OG for an English Pale Ale Kit

[dpwhite87]

Hello everyone,

I'm brand new here, but I have been coming here for a while now and it's good to finally post!

My question is:

I am on my third extract kit, and my OG for the English Pale Ale I have in my primary right now was 1.032. I have found in my research that this is on the extreme low end of the English Bitters spectrum. What does this mean for my finished product? Very low alcohol content? Is there a way to boost it if so, without compromising flavor?

Thanks!

 

[flars]

How did you take your hydrometer reading and what temperature was the wort when you removed your sample?
Usually the measured OG can be off from the recipes target OG because of the difficulty mixing the wort thoroughly.

 

[dpwhite87]

I took it just prior to pitching, so low 70s range. The recipe really didn't even have a target OG, I was just looking here: http://www.picobrewery.com/askarchive/englishale.htm

 

[duboman]

Unless you screwed up the final volume into primary the OG reading is what the recipe states as extract has a set gravity.

Your reading is off because you did not get a complete mix of wort and top off water. Your reading had more water than wort, hence the lower reading

Now go have a beer

 

[dpwhite87]

duboman I am not sure exactly what you mean... are you saying that the reading is off because it was a partial boil?

 

[NordeastBrewer77]

duboman I am not sure exactly what you mean... are you saying that the reading is off because it was a partial boil?

He is. In a partial boil, you use top up water. The water has an SG of 1.000, so it floats on top of the higher gravity wort and is very hard to mix in thoroughly. This can cause a diluted OG reading, it's pretty common with partial boil batches. Assuming you used all the extract and the proper amount of water, it's safe to say that your OG is what the kit tells you it should be. Fermentation will mix everything together.

 

[dpwhite87]

Ahhh ok thanks a lot. My kit doesn't actually say what the OG should be though
So really I guess there isn't any way to know my final ABV except maybe ask the dude at the homebrew store what it should be for this kit lol

 

[Juno_Malone]

Ahhh ok thanks a lot. My kit doesn't actually say what the OG should be though
So really I guess there isn't any way to know my final ABV except maybe ask the dude at the homebrew store what it should be for this kit lol

Do you have the ingredients list that came with the recipe? Or do you remember what types and quantities of grains/extracts/sugars went in to the wort? With that information, along with final batch volume (5 gallons?), you can calculate what your OG should be.