OG Too High & Really Sweet Wort

[fords4life]

Brewed my 3rd batch today and my OG in the fermenter came out at 1.068 and expected OG was 1.049. Recipe was from a Quirky Homebrew Supply a LHBS. Recipe was followed exactly other than messing up the hops a bit. Any thoughts on why the OG came out so much higher?

American Citra Here
0.5 lb Pale Ale Malt
0.5 lb Wheat - Pale
O.25 lb Munich 10L
2 lbs DME Wheat Bavarian
3.33lbs LME Wheat Bavarian
1oz. Citra @ 60min.
1oz. Citra @ flameout
Mangrove Jacks American West Coast Yeast

Preboil volume 3gal, postboil volume 2.2gal.


The wort was super sweet compared to the last 2 batches I made. Any thoughts are greatly appreciated. I just hope it comes out since its been promised for our company picnic. :smack:

 

[Qhrumphf]

Well, wort is supposed to be sweet, and rarely gives too much of an indication what the actual beer will taste like. If you really know what you're doing it'll give you an idea, but it still won't taste nearly anything like the final beer.

I didn't run the numbers, but 2 lbs of DME plus 3.3 lbs LME in 2.2 gallons is a lot higher than 1.049. Was this supposed to be a 2-2.5ish gallon batch? Otherwise, it's no wonder you're high.

 

[prpromin]

Is it for 5 gallons? If so, and you topped up to 5 gallons, I'm guessing that the wort/water was not completely mixed - which is why your OG came out high. I'd say that's especially likely since you were making an (I assume) established recipe. Basically, if you hit the volumes, you ought to be close to the OG.

Personally, I don't find that the pre-fermentation wort tastes much like the finished beer at all, so I wouldn't worry too much. Stick the bucket/carboy in a dark, cool place and have yourself a beer.

 

[fords4life]

Well, wort is supposed to be sweet, and rarely gives too much of an indication what the actual beer will taste like. If you really know what you're doing it'll give you an idea, but it still won't taste nearly anything like the final beer.

I didn't run the numbers, but 2 lbs of DME plus 3.3 lbs LME in 2.2 gallons is a lot higher than 1.049. Was this supposed to be a 2-2.5ish gallon batch? Otherwise, it's no wonder you're high.

5gal. partial mash. The recipe from Quirky is from Beersmith and I input the same ingredients into Beersmith just to check it. The estimated OG is from Beersmith as well.

 

[Qhrumphf]

Ok, that certainly makes more sense. Then yes, likely culprit is that the wort and top off weren't sufficiently mixed. I ran the numbers, and that should put you ~1.050 depending on the extraction efficiency and actual malts used.

When I was doing PM and AG partial boils, I would take a gravity reading before topping off, and then convert. Gravity points at current volume x current volume = gravity points at final volume x final volume. And gravity points are basically specific gravity without the decimals (1.045 = 45, and so on). So your 2.2 gallon partial boil should have been ~1.113 gravity, 113x2.2= (gravity)x5 = 49.7, or 1.0497, rounded to 1.050. That way, you elminate the top off mixing problem, which now matter how well you mix you'll never really avoid.

 

[fords4life]

I did measure post boil gravity which was 1.082 prior to top off. Which would actually put me lower at a 1.036. I'm actually ok with that since this is supposed to be a lighter beer anyhow. Thanks for the formula. Glad I took a post boil gravity today. What is the ABV calculation using gravity points instead off (OG-FG)x131?

 

[trboyden]

High OG is a good thing. It gives you some options. One, you can enjoy it as a higher ABV beer; two, you can water down and bottle more beer; and/or three, you know you can now cut back on costs by ordering less fermentables for your next batch.

On the other hand, post-boil, there is not a lot you could do to increase gravity if you were in that boat. Really, just add corn sugar. So consider yourself in good shape.

One issue to think about in the future is, if this was a larger batch, and you wanted to ferment as is, you would need more yeast to thoroughly ferment the higher gravity wort. For this small a batch, you are probably OK with what you have.

[Edit]

Just saw this was supposed to be a 5 gallon batch. In that case, right on. Good practice to be higher with your fermentables. Grain is cheap when you head that direction. So better to mash more than you need, then less. With extract, the conversion is more predictable.

 

[Qhrumphf]

I did measure post boil gravity which was 1.082 prior to top off. Which would actually put me lower at a 1.036. I'm actually ok with that since this is supposed to be a lighter beer anyhow. Thanks for the formula. Glad I took a post boil gravity today. What is the ABV calculation using gravity points instead off (OG-FG)x131?

That depends on how accurate your 2.2 gallons was. If you had a higher volume than that, the gravity will be much lower.

The extract alone would put you higher than 1.082 at 2.2 gallons and that's a guaranteed concentration, so my guess is you had more wort than you thought you did.

 

[fords4life]

That depends on how accurate your 2.2 gallons was. If you had a higher volume than that, the gravity will be much lower.

The extract alone would put you higher than 1.082 at 2.2 gallons and that's a guaranteed concentration, so my guess is you had more wort than you thought you did.

I actually filled my carboy 1 gallon at a time today and marked it off so the 2.2 is pretty accurate. Now that I think about it though, that was in the carboy, not the kettle and there was some left in the kettle with the trub. Does the hydrometer reading need to be corrected for wort temp? My wort was in the low 80s when I took the post boil reading.

 

[Qhrumphf]

I actually filled my carboy 1 gallon at a time today and marked it off so the 2.2 is pretty accurate. Now that I think about it though, that was in the carboy, not the kettle and there was some left in the kettle with the trub. Does the hydrometer reading need to be corrected for wort temp? My wort was in the low 80s when I took the post boil reading.

Left behind means affected reading. Those losses factor into the total. Depending on how much was left behind, that'd certainly explain the differential in the reading. But according to BeerSmith, the extract alone should have left 1.097 at 2.2 gallons, and 1.085 at 2.5 gallons. So if you left as little as a third of a gallon behind, that'll account for every bit of it.

Also, yes, it's effected by temperature. Most hydrometers are calibrated to 60F or 20C (68F). Depening on which one, if you're reading in the low 80s you're reading a couple degrees low.

So it looks to me like you're probably in the 1.045-1.050 range, about where you should be.

Nothing to see here. Move along

 

[fords4life]

I'm slowly getting there lol. Appreciate the help y'all. We'll see how she turns out, in the meantime, I have some more notes to take on what to do differently during my next session.