KennyS1134

Recipes 

I'm still definitely a beginner, with around 10 homebrew batches, extract and all grain. I can't seem to ever get an original gravity of over 1.050. What is a good way to get my high gravity lovin' on? I just did a strawberry honey blonde ale yesterday night, and it was around 1.046. With 3 pounds of honey, and 2pounds of strawberries, I expected it to be at least a little bit higher. I just got beersmith2, and know I hit all my mash temps, and had a really good boil. I've heard of people putting sugar into the boil to increase alcohol potency, so I figured the 3lbs of honey would suffice. It would be nice to get a really alcohol potent ale.

BobC

Recipes 

Well what is your mash schedule? Do you use a MLT or direct heat?

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Primary 1 - Smash 1
Primary 2 - Smash 2
Primary 3 - Belgium Triple
Bottled - Oatmeal Stout, ESB, Belgium Light.

mightynintendo

Recipes 

Good ways to increase gravity:
1. Boil longer
2. Add more grain to your grain bill but keep the final volume the same
3. Same as above only with syrups or sugar instead of grain

There is a wealth of knowledge and reference materials out there for new brewers. Original gravity should be something you calculate before you ever start the brewing process. Are you familiar with how grains and sugars/syrups contribute to your OG? I would advise you to read Palmer's How to Brew for a detailed explanation. Beersmith will help you reach your targets so that's a good thing to have on hand.

KennyS1134

Recipes 

Strawberry Honey Blonde Ale:
7lbs of Pale malt (2 row)
2.5 lbs of honey
2 lbs of white wheat
0.5 lbs of caramel 10L

1oz Williamette Hops for 60mins
1/2 oz Tettnanger for 15 mins
1/2 oz Tettnanger for 5mins

2lbs of chopped strawberries at the end of boil.

Yeast WLP001

After initial, rack onto 3 lbs of strawberries
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I have a MLT, and the grains sat in 154 degree water for 50minutes, with a sparge of 168 degrees.

Yea, I'm guessing I should have boiled it longer. I ended up with a bit more than 5gallons, about 5.5. Doh'

mightynintendo

Recipes 

That grain bill should have gotten you around 1.0621 OG at 5.5 gallons of wort.

mightynintendo

Recipes 

Are you sure you're taking a well-mixed sample and reading your hydrometer correctly?

KennyS1134

Recipes 

::Sigh:: Damn it.

mightynintendo

Recipes 

Also, are you taking your sample after you boil?? Just wondering because in my setup, that grain bill would have gotten me a pre-boil gravity close to what you cited as your OG.

KennyS1134

Recipes 

Yes, I stirred the sample up pretty well, and I took the reading once the wort was cooled to 72degrees. However, I tried to strain as much as I could, but even in my hydrometer, there was quite a bit of grain. I used whirlflock, a yeast nutrient, and boiled my hops in bags.

wickman6

Recipes 

Did you do an iodine test, to check if the starches had finished converting to sugars?

50 mins should be long enough, but its possible I suppose that a bit longer may have given you a slightly higher gravity.