Gravities and Taste of Beer

I'm really sorry if this is a stupid question, but I'm still learning a lot about brewing.

I intended to brew a high-gravity beer, but I used too much strike water and accidentally missed the OG by about .01 points. The target gravity was 1.072 and I only got 1.062. The beer turned out tasting great (its a stout), but I'm worried that the next time I brew it and achieve the correct gravity, it will taste completely different.

If I like the taste of the beer, should I alter the recipe to make the target OG close to 1.062? Or will the taste of the beer not change much if I keep the recipe the same and aim for the original target gravity of 1.072?

I know the alcohol content will change, but will the taste change much if I reach the target OG next time?

Can you explain the process you used? I'm not sure i'm interpreting strike water the way you're intending it.

VTBrewer said:

Can you explain the process you used? I'm not sure i'm interpreting strike water the way you're intending it.

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I used the no-sparge brew in a bag method and used too much water, which resulted in an original gravity that was too low.

Consistency is one of the hardest aspects of homebrewing to nail. Unless you do all things exactly the same you will not get the same beer. However, you can get pretty close. If you figure out your issue with hitting your expected efficiency then dial in the next recipe to 1.062 and maintain your percentages of grains and you should end up pretty close. IDK why your ABV would change, 1.062 is 1.062 unless you change your mash temps and change up your unfermentables.

Ah. gotcha.

I check my numbers pre boil. You can find a calculator for brewhouse efficiency (theres one in my signature) and figure out if you're going to hit your gravity. Basically a 70-75% efficiency is going to result with you hitting your OG, depending how the recipce was calculated. If you're really low you can add a pound of dme to gain 9 points (.009). I don't usually miss by much, but when I do I just roll with it, but its certainly an option to add.

As far as brewing it again, hey, if you like it, why change? The other school of thought would be "man i wonder how much better this could be"? I say go for the higher OG. You'll probably have more mouthfeel to it and a little more flavor.

How would you know if you wouldn't like it at correct gravity vs what you made? Try it might be better then what you have.............my .02 It's why we brew to try something different