Why do I keep missing my O.G.?

Sorry if there are a million threads on this...

I have about 9 extract batches under my belt, and while I am very happy with most of my brews, I almost always miss my O.G. I use Brewer's Friend (which is great) for my recipes.

I have an 8 gallon pot, with spigot, so I chill to 70, then take a sample from the spigot before emptying pot into carboy. Wort should be reasonably mixed.

Is it my boil? I do a full boil, and I usually start with 6-6.5 gallons of water (I may have just answered my own question here). So I don't top off. Too much water? I've noticed I usually have a lot of wort, with not the expected boil off.

Thanks.

As opposed to brewing with grains, you should be getting a fairly close to exact approximation of your gravity when using extract. That's all I know. So yeah, maybe too much water. I've noticed extract people write that they will cook with less water and then top off once cooled in their carboy.

I've always been under the impression it's almost impossible to miss an OG with extract unless the water volumes are off. How low are we talking? You can try to narrow it down to how much water you're off. I use 0.001 points of gravity for each .5 liter of water. So if say you're 0.002 off, you've got about a liter too much water in there.

Boil off of about 10% is normal, you should start the boil around 6-6.5 gallons.

Is your gravity high or low? Do you take into account you're taking gravity at 70 instead of 60? Have your checked your hydrometer in just water? You can mark your carboy with gallon/half gallon marks so you know your final volume.

Yeah, sounds like too much water- how much "extra" wort are you getting beyond your target batch size? If you're doing full boils, then mixing isn't an issue like it is for some extract brewers who might think they're missing OG because of insufficient mixing of top-off water. You definitely should be hitting target grav if you're using all-extract as long as you're not winding up with too much wort. Try dropping your pre-boil volume-if you wind up having to use a half-gallon or so of top-off water, it's no big deal.

If you are getting consistently low gravity with your extract, it could be that your hydrometer is not calibrated. Have you checked it in 60 degree distilled water to ensure it's 1.000?

Definitely start by calibrating your Hydrometer. Doesn't matter the temp just use a correction chart. Hydrometer Correction Chart

Once you've checked your hydrometer is right then make sure to still correct the reading for temp when you measure the wort. My buddy was telling me the first hydrometer he got was off so badly he had to return it for a second one. His first batch was completely off based on the readings but turned out great

You're more than likely not missing your og, just missing out on an accurate reading.... Read this for an explanation of why, and go by what the gravity reading in the recipe says it should be.

I did a barleywine with a target OG of 1.130....I hit 1.106

Just did a pumpkin ale with a 1.074 target...I hit 1.064.

My hydrometer is something to check..it calabrated at 68 degrees.

I am way off.

With those kinds of brews you could be stepping at the wrong temp, or not long enough at the ideal temp more likely.

But I'd still bet on the hydrometer, these aren't lab grade hydrometers.

MrEggSandwich said:

I did a barleywine with a target OG of 1.130....I hit 1.106

Just did a pumpkin ale with a 1.074 target...I hit 1.064.

My hydrometer is something to check..it calabrated at 68 degrees.

I am way off.

Click to expand...

These were all extract with steeped grains and other adjuncts recipes, not pure extract, and your readings aren't exactly in line to show an obvious fault with the hydrometer. The difference between 60 and 70 F is about .001 gravity units. I would keep searching for an answer. Or just buy another hydrometer and use both to see if there's a sliding scale difference.

MrEggSandwich said:

I did a barleywine with a target OG of 1.130....I hit 1.106

Just did a pumpkin ale with a 1.074 target...I hit 1.064.

Click to expand...

What are your volumes after the boil?

If your target is 1.130 at 5 gallons but you have just over 6, you'll be around 1.106. Likewise, if your target is 1.074 for 5 gallons but you have just under 6 gallons, you'll be around 1.064.

Actually, 10 degrees will put you off by about .003, still not enough to explain your numbers though.

If it is the hydrometer, then it doesn't really matter... The thing that matters is the difference from OG to the FG. the OG doesn't matter until you are trying to find your efficiency, or until you're worried about how many yeast cells you need to pitch (even then you can only go by the predicted OG since after the wort is made you won't have time to make a starter with the correct number of cells)

My guess is still probably a combination of volume, not steeping long enough in the correct temp, and hydrometer. Start by finding the final volume. Then you can either use a calc our you can just do:

(("recipe's intended volume"*"intended gravity")+("actual volume"-"intended volume"))/"actual volume" = "actual gravity"

And see if that comes out close.

CarboyBoy said:

What are your volumes after the boil?

If your target is 1.130 at 5 gallons but you have just over 6, you'll be around 1.106. Likewise, if your target is 1.074 for 5 gallons but you have just under 6 gallons, you'll be around 1.064.

Click to expand...

This is most likely your problem. You need to mark whatever you are fermenting in with accurate levels do you know how much volume of wort you have after your boil. We need to know how much wort you have post boil to be able to help anymore.

Another thought, and I may be off, so correct me if I am wrong:

What has been your attenuation for these beers? With higher OGs, maybe the boil time is too short? It's a lot of solids that need to be dissolved.

Thoughts from the gurus?

I will take a pic of my carboy later, but I can tell you, my total volume of liquid + trub was around 6 gallons.

As mentioned, I always seem to miss my OG by pretty significant difference.

I steeped at 155 for 30 minutes...

So, post-boil you have 6 gallons left?

MrEggSandwich said:

I will take a pic of my carboy later, but I can tell you, my total volume of liquid + trub was around 6 gallons.

As mentioned, I always seem to miss my OG by pretty significant difference.

Click to expand...

Then you have about 1 gal too much. Next batch use 1 gal less water.

CarboyBoy said:

What are your volumes after the boil?

If your target is 1.130 at 5 gallons but you have just over 6, you'll be around 1.106. Likewise, if your target is 1.074 for 5 gallons but you have just under 6 gallons, you'll be around 1.064.

Click to expand...

+1. A few recommendations:
1. Adjust your water volume from the start based on your usual boil-off volume to hit your desired post-boil volume.
2. Mark a spoon or measuring stick with various volumes in your brew pot so you can monitor volume during boil and adjust boil intensity depending on boil-off rate
3. Intentionally undershoot volume and use top-off water to hit target volume. This can even be added progressively in the last 5-10 minutes of boil to ensure it mixes in properly and is boiled with your full volume (as long as it doesn't kill your boil).

Agreed. If you have 6 gallons post boil, you are a gallon too high. You either need to use less water or compensate and use more extract to take the extra gallon of water into account.

BlueZooBrewing said:

2. Mark a spoon or measuring stick with various volumes in your brew pot so you can monitor volume during boil and adjust boil intensity depending on boil-off rate

Click to expand...

+1. I added a gallon of water at a time to my brewpot and each time marked the water level on a piece of dowel with a Sharpie. Then I split the distance between each "tick" into ticks for quarts so I can always get a good read on my pre-boil volume and monitor it during the boil. Just remember that this measuring device is only calibrated to the pot you made it for and can't be used with other vessels!