Missed OG by 10 pts!!!

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Rdracera1

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 9, 2006
Messages
67
Reaction score
0
Location
Desert Southwest aka - Hell
What would cause the gravity to be that far off?
The recipe is a Kolsch. LM Extract & steeping grains. I followed the directions to the letter. 2.5 gallon boil and topped off to exactly 5 gallons in primary. Ran the wort through a kitchen strainer while putting it into primary to remove the bulk of the hops & moss etc... This is my third HB so my experience is limited but, I've never missed a target OG yet. I was supposed to get 1.050 and my measurement was 1.061 (corrected for temp) @ 70 degrees.

So, my feeling is that this won't hurt anything but, the little critters sure have their work cut out for them.

What are all of your thoughts?

:mug:
 
how much LME and how much grain?

1.061 sounds a mite high for a Kolsh, but hey, maybe you could dry hop it and call it an "Imperial Koelsch." :D

(sorry am on an Imperial anything kick these days)
 
With extract incomplete mixing is the biggest problem. Followed by too much or not enough makeup water. Some recipes call for more than 5 gallons because they allow for a larger than normal trub. You might have applied the temperature correction incorrectly.

If you post the actual recipe, we might spot something.
 
3/4 lb German wheat malt
1/2 lb of Vienna malt
1/4 lb Belgian carmel malt
7.5 lbs of LME

.75 oz Nothern hops for 60m
.75 oz Tettnag hops for 20m
1 tbsp of Irish Moss of 15m
.75 oz of Tettnag hops for 5 m

Wyeast 1338 Euro Ale

2.5 gal boil, 8.5 lbs of RO ice to cool. Top off with ~ 1 gallon of RO water. Wort was sitting about an eighth of an inch above the 5 gallon mark.
Temp of wort was 70 degrees when OG was measured.
 
Rdracera1 said:
3/4 lb German wheat malt
1/2 lb of Vienna malt
1/4 lb Belgian carmel malt
7.5 lbs of LME

.75 oz Nothern hops for 60m
.75 oz Tettnag hops for 20m
1 tbsp of Irish Moss of 15m
.75 oz of Tettnag hops for 5 m

Wyeast 1338 Euro Ale

2.5 gal boil, 8.5 lbs of RO ice to cool. Top off with ~ 1 gallon of RO water. Wort was sitting about an eighth of an inch above the 5 gallon mark.
Temp of wort was 70 degrees when OG was measured.
Here is what I came up with using your recipe: (click thumbnail)
 
wow, that's a beefy Koelsch. def Imperial!!!

first Koelsch recipe I've ever seen wth 7.5 lbs of extract + steeping grains! :)

Koelsvh yeast would have been cool, but still, it's going to be a good beer!

PROST1!
 
Moved this batch from primary to secondary today. It's certainly going to be potent.. Perhaps an Imperial Kolsch??? ha ha.

Took a hydro reading and after 8 days in primary it's 1.020. Taste is good but still green with a hot alcohol finish to it. I'll post a follow up in a week or two when it goes to bottles or keg. I haven't decided where it will end up.

:mug:
 
Two things to report.
1. This beer is so good!! I'll certainly be making it again.

2. I finally figured out why I've been missing my OG's on the high side. I've haven't been putting my steeping grains in a bag. I've just been pouring them into the water and letting them free float. This is causing my efficiency to go up and thus throwing off my OG as opposed to what the recipe predicted.

Prost! :mug:
 
Back
Top