What would my MAX o.g. reading be?

So I brewed a Brewers Best Brown Ale kit last weekend.

3.3 lbs Plain Amber LME
2 lbs plain amber DME
8 oz 60L crystal
5 cups of raw honey
1.5 oz willamette
Nottingham Ale Yeast

Says o.g. without honey should be 1.040-1.048 and f.g. should be 1.010-1.012

Steps
I steeped the grain for 45 minutes instead of 20 at 180 degrees in 2 gallons of water.

I boiled just this plus the bittering hops for 1 hour. I turned the flame off.

Then I added all of the extracts and honey.

Added enough water for 5 gallons.

I pitched the wort at 90 degrees.

I swear my o.g. reading was 1.104. Is this even possible with this recipe and procedure?

This brew fermented fine and bubbled the airlock 3 times longer than any other beer I have even made. I was getting bubbles this morning, the sixth day. Usually mine are done bubbling after 2.

So my gravity reading this morning is 1.020 and the foam is mostily gone on the surface of the beer.

I checked and the abv would be 11%, which would be about right for fermentation with that yeast to be over, right?

My major question in this post then is, was my o.g. reading possible? If not, what do you think the highest possible o.g. would have been, so I know what my abv would be if I was somehow incorrect.

Thanks for your time.

I think your OG reading was probably due to a lack of proper mixing since the heavier wort will sink to the bottom. If you took the sample from the bottom of the fermenter without getting everything mixed up, your reading might be overly high (which I think it is). I have had the opposite happen to me by taking the reading from the top (OG way too low).

In the future make sure you get things well stirred up before taking your hydrometer sample in order to get a more accurate reading.

I don't know- it seems like 5 cups of honey is a huge amount to me. Do you have any idea of the weight? I can run it through Beersmith and see.

You may have drawn a highly concentrated portion of the wort. A lot of people end up doing the opposite...drawing a sample from the top of the wort just after they added top-up water and they end up getting a thin (low OG) reading.

I plugged your ingredients into Beersmith and assuming that 5 cups = about 2 1/2 pounds, I have you at 1.066 as an OG.

Right now you're at a 6% ABV...but please note, honey takes a long time to completely ferment out and is very slow in doing so.

I would not think about bottling that brew for several weeks and make sure your readings are static for at least 4 days straight.

Also, if my estimate about the weight of honey is incorrect..all bets are off. I just remember that Lyle's golden syrup is 11 fluid ounces and the contents weigh exactly 1 pound.

According to what I found, a gallon of honey is about 12 lbs. This puts my 5 cups at @3.75 lbs.

Yeah, I'm gonna let this one ferment out and bulk age at least 3-4 weeks before I attempt to either bottle it or cask condition it.

sTango said:

According to what I found, a gallon of honey is about 12 lbs. This puts my 5 cups at @3.75 lbs.

Click to expand...

Ok, that looks like 1.068. It does give you a breakdown of about 40% honey in your brew, though. Is that a braggot, then, I wonder?

Thanks so much for checking the numbers. I really do appreciate it. I have learned so much from you ladies and gentlemen

Braggot? I checked the wiki, because being a noob I had no idea what you are talking about but yes, it looks like it would qualify. This gives me new possbilities for its name, although the one I chose for it (Miskatonic Chronic) makes me laugh.

Crap, Miskatonic Chronic is for my Holiday ale.....I havent named this one yet.

Thanks to others also for the usefule tip about mixing. I will remember that next time.