurring and just this crazy coincidence that it fermented perfectly to read the same EXACT og every time. I then reached out to my friend who is currently in a masters program for food sciences / post harvest and another who studied fermentation in college. There is a possibility the extract is degraded and will not produce the same amount of sugars and break down as supposed to. The rep was trying to explain that math doesn't change with sugar amount and extracts but guess what there are variables that will effect this. There is no way I can prove their extract was faulty except when the beer is finished and where I bought a kit supposed to finish at 7.2% but get one at 3.9 - 4.2 %. I am not convinced by this answer. Wait until finished. I might not shop Nbrewer anymore because he used forums such as this as his reference with no facts.

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

@VincentS84: Do you have any resources to support what you friend was suggesting?