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burtybeer · 12-29-2008, 02:20 AM

Haven't homebrewed in about 10 years (long story but throw in a divorce, new marriage, 3 kids, and moving houses 5 times.....well, you get the idea). Anywho, I got back into the game this weekend. In fact I started a batch of cherry wheat today. Yoohoo.

Extract recipe: 6.6 lb Wheat Extract, 1/2 lb crystal malt, 1 oz Halletauer (bittering), 1 oz. Halletauer (flavoring), irish moss, Wyeast Belgian Wit #3944.

I just took the OG and it's 1.038 at 75 degrees. Seems low based on the recipes I've seen. 2 questions:

1) Should I be concerned?
2) What would cause the OG to be so low?

Blender · 12-30-2008, 04:32 AM

You really can't miss your gravity much with extract if you follow the recipe. If you make a larger batch than what is called for then would throw the figures off. It is likely that the wort had not been mixred thoroughly which would give you a skewed reading. Was it liquid or dry extract?

**Jaybird** · 12-30-2008, 05:07 AM

Can't help w/ the OG. But why the Irish Moss in a wheat?

burtybeer · 12-30-2008, 06:31 PM

Valid question Jaybird. I guess I added the irish moss out of habit but I see your point. A good weissbeer should be cloudy for the full wheat effect and flavor, so why try to clarify the beer with irish moss. Hmmm.

Live and Learn ! Thanks for the pointer....

Andy

burtybeer · 12-30-2008, 06:33 PM

Hey Gary,

Maybe it was an issue of inadequately mixing the wort. I used a liquid malt extract, and the total quantity of grains was 7.1 lbs so that should be sufficient fermentables. Anyway, we'll see how it goes.

Thanks for the post

FxdGrMind · 12-30-2008, 08:32 PM

I measured my OG at 75 deg F too and fell a little short .002.
Someone replied to my post indicating that a Hydrometer is calibrated at 60 deg F.... hence the off reading.

But hey I'm a Newbie, I know nothing about this, just repeating something said to me.

Cheers... so that's what the Irish Moss is for!! Ding ding! Thanks!

**DeathBrewer** · 12-30-2008, 08:37 PM

you can rest assured that improper mixing of the wort is what caused your reading to be off. if you have the proper volume and the right amount of extract, you ARE within a few points of your projected OG.

irish moss won't hurt the cloudiness of your wheat. using a secondary won't hurt either. people go crazy to hold on to the cloudiness, but it's actually pretty hard to get rid of. if you don't use irish moss, you don't use a secondary, and you bottle too soon, your beer will not be cloudy. it will be thick.

burtybeer · 12-31-2008, 01:16 AM

Thanks for the helpful hints.