Why was my OG 1.010...

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As the topic says; my OG was 1.012?

Here’s the receipt I made (an attempt at a Karl Strauss Amber Lager clone.):

6 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 60.0 %
2 lbs Munich Malt - 10L (10.0 SRM) Grain 20.0 %
1 lbs Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain 10.0 %
1 lbs Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 10.0 %
0.50 oz Cluster [7.40%] (60 min) Hops 16.6 IBU
1.00 oz Cascade [5.50%] (1 min) Hops 3.7 IBU
1 Pkgs German Lager (White Labs #WLP830) Yeast-Lager

Created a 1,000 ML Yeast Starter.

One thing that could have been wrong, my boil was a slow roller. It wasn’t as furious as I normally have it. I’d guess it was about 195F - 200F.

I did a nice whirlpool and oxygenated it for 20 minutes. Took my reading which gave me 1.010…

I pitched my yeast and there was nice activity after only a few hours. I’ve since put it in my cooler for its lagering temperature of 50F.

Thoughts ideas? Should I continue…since the highest alcohol expected would be what 1%?

Edit: Beershmith had my OG calculated at 1.060!! I was .050 off!!
 
We need more info on your process. What was your mash temp? How long was your mash? Did sparge and how? Any top up water added? Did you correct your hydrometer reading for temperature?

Your boil wouldn't account for that low of a number unless you ended up waaaaay over volume.

Cheers!
 
Did ya forget to crush your grain 0.o.

Grains were crushed. And yes, I could see where that would have been an issue.

We need more info on your process. What was your mash temp? How long was your mash? Did sparge and how? Any top up water added? Did you correct your hydrometer reading for temperature?

Your boil wouldn't account for that low of a number unless you ended up waaaaay over volume.

Cheers!

Since my grain bill was so low, i did a BIAB. Following Beersmith is suggested 7 Gals of water for 75min at a temp of 152F (strike water was at 155F before being added). I then heated it up for 10 min at 168F for my mash-out.

No top water was added. However since my boil was a bit low, I might have ended up with more water in the end than expected. Perhaps a 1 gallon over? It’s in a 7 gallon glass carboy and a bit hard to tell the exact amount (yep...I’ll be marking my carboy next round). I boiled in a Blichman 10 gallon kettle on the Top Tier system. It’s sad a newbie with all this high speed low drag gear. And I wish I were better :drunk:

Check your hydrometer for cracks. A small leak can weigh it down and give you a false low reading.

Did a float test in water and it seems spot on. 1.000. No visible sighs of cracks....

I think I’m going to go with to much water in the end.....grrrr. But wow, .050 OFF the mark. That’s just crazy...
 
Since my grain bill was so low, i did a BIAB. Following Beersmith is suggested 7 Gals of water for 75min at a temp of 152F (strike water was at 155F before being added). I then heated it up for 10 min at 168F for my mash-out.

Do you mean that you used seven gallons of strike water? If so, that's probably your problem. Seven gallons should be your total boil voluum. You should have used about 4 gallons for your strike water.

If you mashed in the full seven gallons, you mashed very thin and didn't get full starch conversion.
 
Ravenshead said:
Do you mean that you used seven gallons of strike water? If so, that's probably your problem. Seven gallons should be your total boil voluum. You should have used about 4 gallons for your strike water.

If you mashed in the full seven gallons, you mashed very thin and didn't get full starch conversion.

That would be true if it were not a BIAB style, you add the whole amount of water in the beginning then bring the temp up for a mash out.

Just to be clear did you check your gravity before or after pitching? The first time I checked gravity I checked after pitching and my gravity was way off, not as low as yours but really low.
 
You measured off the added water at the end.;) Measure again when everything is stirring up in the carboy. Tonight would probably be right.
 
That would be true if it were not a BIAB style, you add the whole amount of water in the beginning then bring the temp up for a mash out.

Just to be clear did you check your gravity before or after pitching? The first time I checked gravity I checked after pitching and my gravity was way off, not as low as yours but really low.

I've only done BIAB once but I didn't mash with my full boil volume. I used the same amount of water I always use for the mash and then sparged through the bag. I basically followed deathbrewers process with a few modification to fit my equipment.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/easy-stovetop-all-grain-brewing-pics-90132/

I'll defer to those who have more experience with BIAB, but I'm still thinking that if the OP actually mashed in seven gallons of water he's going to have conversion issues. That volume dilutes the enzymes too much to get good conversion.

From Palmer:

"A thinner mash of >2 quarts of water per pound of grain dilutes the relative concentration of the enzymes, slowing the conversion, but ultimately leads to a more fermentable mash because the enzymes are not inhibited by a high concentration of sugars."
 
All I know is my mash efficiency jumped 10% when I switched from full-volume mashes to <2 qts/lb with really basic "sparge".

Edit: But even when I mashed really thin at full volume, I never got anything like .050 off. It was like 65 percent mash efficiency instead of 75.
 
Sooo...I took it, and it&#8217;s at 1.032? CRAZY!!???

It&#8217;s been fermenting for two days. Day one I had it at Room Temp 72F. Once I saw action I put it in my cooler at 50F (suggested for that strand of Yeast). Which I&#8217;ll keep it there for about 10-12 days.

So what is the lesson here? I&#8217;m curious to know what could or might have happened so I can know in the future?
 
What temp was the wort when you took the reading? I bet you forgot to correct for a high temperature, and that's why it's now at 1.032.
 
What temp was the wort when you took the reading? I bet you forgot to correct for a high temperature, and that's why it's now at 1.032.

I should have thought of that. If that beer had an OG of 1041-ish but the sample was around 183 F the hydrometer would read around 1012.
 
You measured off the added water at the end.;) Measure again when everything is stirring up in the carboy. Tonight would probably be right.

+1 This.

Or there's more to it than you've said. Like...all the wort spilled out so I filled the kettle with tap water instead and now my reading is low.

Or the grainbill was for a 5 gallon batch and I now have 30 gallons, what happened?! ;)

Your boil cannot cause anything like this.
 
What temp was the wort when you took the reading? I bet you forgot to correct for a high temperature, and that's why it's now at 1.032.

And +1 this too. Temperature adjust your hydrometer to 65f or whatever is the normal baseline.
 
Where did you come up with the recipe for this?

I just had one of these the other day and would love to clone this bad boy.
 

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