Missed My Target OG - Please Help

I'm making a batch of beer tonight, and everything went really smooth with no problems untill I started cleaning up and then I noticed that on the label of my beer kit it says "Makes 24 Pints of Handcrafted Beer". Oh no! Its supposed to be a 13.5 L kit - not a 5 gallon kit!

I got out my hydrometer and checked my OG. The instructions said target gravity was 1.040-1.043, I was expecting higher than that since I had thought I was bumping it up by adding 3 #s of extra Dark LME. Well it looks like I actually ended up with 1.036 - darn - not what I was hoping for at all.

Well I've got a couple possible solutions, first I could wait until tomorrow morning when the LHBS is open and pick up some Dextrose, DME, or Hopped DME and rush home and add it in there and try to bump the gravity up like that. Or I could go in the kitchen and open a 3.3# package of unhopped LME that I was saving for something else and try to bump it up that way ??

What do you think my best option is for making the best of what was originally intended to be a stout ?

Just to clarify, I'm looking for an easy way to add another .02 of gravity to my beer without messing anything up.

1.036 will be a nice session beer, I'd just leave it be. Or make another batch of something and try a blend. I would at least let it ferment out and see how the flavour is before I rushed to do anything. You can always add that extra fermentable later on and restart fermentation.

I'd add the LME SHouldn't hurt the stout's profile much, if at all.

bradsul said:

1.036 will be a nice session beer.

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well when you put it that way, it doesn't sound so bad

before I decide to just let it be and have a drink, do you mind helping me figure out how much I'm off my target in terms of ingredients instead of in terms of gravity ?

for 5 gallons, how much of the following would I need to bump the gravity by .01 ?

DME ?

LME ?

Dextrose ?

Just trying to get an idea of how close I am to 1.045 or so in terms of ingredients I could easily add.

Mutilated1 said:

... for 5 gallons, how much of the following would I need to bump the gravity by .01 ?

DME ?

LME ?

Dextrose ?

Just trying to get an idea of how close I am to 1.045 or so in terms of ingredients I could easily add.

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1lbs of LME in 5G will increase the gravity by about 0.007. DME and dextrose by about 0.009 (at least according to promash, those are estimates obviously). I wouldn't use the dextrose though, go with DME or LME.

Many commercial stouts are session beers.

david_42 said:

Many commercial stouts are session beers.

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I've actually been adjusting some of my usual recipes down to session strength, they taste so good I want to have a bunch without ending up passed out on the couch. My normal dry stout is usually only about 3.3%.

I'm with you Brad...experimenting with a lighter brew is challenging...

OK you guys talked me into it.

I'll just let it go as it is, Its only 5 gallons so even if its not great it won't last long anyhow.

Thanks.

That's the nice thing about session beers; they aren't meant to be sipped.

I'm going to make another one in a few days and make sure I hit or exceed the gravity on this one. Then when its done, I can siphon of 1/3 of each, combine them and then bottle 3 different strengths and see which one I like best.

Hey guys, my fermentation is starting to slow on this one. I checked the gravity this afternoon and its just barely at 1.020, should be only a few more days. I tasted the sample, and even though its not finished yet and not carbonated I would definitely enjoy this beer, I can tell its going to be good.

Got a couple of followup type questions for anyone who might be interested in helping me out.

First, of all the color of the wort when I was cooking it was almost black. It looked like dirty motor oil. When I took the sample, the color was more like chocolate milk. Brown not Black. Again, this was originally supposed to be a stout, is there anything I should be learning from the lighter than expected color ?

Second of all, considering I was trying to make a stout - would it be advisable to put the beer in a secondary at all or considering the lower than expected gravity maybe just a few extra days in the fermenter till the gravity is stable.

Finally, I've been really lucky with the weather the last week and I've had fermentation temps mostly in the 58-62 range and possibly only up to 65-66 most days. Today its been warmer than expected and my temp is now almost 70 at 10 pm. Its expected back in the 50s tomorrow, so theres no point in me trying to cool it off now I guess - it will be cooling down in a couple hours anyway. How long at 70 is enough to effect my beer ? I'm using Nottingham Dry Yeast.

best thing about Nottingham is that it ferments FAST especially with low gravity beer. I'd say it's almost done anyways, and the recent increase in temp had little ill effect. Definitely secondary for a while. There's nothing like a dark brown or black beer that is clear enough to see through. Don't worry about the color it will be beautiful once it's clear.

On that color, was your sample in a hydrometer flask? If so, it will look lighter than when you put it in a pint glass (much like it looks darker in the carboy).


TL

I'm with you guys on just enjoying these beers as session brews, but how do you make up for the increased IBUs? If you miss your gravity and don't know until its in the fermenter, you would've hopped it as if you didn't miss your gravity. Wouldn't your BU:GU ratio be totally lop-sided then? I know hop bitterness mellows with time, but that would take a while...

That's what makes it so great when you do hit it right. Just enjoy it as much as you can. It will be OK.

I put it in a secondary a couple of days ago and while I was racking it, I decide to go ahead and bottle a couple of bottles. I had a little taste of it then and even though it was flat, it was really good. I'm going to have to stop and get a six pack on the way home tonight otherwise I don't think I'll have the willpower to stay out of it and I want to sample the first bottles I bottled this weekend while watching football and eating leftover turkey sandwiches on Turkey Day.

bradsul said:

I've actually been adjusting some of my usual recipes down to session strength, they taste so good I want to have a bunch without ending up passed out on the couch.

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My feelings as well Brad. I still like to make a good 5+% beer, I am finding the session beers to be much more amenable to drinking more than 3.