Something Impossible Happened:

I brewed a Pale this afternoon. Used 11 total pounds of grain, for a 5 gallon batch. I ran off 6.5 gallons. The gravity was too high, so I ran off some more... finally I ended up with PBG = 1.052 in 7.5 gallons. Out of 11 lbs of grain. This can't be right, can it?

My actual readings were 1.038 at 135*F before the boil. Could the calculator I use be wrong?

The OG ended up at 1.066 after the (60 min) boil.

Thoughts?

Yooper alerted me to the fact that hydrometers get pretty inaccurate over 100 degrees even when you do account for the temp difference.

The next time I brewed I tested this and it showed my hydrometer skewed high at mash temp. Meaning: I took a reading at 155. Reading was 1.050. Book says to adjust to 1.070 for temp, but when I cooled the sample down to 70 the reading was still 1.050.

Now I cool my samples to get true readings.

Your OG into the fermenter is around 81%. This is very good and very reasonable unlike your 101% mash and lauter efficiency.

it's possible to get that high of an efficiency.

just not that likely consistently.


G x 36 / batch size(g)= maximun extraction (100% efficiency)

OG/ME = brewhouse efficiency

I'm curious about high temperatures and my hydrometer now. I'll test it tomorrow for sure.

Thanks, dontman!

Yeah, it has something to do with the alignment of the moon and stars today. I too got way over gravity. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to deal with more beer ; )