Higher Than Expected OG w/Extract Kit?

Okay, just finished up a More Beer sweet stout extract kit. The paper work that came with it estimated the original gravity at 1.045 to 1.050. My measurement, adjusted for temperature, came out to 1.060. That seemed a little high to me. I did add the top of water before taking the measurement and thought I had stirred the top off water in adequately. In fact, I didn't believe my first reading so I stirred again and took a second one...still 1.060. Any ideas?

your at 5 gallons?

Didn't mix the wort and top off water thoroughly enough.





Sweet, was I first this time?
Edited: Yep, I type like a mongoose on PCP.

Yep, topped to five gallons and I thought I'd stirred adequately. To be safe, I stirred again and took that second measurement and STILL got 1.060. I then checked my hydrometer with regular tap water. Once I adjusted for temperature, tap water came out at 1.000. I also spun/tapped the hydrometer to try to remove any bubbles from its surface when I took the original readings...I'm stumped.

Not knowing what else to do, I pitched the yeast stirred it vigorously one last time and sealed it up. Hopefully I'll see some activity in the blow-off vessel letting me know it's taking off. Guess I'm just going to have to RDWHAHB, not like there's anything I can do about it now.

Hmm, just a thought. This is a sweet stout and calls for 1 lb of Lactose. I did add the lactose to the boil, per the instructions, but I'm wondering if maybe the estimated OG is without the lactose as that's not going to ferment out anyway, right?

What type of extract did you use? DME, LME, Dark, Amber, Gold, Light?

Different extracts have different degrees of fermentablility, the darker the extract the less fermenable because of the complex sugars contained in the extract. Dark extract is higher than Amber which is higher than Pale/Light. This in turn would make your gravity a bit higher but it is not way off so I wouldn't worry too much about it.

histo320 said:

What type of extract did you use? DME, LME, Dark, Amber, Gold, Light?

Different extracts have different degrees of fermentablility, the darker the extract the less fermenable because of the complex sugars contained in the extract. Dark extract is higher than Amber which is higher than Pale/Light. This in turn would make your gravity a bit higher but it is not way off so I wouldn't worry too much about it.

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It was an ultralight LME, which is what came in the ingredient kit. As you say, it's not way off so I'm not going to worry too much at this point. As long as fermentation takes off, I'll hopefully get something drinkable. It just seemed odd that it was off. My understanding and personal observation so far is that extract kits tend to hit pretty close on their predicted OG. It struck me as odd that I was off by so much on this one. It was my first kit that included steeping grains, but, unless I'm not understanding steeping grains, that shouldn't have effected the OG right?

typically how consistent are OG's? if a recipe says the OG is 1.044 for example, what is the range at which u would feel comfortable at?

It's pretty consistent with extracts. The sugar content of those is well known and constantly checked, so adding a certain amount of extract (by weight) to water is going to give you a certain gravity. The other possible explanation is that they gave you too much extract.

This is a great explanation of how the amount of extract translates to gravity: How to Brew - By John Palmer - How Much Extract to Use

MacBruver said:

The other possible explanation is that they gave you too much extract.

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I was thinking that might be a possibility as well.

EDIT: The kit was not on the shelf when I got there. So, they made one up for me. It's possible that there was more than six lbs there.