Well, last night I made a batch of Northern Brewer's Winter Warmer. I missed the OG, by a bunch. Here's the recipe:
Winter Warmer = O.G. 1.066
0.75 lbs Simpson Crystal
0.25 lbs Simpson Chocolate
9.9 lbs Gold Malt Syrup
1 oz Norther Brewer Hops (60min)
1 oz Styrian Goldings (30min)
1 oz Kent Goldings (1min)
Wyeast #1728 Scottish Ale Yeast 69~73%
Ok, so the recipe called for 1.5 gallons of water in the boil. I decided to use almost 2 to account for some of the boil off. I steeped the grains for 15min as water heated. Pulled the grains, got a boil going, removed form heat and added the LME and returned to a boil. I added the NB hops and started the timer. At around 20min in, I had a boil over. Got the pot switched to another burner, cleaned up the mess and tossed in the Styrian hops at 30min mark. Went smoothly, tossed a Whirfloc tablet at 55min mark, tossed the Kent Goldings at 59min and then removed at 60min for an ice bath. CHilled to 120F and mixed with 2.5 gallons of cold water in the fermenter. I had a nylon mesh bag in the fermenter to remove the hops/boil trub. Pulled that out. Topped it off at 5-gallons and aerated well with a wisk. Took a temp reading and a wort sample. Temp was 78F, so I pitched the Wyeast (smacked 24hrs in advance...fully swollen). I attached the airlock, filled with Vodka and started cleanup.
Here is the issue. I checked the temp of my wort sample, and it was 75F. CHecked my OG and it read 1.081. The target was 1.066! I did notice the sample was cloudy, as if some of the hops might have gotten past my strain bag. WHat could cause such a high OG? Was it the extra boil volume? Could the hops/trub in suspension give me a false reading? If it realy is that high, do I have an issue? I really want to RDWHAHB, but this is just my second batch, and I am a little concerned.
-Todd
Winter Warmer = O.G. 1.066
0.75 lbs Simpson Crystal
0.25 lbs Simpson Chocolate
9.9 lbs Gold Malt Syrup
1 oz Norther Brewer Hops (60min)
1 oz Styrian Goldings (30min)
1 oz Kent Goldings (1min)
Wyeast #1728 Scottish Ale Yeast 69~73%
Ok, so the recipe called for 1.5 gallons of water in the boil. I decided to use almost 2 to account for some of the boil off. I steeped the grains for 15min as water heated. Pulled the grains, got a boil going, removed form heat and added the LME and returned to a boil. I added the NB hops and started the timer. At around 20min in, I had a boil over. Got the pot switched to another burner, cleaned up the mess and tossed in the Styrian hops at 30min mark. Went smoothly, tossed a Whirfloc tablet at 55min mark, tossed the Kent Goldings at 59min and then removed at 60min for an ice bath. CHilled to 120F and mixed with 2.5 gallons of cold water in the fermenter. I had a nylon mesh bag in the fermenter to remove the hops/boil trub. Pulled that out. Topped it off at 5-gallons and aerated well with a wisk. Took a temp reading and a wort sample. Temp was 78F, so I pitched the Wyeast (smacked 24hrs in advance...fully swollen). I attached the airlock, filled with Vodka and started cleanup.
Here is the issue. I checked the temp of my wort sample, and it was 75F. CHecked my OG and it read 1.081. The target was 1.066! I did notice the sample was cloudy, as if some of the hops might have gotten past my strain bag. WHat could cause such a high OG? Was it the extra boil volume? Could the hops/trub in suspension give me a false reading? If it realy is that high, do I have an issue? I really want to RDWHAHB, but this is just my second batch, and I am a little concerned.
-Todd