First AG: waaaaay overshot OG

I tried all grain for the first time today, using DeathBrewer's stovetop method for a small (2 gallon), slightly modified version of this belgian trippel (though I used 2-row instead of pils). I added a little extra two-row (.4lb) expecting to not get great efficiency on my first try. Boy was I wrong. Pre-boil gravity was 1.060 in 3 gallons (not counting the belgian candi), which seems to make an efficiency of:
36*5.5 potential points from the 2-row and .65*37 from the munich (total 222), I had 3*60 = 180 points, or 81%.

So, my post-boil gravity was 1.096 @ 2 gallons, rather than the 1.082 the recipe predicted... and I have a couple questions:

- Should I add some top-up water to bring it down? (I've already pitched the yeast...)
- I didn't make a big starter, just used a packet of safbrew t-58, rehydrated and activated with a little sugar, about 4 hours before pitching. Am I likely to see any trouble with the fermentation starting?

Any other ideas things to watch out for with this brew would be appreciated.

Thanks!

I would suggest just letting it go (but I'm not an expert). The yeast may take a little longer to really get going due to the higher sugars, so don't worry about it for a few days.


I like to sparg even after I've got the wort I want. I keep this extra weak wort for yeast starter, or if I need it; to water down a wort.

Can always dilute it if you want.

As a long time bread baker (but newby brewer) May I suggest you not use sugar when rehydrating yeast, water is enough, and the sugar "meal" could select dextrose consuming yeast as opposed to maltose consuming yeast. By way of example, in a sourdough starter, the start is fed water & flour, the same food it will be using to leaven the bread.

-d

Since I like a balanced beer, I'd probably top it off to get to the desired OG, regardless of the volume. One quart of water added to 2 gallons at 1.096 would give you an OG of 1.085.

Thanks for the tips, guys.

Logdrum, hmm, interesting. I was following the directions in Palmer's How To Brew, it was just 1tsp of sugar. Not too worried that it'll cause problems.

This morning there's a thick krausen and the airlock is goin pretty good, so I guess the yeast didn't have any problems. I'm not sure if I want to top it up or not, maybe I'll give it a taste at racking time and decide then.

Logdrum is right, and in the 3rd edition of How to Brew, Palmer says that while he used to recommend proofing with sugar, he recommends against it now.

Yeast can "sugar switch", but it's best to not make them do it. DME in a starter is good, or if you a cheap skate like me; use the end of a sparge. I boil this down and "can" it in mason jars for storage.

Hmm, good to know, I'll keep that in mind for next time. I've been using the free online version of how to brew, so I guess it's a little out of date.

Bradmont said:

Hmm, good to know, I'll keep that in mind for next time. I've been using the free online version of how to brew, so I guess it's a little out of date.

Click to expand...

That free online book is what got me into brewing! I've read that "cover" to "cover" and look things up in it many times a week, in fact, I just looked up to see if I was reading the same one as you, and it does say sugar. If sugar worked back then, I don't see why it wouldn't now, but it's theoretically better to use maltose, so I do.

The sugar is used simply to "proof" the yeast; to make it bubble to visually confirm that it is viable. We now know that this is bad for 2 reasons: It causes the dried yeast to use up their energy stores so they aren't as healthy when they go into the wort (which can cause greater lag times), and also yeast that has been feeding on sucrose (generally) doesn't do as well with maltose afterwards (which can cause an incomplete fermentation).

Yea, palmer doesn't like proofing anymore.

Dilute with water. I would much rather miss on flavor than ABV. But that's me. I dilute all the time.

logdrum said:

as a long time bread baker (but newby brewer) may i suggest you not use sugar when rehydrating yeast, water is enough, and the sugar "meal" could select dextrose consuming yeast as opposed to maltose consuming yeast. By way of example, in a sourdough starter, the start is fed water & flour, the same food it will be using to leaven the bread.

-d

Click to expand...

+1

I also overshot my OG on the first Deathbrewer's AG Method I did. I just topped it off with fresh water until I hit my OG. When I looked back, I figured out I didnt' use enough sparge water though. Did you hit the right target post-boil volume, just too high efficiency?

Overshot OG? That's what I call "free ABV!"

portalgod: yeah, I hit my volumes exactly as I wanted, it was just high efficiency (and that I added 4/10 pound extra grain expecting lower efficiency).

with 11.5 grams pks of of safbrew t 58, you should be able to dry pitch in a 2 gallon batch of 96 OG wort. Aeration is important to get the oxygen back into the solution especially with higher gravity brews. Starters are not recommended with most dry yeasts and either is the re-use of it.

I'd also dilute it to the proper og so you have close to what the original brewers conception was of that recipe

oldbrew, what would be the downside of harvesting and reusing dry yeast?

Calculate what the expected abv will be and if that is higher than the yeast's tolerance which can be found in multiple places, then your yeasts may not survive to the end of fermentation which would be an issue. Also many other valid points were given before, use your own judgment. As ms frizzle from magic school bus says, "Take chances, make mistakes, get messy!" (Not sure what made that part of my childhood re-appear just now)

OLDBREW said:

... Starters are not recommended with most dry yeasts and either is the re-use of it.

Click to expand...

r.e. repitching: Danstar says ok to reuse , Fermentis says the low cost of packaged yeast outweighs the potential risks of reusing. My thoughts are, IF you're following best practices w/ liquid & have good results, the same results should be obtainable w/ dry.

To a large degree, yeast is yeast (outside of individual parameters). I've been using the same sourdough starter for over 15 years. Boudin Bakery in San Francisco has been using the same "mother" starter since 1849. YMMV, IMHO etc., etc.

-d

Yeah I just looked in my Palmer book, 3rd Addition 2006, and there is no mention of sugar in the rehydrating dry yeast section.

im sure youll be just fine!