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**Mutilated1** · 11-07-2007, 09:25 PM

I'm making a batch of beer tonight, and everything went really smooth with no problems untill I started cleaning up and then I noticed that on the label of my beer kit it says "Makes 24 Pints of Handcrafted Beer". Oh no! Its supposed to be a 13.5 L kit - not a 5 gallon kit!

I got out my hydrometer and checked my OG. The instructions said target gravity was 1.040-1.043, I was expecting higher than that since I had thought I was bumping it up by adding 3 #s of extra Dark LME. Well it looks like I actually ended up with 1.036 - darn - not what I was hoping for at all.

Well I've got a couple possible solutions, first I could wait until tomorrow morning when the LHBS is open and pick up some Dextrose, DME, or Hopped DME and rush home and add it in there and try to bump the gravity up like that. Or I could go in the kitchen and open a 3.3# package of unhopped LME that I was saving for something else and try to bump it up that way ??

What do you think my best option is for making the best of what was originally intended to be a stout ?

Just to clarify, I'm looking for an easy way to add another .02 of gravity to my beer without messing anything up.

**bradsul** · 11-07-2007, 09:31 PM

1.036 will be a nice session beer, I'd just leave it be. Or make another batch of something and try a blend. I would at least let it ferment out and see how the flavour is before I rushed to do anything. You can always add that extra fermentable later on and restart fermentation.

Ó Flannagáin · 11-07-2007, 09:42 PM

I'd add the LME

SHouldn't hurt the stout's profile much, if at all.

**Mutilated1** · 11-07-2007, 09:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bradsul

1.036 will be a nice session beer.

well when you put it that way, it doesn't sound so bad

before I decide to just let it be and have a drink, do you mind helping me figure out how much I'm off my target in terms of ingredients instead of in terms of gravity ?

for 5 gallons, how much of the following would I need to bump the gravity by .01 ?

DME ?

LME ?

Dextrose ?

Just trying to get an idea of how close I am to 1.045 or so in terms of ingredients I could easily add.

**bradsul** · 11-07-2007, 09:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mutilated1

... for 5 gallons, how much of the following would I need to bump the gravity by .01 ?

DME ?

LME ?

Dextrose ?

Just trying to get an idea of how close I am to 1.045 or so in terms of ingredients I could easily add.

1lbs of LME in 5G will increase the gravity by about 0.007. DME and dextrose by about 0.009 (at least according to promash, those are estimates obviously). I wouldn't use the dextrose though, go with DME or LME.

david_42 · 11-07-2007, 10:32 PM

Many commercial stouts are session beers.

**bradsul** · 11-07-2007, 11:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by david_42

Many commercial stouts are session beers.

I've actually been adjusting some of my usual recipes down to session strength, they taste so good I want to have a bunch without ending up passed out on the couch.

My normal dry stout is usually only about 3.3%.

homebrewer_99 · 11-07-2007, 11:21 PM

I'm with you Brad...experimenting with a lighter brew is challenging...

**Mutilated1** · 11-08-2007, 12:15 AM

OK you guys talked me into it.

I'll just let it go as it is, Its only 5 gallons so even if its not great it won't last long anyhow.

Thanks.

**bradsul** · 11-08-2007, 03:31 AM

That's the nice thing about session beers; they aren't meant to be sipped.