English Mild - OG lower than expected

I crafted an English Mild that I call The Mild Mannered Gingerman, because I add 4 oz of ginger to the last 10 minutes of the boil. Here's the recipe:

0.75 LB Crystal Malt 60L
0.25 LB Chocolate malt
0.125 LB Black Patent Malt

Steep at 155 for 30 minutes

3 LB of Light DME

1 oz Kent Goldings for 60 Min

4 oz Freshly grated ginger root during final 10 minutes of boil

Nottingham Yeast

I originally calculated this with a 2.5 Gallon boil volume and then topped it off to make 5 gallons. The calc's showed 1.027 OG but I got 1.020 @ 68 degrees F. I'm guessing this mild will be uber-mild because even if it hits 1.000 FG It'll only hit 2.65% alcohol. I'm thinking I should add another lb of DME boiled in a quart or two of water and add that when transferring to a secondary to up the alcohol volume. Does anyone see a problem with doing that? I could open up the fermenter and add that in tomorrow, but it will probably be going great guns by then and I'd rather not mess with the primary while its in its initial stages. Thoughts or recomendations?

I wonder if adding the DME at the beginning of the boil caused the gravity to be lower... that doesn't make sense but right now I'm just trying to figure out why it would be low. Since Nottingham tends to be a quick fermenter I think I'll throw an extra lb of DME in today. I'm going to boil the DME for about 15 minutes, cool, then quickly add it to the fermenter... I'll keep my fingers crossed that this works.

if you are gonna add extract do it during primary fermentation if you can

I calculate this at 1.022. Remember you are not getting any fermentables from the grain if you are just steeping. +1 on adding DME in primary

I think adding during the primary is a better idea. I hadn't thought about not getting any fermentables from my grains, although they're all modified and I thought a 30 minute soak at 155 would provide some sugars but if its calculated at 1.022 on just the 3LB of DME I feel much better about my initial gravity reading.

I added 1 lb of DME boiled in 4 cups water just now. I had the lid on the fermenter open for 2.4 seconds... not bad if I say so. Within 20 seconds the airlock was bubbling again, so I'm happy.

+1 on DME in the secondary, maybe more to get it up to style guidelines. According to qbrew you need a minimum of 1.25 lbs to get the etoh up to 3.2%

Wondering if you got a diluted sample from adding that much water to get to final 5 gal volume (water and boiled wort not completely mixed). Did you shake fermenter well before pulling sample? Even at 2.65% your with-in spec for style of 2.5% abv to 4%.

Even with the addition of extra pound it should bring you up to around 3.6% (still within style)

kammee said:

I think adding during the primary is a better idea. I hadn't thought about not getting any fermentables from my grains, although they're all modified and I thought a 30 minute soak at 155 would provide some sugars but if its calculated at 1.022 on just the 3LB of DME I feel much better about my initial gravity reading.

Click to expand...

make sure you understand the difference between gravity points and fermentables. you DO get gravity points from your steeping grains...they just may not be fermentable. steeping grains are already converted and don't have to be mashed to extract the sugar.

if this is a 5 gal batch you should have got around 1.030 OG. like starfish said, maybe you got a diluted sample. if you do add dme, i would add it asap to the primary

you could also take a sample right now. if your fermentation has started and you gravity is reading at or about 1.020, you know your initial sample was wrong...

I did add DME yesterday during the primary, about 18 hours after I sealed the fermenter the first time. I guess it could have been a diluted sample, but I doubt it. I did give it a good stir in order to airate the wort. I didn't bother taking a gravity reading I'm just going to wait and see how it turns out. Won't know the final ABV, but I'm sure it will taste good none the less. Lesson learned, must calculate the extract amounts better next time using something like promash.

Well, the beer turned out great. Day 11, fully carbed (because it was a mild) and its good. Nice, light, and gingery... maybe just a little heavy on the ginger, but would go great with spicy food or to relax on a hot day.