OG from instructions

Hello all,

I brewed an AHS summer saison Belgian ale yesterday and the instructions said the estimated OG was 1.065. When I was done I measured my gravity at 1.053, I entered the recipe into a calculator program and it gave the OG of 1.054 .

What's going on????

Recipe
3 lb wheat DME
2 lb extra light DME
.5 lb flaked wheat
.5 lb aromatic malt
2.5 lb pilsner malt
.5 lb wheat malt

I mini mashed at 148-150 for 55 minutes
The recipe called for 155 for 45 minutes
If this is where I went wrong I'm confused by the brewing software giving me a different IG with the recipe plugged in than the instructions with the kit..

Are you selecting partial mash on your calculator? It sounds like the program is not counting the yield from your grains, which would happen if you had it set for extract only.
As far as your measurment, did you top off with water? Could be the culprit (mixing issue).

chickypad said:

Are you selecting partial mash on your calculator? It sounds like the program is not counting the yield from your grains, which would happen if you had it set for extract only.
As far as your measurment, did you top off with water? Could be the culprit (mixing issue).

Click to expand...

Ahh yes I forgot to mention that I did a 3 gallon boil and topped off to 5 gallons. But the recipe did call for that too

And yes it was set to extract not partial mash..
Fixed now

So if its a mixing issue does it mean the sample I collected could not have Been mixed enough for an accurate reading or that its diluted?

I was really hoping for a strong beer

It's usually a false reading from not mixing enough. You can take the reading before adding the top off water next time. As long as you know your exact volume before top-off you can calcuate the correct OG.

That's a relief!! Thanks for the help

What he said!

DME has a set gravity, so assuming you put all of the DME in the pot and your water volume was correct, 100% of the time you will get the correct OG.

However, gravity is a reading of DENSITY, so everything must be 100% dissolved and 100% mixed to get a proper OG reading. When peeps add top off water, it is common not to 100% mix it into the solution before taking a gravity reading, resulting in a false reading.

Oxygen is good for yeast health pre-fermentation, so after you add your top-off water, spend 5-10 minutes stirring and frothing the ever living crap out of the wort before you take your OG reading!!

I definitely ccould have done a better job aerating!