Higher than normal OG? Problem?

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

HomerT said:

The target was 1.066!
-Todd

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That my friend will be a wee heavy and will need some aging to mellow out but It'll be just fine. I've got one that started at 1.074 in the secondary right now.

With that formula, you were targeting 1.076 not 1.066. 10 pounds of LME is a heck of a lot. But with 35 IBU it will be nicely ballenced.

The hops did not throw your gravity off. The gravity reads off the density of the liquid so only what is soluable affects it.

Plug that formula in here and you'll see: http://hbd.org/cgi-bin/recipator/recipator

ScottT said:

That my friend will be a wee heavy and will need some aging to mellow out but It'll be just fine. I've got one that started at 1.074 in the secondary right now.

With that formula, you were targeting 1.076 not 1.066. 10 pounds of LME is a heck of a lot. But with 35 IBU it will be nicely ballenced.

The hops did not throw your gravity off. The gravity reads off the density of the liquid so only what is soluable affects it.

Plug that formula in here and you'll see: http://hbd.org/cgi-bin/recipator/recipator

Click to expand...

I got the target OG from the NB site and the ingredient kit. Is the wee heavy similar to the WInter Warmer? As for aging, I was planning on three weeks in the secondary and 4~5 weeks in bottles before chilling. SOund about right? I am hoping to have this ready for X-mas.

-Todd

ScottT said:

That my friend will be a wee heavy and will need some aging to mellow out but It'll be just fine. I've got one that started at 1.074 in the secondary right now.

With that formula, you were targeting 1.076 not 1.066. 10 pounds of LME is a heck of a lot. But with 35 IBU it will be nicely ballenced.

The hops did not throw your gravity off. The gravity reads off the density of the liquid so only what is soluable affects it.

Plug that formula in here and you'll see: http://hbd.org/cgi-bin/recipator/recipator

Click to expand...

In using that site, what type of Crystal and chocolate do I pick? I don't see Simpson listed, and there are so many 10L, 20L etc.

Sorry for the Newbie questions.

HomerT said:

In using that site, what type of Crystal and chocolate do I pick? I don't see Simpson listed, and there are so many 10L, 20L etc.

Sorry for the Newbie questions.

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When in doubt of the origin, I try to err on the conservative side and pick the American varient (typically slightly lower extraction rates, color ratings lean towards middle of the road).

As for what crystal you have ... do your remember what color it was? The different numbers next to each type of crystal indicate how dark each type is. Might just have to guess.

HomerT said:

In using that site, what type of Crystal and chocolate do I pick?

Click to expand...

The steeped grains wont contribute appreciably to the OG, just the color. In recipator you can just put in the syrup and the hops and it'll calculate everything except the color correctly.

El Pistolero said:

The steeped grains wont contribute appreciably to the OG, just the color. In recipator you can just put in the syrup and the hops and it'll calculate everything except the color correctly.

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True. That pound of grain is only going to give you about a gravity point or two, so it's not really a big deal if you leave them out, or just guess at their stats.

Now, if your really curious, you can check out Simpsons Malt page. Only catch is that they have their color and extraction stats in european units as the company is based in the UK.

Thanks for the help guys. This site continues to offer the best information!

-Todd (who is now much less worried about his brew)

PS. as of this morning, the air-lock was chugging away nicely.

Very high gravity worts might get stuck because the yeast can't handle the alcohol levels. The Scottish ale yeast is a good choice, but if the ferment stops around 1.030 add a packet of champaign yeast to the secondary. Keep it in the secondary at least two eeks, three would be better.

Also, this type of ale will take a few months of aging to be really drinkable.

HomerT said:

In using that site, what type of Crystal and chocolate do I pick? I don't see Simpson listed, and there are so many 10L, 20L etc.

Sorry for the Newbie questions.

Click to expand...

Simpsons is a British crystal. I just used 50L not knowing how dark it was.
British Chocolate is on there and that's what you use.


As far as aging, just let it firment out and that will take at least 3 weeks for both primary and secondary. Mine is still bubbling at 1 every 40 seconds and it's been going for 2 1/2 weeks. I still give mine a week of cold conditioning to clear it up then bottle. I plan to be trying it at Christmas but it will only get better with time. Give it a try. It should be drinkable.

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!

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Okay, nobody's mentioned this, so I will. (You're gonna love this...) Most target OGs are for wort samples at 60oF, If you took your sample at 75oF, then you need to adjust. With the adjustment, your OG was actually 1.068! Not a huge deal, but still...

1.068 was his target...his actual was 1.081 or 1.083 after adjustment.

Oops, sorry, yes you're right. My mistake. :cross: Man, that's gonna be one helluva Winter Warmer alright!

Yeah, it should be good, but it will need alot of time to mellow out i the bottle. It was still bubbling hard this mornig, with a little wort in the airlock....bubbles coming out of the airlock lid. The little beer bubbles were so much I had to take the airlock lid off and add more water!

-Todd

ScottT said:

As far as aging, just let it firment out and that will take at least 3 weeks for both primary and secondary. Mine is still bubbling at 1 every 40 seconds and it's been going for 2 1/2 weeks. I still give mine a week of cold conditioning to clear it up then bottle. I plan to be trying it at Christmas but it will only get better with time. Give it a try. It should be drinkable.

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Scott, are you saying three weeks in primary and three in secondary, or just three all together? I've got a Traquair House clone that I racked last night after 12 days in the primary...it went from 1.083 to 1.023 (target FG was 1.022). Will it need a full three weeks in secondary?

And how many shillings is that, anyway?

El Pistolero said:

Scott, are you saying three weeks in primary and three in secondary, or just three all together? I've got a Traquair House clone that I racked last night after 12 days in the primary...it went from 1.083 to 1.023 (target FG was 1.022). Will it need a full three weeks in secondary?

And how many shillings is that, anyway?

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Sorry for the confusion, I meant 1 week in primary and 2 weeks in secondary. I do mine for 3 weeks in the secondary with the final week in the Fridge for cold conditioning. This drops most of the yeast out of suspension without finings and gives you a really clear ale. Mine went from 1.074 down to 1.019 in 21/2 weeks. I'll give it one more week in the fridge starting Friday.

It still carbonates just fine after cold conditioning.

I'd call mine a 90/- and yours would be a 100/- SG all the way up to 1.12 would be rated a 140/-.

BTW, I drank one more of my Scottish 80/- this morning and my God it's good. 1 more week made all the difference in the world. It poured a 2" head that reduced to 1/4" and stayed with it all the way to the bottom of the glass. It was beautiful. Smooth and malty. I love it. Put them all in the fridge this afternoon. Just in time too. I break it out this Saturday.