1 gallon batch - OG issues.

Cascade Pale Ale
Wort Volume Before Boil: 1.25 US gals
Wort Volume After Boil: 1.00 US gals
Volume Transferred: 1.00 US gals
Water Added To Fermenter: 0.00 US gals
Volume At Pitching: 1.00 US gals
Volume Of Finished Beer: 1.00 US gals

Expected Pre-Boil Gravity: 1.005 SG
Expected OG: 1.056 SG
Expected IBU (using Tinseth): 39.3 IBU
Expected Color (using Morey): 11.0
Boil Duration: 60.0 mins

Fermentables
US Caramel 60L Malt 4.00 oz 18.2 % 15.0 In Mash/Steeped
Extract - Light Dried Malt Extract 1lb 2oz
Hops
Cascade 0.25 oz All Of Boil
Cascade 0.38 oz 15 Min From End
Cascade 0.38 oz At turn off


Alright, so I brewed the above today. I have been toying around with 1 gallon batches recently. But I've been struggling on the OG quite a bit. Today, my evaporation rate was a bit off and I ended up losing 1/2 gallon when I only expected to lose 1/4 gallon. I am using Beer Alchemy. I changed the wort volume after boil/transferred to .75 and the water added to fermenter to .25 to bring it up to 1 gallon, as I didn't want the beer that strong. According to Beer Alchemy, this was a wash - I would hit the numbers I wanted in the end. Turns out my OG was 1.040 when I was shooting for 1.056 as stated above.

Is this the software or did I do something incorrect? Any help?

I haven't been super excited about this software either. Does anyone else have any issues with it or is this the user?!

Thanks!

I believe that 1 lb of DME in 1 gallon of water should = 1.044 to 1.045

How accurate was your volume measurement? at what temp did you take your sample?

I took the sample at 75 degF. Why the heck do you think it would have told me that I was going to get to 1.056 then?

SnakeAnthony6375 said:

I took the sample at 75 degF. Why the heck do you think it would have told me that I was going to get to 1.056 then?

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@ 75*F, your corrected OG is about 2 pts higher.

I can't say why your software erred. Maybe something to do with how you inputed your pre/post boil volumes?

Probably because AZ_IPA didn't read you recipe very closely. You have 1.125 # DME plus some grain.

If your water addition to the fermentor was not blended well you could have been sampling lower density wort off the top. That's my guess. FWIW brewculator on my PalmTX says OG should be 1.055 for your grain and DME.

camiller said:

Probably because AZ_IPA didn't read you recipe very closely. You have 1.125 # DME plus some grain.

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oh, I read it closely - I was just taking the lazy man's approach when saying that 1 lb DME in 1 gallon H2O is about 1.045....meaning - he had more than 1 lb of DME + grain and still got less that he should've got with 1 lb.

see, it's true - the lazy man works twice as hard (I had to explain myself )

AZ_IPA said:

oh, I read it closely - I was just taking the lazy man's approach when saying that 1 lb DME in 1 gallon H2O is about 1.045....meaning - he had more than 1 lb of DME + grain and still got less that he should've got with 1 lb.

see, it's true - the lazy man works twice as hard (I had to explain myself )

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Sorry I mis-understood. I'm sticking with the water wasn't well blended thought. I'm guessing his gravity is higher than what he measured.

camiller said:

I'm guessing his gravity is higher than what he measured.

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especially since he boiled off double what he planned and had to add 1/4 gallon (25% of his post boil volume).

we're saying the same things.....