32 replies to this topic

[chadm75]

Hi fellas...sort of a long story here so stick with me. But I need some help on how I ended up with this...I brewed Mike's Ofest recipe (see below) yesterday (adjusted to my system of course)...6.5 gal batch72% brewhouse efficiencyOG: 1.055FG: 1.012SRM: 12IBU: 27ABV: 5.4%7.5 lbs Vienna Malt2.75 lbs Munich 10L Malt3 lbs Pilsner Malt.33 lbs Caramel Malt 40L.5 lbs Honey Malt.5 lbs Melanoidin Malt2 oz Hallertauer Mittelfrüher (Pellets, 4.10 %AA) boiled 60 minutes.WYeast 2308 Munich Lager™Everything was cranking right along yesterday morning fine. Mashed in at 152° for 60 mins. Spraged everything out with 185° water to a pre-boil volume of 7.75 gallons. Took my normal preboil gravity reading which turned out to be....what?! 1.030!! I was looking for 1.046. 45% efficiency?! WTF? How could I be that off? I have never been in that off in my five years of brewing AG.But it is what it is. So to bump up my gravity, I perform the following calculation to get my post-boil gravity up to 1.055.Anticipated Pre-boil OG: 1.046 (357 gravity points)Actual Pre-boil OG - 1.030 (233 gravity points)357 - 233 = 124/44 = 2.8 lbs. of dry malt extractSo I added 2.8 lbs. of Light Pilsen Dry Malt extract at 10 minutes left in the boil.This would give me a final OG of 1.055...right? Wrong. I ended up with an OG of 1.067!So I'm now fermenting a Imperial Oktoberfest with an anticipated ABV of somewhere in the mid to upper 6% range. Depending on how much the yeast attentuates.Can you guys think of anything I did wrong here? Are my calcs off? I've never been so off on a OG in my brief but illustrious career!

Edited by chadm75, 16 August 2012 - 01:15 PM.

[MtnBrewer]

Is John your assistant brewer? :PYour first gravity reading had to be wrong somehow. Your gravity was probably correct and then you added DME to it and now it's too high.

[Deerslyr]

Did you remember to do a temperature adjustment when you took your first reading?

[Jdtirado]

Is John your assistant brewer? :PYour first gravity reading had to be wrong somehow. Your gravity was probably correct and then you added DME to it and now it's too high.

[SchwanzBrewer]

Did you remember to do a temperature adjustment when you took your first reading?

This.

[MyaCullen]

Did you remember to do a temperature adjustment when you took your first reading?

this

[MtnBrewer]

Temp adjustment is probably it. OG of 1.030 at 150°F is an adjusted OG of 1.046.

[chadm75]

Temp at the pre-boil reading was 65 degrees. I dunno...

[MtnBrewer]

Temp at the pre-boil reading was 65 degrees. I dunno...

That doesn't sound right. Unless you live on a mountain, that's colder than ambient. Should be in the 150-170°F range.

[Jdtirado]

Temp at the pre-boil reading was 65 degrees. I dunno...

We may be related afterall

[djinkc]

65*C is 149*F

I thought we agreed, no math on Thursdays

[MtnBrewer]

I thought we agreed, no math on Thursdays

Thought it was days that end in 'y'.

[Big Nake]

Did he take a sample of the wort and cool it so he could get a good gravity reading? I'll be honest. I gave up on this stuff a long time ago. I mash, drain, sparge, drain, boil. No measurements aside from pH and temp. Never had a situation where I thought I was making a 6% beer and it turned out to be 3% or whatever. But... when I want to check the gravity of something, I know that 60°F is key so I take a sample, cool it and then take the reading. ChadM... sounds like the beer will be "robust", but still worthy of the Potomac Brewery name!

Edited by KenLenard, 16 August 2012 - 03:47 PM.

[MtnBrewer]

Did he take a sample of the wort and cool it so he could get a good gravity reading?

If that's the case then he likely didn't stir it up before taking the sample. The wort stratified and he got a less dense sample from the top.

[Jdtirado]

If that's the case then he likely didn't stir it up before taking the sample. The wort stratified and he got a less dense sample from the top.

Or the beer Gods got upset at him

[Mindblock]

If that's the case then he likely didn't stir it up before taking the sample. The wort stratified and he got a less dense sample from the top.

This.....or 65C

[djinkc]

In any case, I can think of worse screwups than an impy fest beer

[Big Nake]

In any case, I can think of worse screwups than an impy fest beer

Just thinking the same thing.

[ncbeerbrewer]

Chad,Yes I gotta agree with the others. There has to be something off with that gravity reading to have ended up with a high of an OG as you did adding in the DME. I just looked at my notes and when I brewed this recipe last year my OG came in at 1.060 78% eff and my FG was 1.016. That made it a 5.8% ABV. It may have been higher gravity for the style but It turned out to be a nice 10 gallons of beer to consume. Hopefully the maltiness of the Vienna, Munich and Pils will hide any alcohol character. I did like how the recipe turned out. I hope you end up enjoying it!!Mike

Edited by ncbeerbrewer, 16 August 2012 - 07:44 PM.

[Mindblock]

In any case, I can think of worse screwups than an impy fest beer

Has anybody offered up an address to send the ill fated batch of beer for proper disposal??