Can I calculate OG after adding honey in primary?

I've got a Belgian wit in primary. 5.25 gallons. Using WLP400, White Labs Beglian Wit.

I had a starting gravity of 1.037 and after a slow, sluggish ferment (it's in a bucket, so hard to tell since it could've been leaking slowly out of the side) it was at 1.022 after 4 days. It's a bit warm 74degrees.

I decided to put some honey into it so I added 1lb at day 4. Fermentation picked up dramatically for about 1 more day and then back to very little or none at all. 3 extra days (for a total of 8 days in primary) and the Gravity is 1.022 again (I assume it went up because of the honey).

So my question is...how the heck am I supposed to calculate OG now!? (i didn't take a measurement after adding the honey...it was sort of clumped in)

Also, it has a bit of a bitter after taste.

Is this normal? Or did I get some infection? How could I tell

Thanks for the help!

If you had taken a gravity reading when you added the honey ,you could have taken the point difference and added it to your original o.g.
Then after taking your F.G. you could determine you A.B.V.
I'm sure there is a given for adding 1 pound of honey,but I don't know what it is.

You could also run all your ingredients(honey included ) through a recipe calculator and come up with your target O.G. and F.G.

Going by the recipe calculator , 1 pound of honey in a 5.25 gallon batch adds
.0065 to the o.g.


Beer Calculus . homebrew recipe calculator

Thanks for the help flylock jac.

So my OG is 1.037 + .06 = 1.0425 or 1.043. So far, it's at 1.022, so I don't think it's done yet...that is, if I'm calculating this attenuation thing right.

1.043-1.022 = .021/.043 = 49% attenuation. And it's supposed to go to 75%.

I just hope this bitterness decreases.


Does bitterness change towards the end of the primary ferment or in the bottle? The ingredients gave me an IBU of 19...which is low, right?


hmmm...now I'm thinking that maybe I screwed up. It was a partial extract recipe and when I added the extract, I didn't mix well, and some burnt at the bottom of the boiling pot. There were these little black flakes floating around, which I filtered out. But now I'm wondering if that added some funky bitterness? The flakes tasted sweet though.

Any ideas?


Oh crap. The recipe says I should've had an OG of 1.049. I was at 1.037. Was it the burning?

Thanks for the help. I'm looking at the beer calculus right now.


I've also got a trappist ale in primary. Didn't burn that one. Let's hope it turns out better.

The black flakes are most likely burnt extract, so your gravity will be a little low. It will also add a slightly burnt flavor to your beer. I have had this problem when I first started. In the future take your pot of the heat and stir your extract until disolved, place back on heat and boil. Remember to keep stirring so it doesnt settle and start to burn. To help with the off flavor you can let it age for a few months and the flavor will mellow out nicely. My first batch took about 2 months to age out good, but was very drinkable after that.

Thanks CABeerMaker...good advice. I will absolutely follow on my next one. As a matter of fact, I just started a Chimay clone and I think I did much better. Still had a classic mess-up. Pushed the friggin rubber stopper in so hard that it popped right into the carboy. I sterilized a coat hanger and fished it out...only took about 45 minutes. Then I thought...wow, that was stupid...I should've just left it there. Crossing my fingers my beer didn't catch the clap.

I'll try your aging technique. I think I detect a tiny bit of off-bitterness. I'm sure it's the burning. I'll let it sit for a while, and hope it fades, like you say. Of course I'll have to knock one back every now and then while I wait out your 2 months, so who knows if any will actually make it!

Thanks again for the advice.

after you get a few batches going it's easier to wait the 2 months i promise start stocking up. and make sure you record all your brews in a log as you brew. recording stuff like the burner was on the burner was off as you did thing will really help as you tast your beers in the future or you wanna see what you did differn't between batches.

i also burnt my first extract still turned otu great tho

yes 19 is low( wit style is also low hopped)

Good point. I jotted some things down in a notebook. But now that you mention a log, I think I'll do it in a more organize fashion. I'll look around for a pre-made form or something. Thanks for the help and my first beer will be dedicated to kind, wise folks on this board.

What I'm starting to realize, however is that something is screwy with this batch. After I calculate the honey in my OG, I have a starting of 1.043, instead of 1.050, and a FG of 1.020 instead of 1.008. Wow! What the heck?! I'm going to have a very low alcohol beer. I wonder what I did wrong??