very low o.g.

[angryyoungman]

I'm doing a very small batch experiment and I worry I may have made a mistake. I'm making a low ABV raspberry/ lemon hefeweizen. It sounds weird, but it's an experiment. Anyway, everything went great, the mash seemed pretty good, boil was where the mistake was made. I was distracted by food and accidentally let it boil for a little too long. I didn't think much of it, I would just top up with a little cold water and help cool it down in the process. Then to make things worse I put a bit too much water in. When I measured the gravity it was a bit lower than anticipated... I was shooting for 1.048 and ended up with 1.036. Now I think it's probably just because the wort and the water weren't mixed fully because I really didn't add too much extra, but it could also be a highly inefficient mash. I just wanted some more experienced opinions. Oh also it ended up wayyyyyy too dark. It was supposed to be about 8 SRM, but looks to me like it's closer to 16.
I'm not too upset about the color or the gravity to be honest. I like dark beers, I'm just worried the low OG could result in a thin, tasteless beer.

 

[gcdowd]

Could be both mash efficiency and the additional water volume you added. What was your mash temp? You may not necessarily get a "thin" beer, that more depends on your FG. I brewed an English Mild with OG of 1.038 and FG 1.010 and while it was light and refreshing, it had plenty of body to support it. Mash temp will be a key factor in your FG. The higher the mash temp, the lower the fermentability of the wort, resulting in a fuller bodied beer. The color could be two things. It could be the additional boiling time caramelized some of the sugars in the wort, creating the wort darkening. The other thing could just be perception. When beer is in a large volume, it always looks darker than it really is.

That being said, I wouldn't worry too much about it. RDWHAHB!

 

[angryyoungman]

Well I know the traditional way to brew German beers is decoction, but I didn't have the time and to be honest it's a little above my pay grade. So instead I did a two stepped mash for 25 minutes at 122 and 45 minutes at 154. I figured it was a close second to decoction, but maybe that's the problem.

 

[gcdowd]

Sounds like you did a protein rest, then mashed at 154. That's about an average mash temp. Only thing to do now is wait it out