Much higher gravity that expected

NewBrew75 · 12-31-2008, 07:20 PM

So I just took a gravity measurement from an all extract beer that used 5.5 lbs of DME and one pound of steeping grains. It came up at 1.082. I was shooting for 1.048 from the recipe. What the heck??? Now I'm not sure that I have enough yeast to pitch. Even if I did, this would be one wierd wheat beer. Does this sound familiar to any of you?

I boiled 1.5 lbs of DME for 60 mins and added 4 lbs of DME late addition for the last 15 mins. I haven't really calculated exactly what it should be, but it doesn't seem to me that it should be so high.

**ShortSnoutBrewing** · 12-31-2008, 07:23 PM

A couple of questions...
was this a full boil or partial boil?
If Partial, was the sample taken before or after you topped off?
What was the temp of your sample?

McGarnigle · 12-31-2008, 07:50 PM

If this is a 5 gallon batch, there's no way it is 1.08. Maybe took a sample from the wort before it was mixed properly (in another spot, it would have been 1.01 or something).

NewBrew75 · 12-31-2008, 08:31 PM

It was a partial boil, about 2.5 gals. I did take the measurement after topping off, mixing, and at 70*F. Couple of other things... I had a pretty significant cold break and had lots of sediment in the wort at the time of the original measurement. I took one about ten minutes later and it read 1.070. Then another one about fifteen to twenty minutes after that and came up with 1.050. The recipe expects 1.048, so I'm very close now. I bet if I took another reading fifteen minutes after that last one I would be even closer. The last reading did not have any sediment from the cold break in it, so I'm guessing that affected the reading.