Brooklyn Brew Shop OG/FG

I recently made the Chocolate Maple Porter that came with my BBS kit. Now I am doing the Everyday IPA from the BBS Recipe book using ingredients from my lhbs.

The kit, nor the book, publish expected OG or FG. I am trying to us my hydrometer to monitor my progress and learn more about the brewing process beyond just following the steps.

Any idea how I might get an idea what might be proper OC/FG readings for BBS recipes?

If you can post the recipe, we can help figure out an OG. If this is an all grain batch, your efficiency will play a part so a hydrometer reading may be the only way to truly know what your OG is.

Everyday IPA was my first beer I did. Unfortunately I did not have a hydrometer then and I just followed the instructions. I did do this beer again as a 5 gallon batch and I did have a hydrometer for that one. My OG was 1.060 and my FG was 1.015.

Are you doing the 1 gallon batch again? If so I noticed someone on hopville put in the 1 gallon recipe and they had an OG of 1.075 and an FG of 1.020. The estimated OG said it was 1.053 and FG of 1.014. This is for the exact recipe out of the book.

SkippyWilliams said:

Everyday IPA was my first beer I did. Unfortunately I did not have a hydrometer then and I just followed the instructions. I did do this beer again as a 5 gallon batch and I did have a hydrometer for that one. My OG was 1.060 and my FG was 1.015.

Are you doing the 1 gallon batch again? If so I noticed someone on hopville put in the 1 gallon recipe and they had an OG of 1.075 and an FG of 1.020. The estimated OG said it was 1.053 and FG of 1.014. This is for the exact recipe out of the book.

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It was 1 gallon - right out of the book, but I don't have the recipe in front of me as I am at work. Maybe I can post that later, as gcdown suggested.

I did try a hydrometer reading with the post-boil wort at a bit under 70F. I did not measure volume accurately, but I may have over-boiled a bit (not having turned down the hear enough, methinks) as the gallon carboy was somewhere between 2/3 and 3/4 full. Anyhow, that reading was 1.076. Then I topped it off, perhaps a bit too much (just over the "one gallon" lettering on the carboy. That reading was 1.038. However, upon further reading I have seen the posts about problems getting a top-off reading since the wort and water don't often mix well. So, obviously, reality is somewhere in between.

gcdowd said:

If you can post the recipe, we can help figure out an OG. If this is an all grain batch, your efficiency will play a part so a hydrometer reading may be the only way to truly know what your OG is.

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Everyday IPA 6.8% ABV

Recipe from the BBS book, including their instructions with some minor alterations that detail my procedure.

60-minute mash of 2.5 quarts heated to 160F, dropping near 150F within 1 minute of adding grain. Steeped between 144 and 152F, heating as needed. I did drop a bit below 144 for about a minute once, and went to about 155 for a minute or so (overshot while heating, one ice cube stirred in seemed to bring it down). Average throughout the mash was about 149.

1.8 pounds American 2-row
0.4 pound Caramel 20
0.2 pound Victory
0.1 pound Munich Malt

All milled at the lbhs.

After initial mash, temperature raised to 170F then put through strainer into another pot. One additional gallon of 170F water was also passed through the strainer and mash. The sparge then asked for one more pass of that pre-boil wort through the mash, although I actually did it one more time (a function of ending up with a larger pot for the boil to help avoid boil over).


60-minute boil

0.1 ounce Columbus hops added when foam started, and heat dropped a bit, although temp remained around 212F

0.5 Cascade hops divided into fifths, and added after 15 minutes, 30 minutes, 45 minutes, 55 minutes and at 60 minutes when taken off heat and placed in ice bath. Along the line my thermometer showed gradual decreasing in heat to around 202F (but still showing some boiling action at the end - would I be correct that the malt sugars, etc. lower the boiling point?)

I think I pointed out elsewhere that my boil may have reduced the wort volume to somewhere around 2/3 to 3/4 gallon. So water was topped off to what might be just above 1-gallon.

1/2 packet Safale US-05 added after top-off, and shaken vigorously for oxygenation.

That was completed Sunday night. Last night it was bubbling vigorously, and today still some bubbling although not as vigorous.

Any help in estimating an expected OG and FG would be GREATLY appreciated.

Hey, btw, has anyone told you lately just how much fun it is to home brew?

Thanks for the help!

At a typical 70% efficiency, you're looking at an OG of around 1.065 (that is assuming your volume is exactly 1 gallon)

gcdowd said:

At a typical 70% efficiency, you're looking at an OG of around 1.065 (that is assuming your volume is exactly 1 gallon)

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My readings were well on both sides of that mark, which leads me to think that the reality is probably pretty close to that. Seem like a safe assumption?

Obviously I have a lot to learn as regards technique so my worts will be closer to one gallon post-boil and before top-off.

Any idea what my FG target should be?

Most of my ales that used safale 05 finished around 1.010 but it could be anywhere around that. A lot of it depends on what malts you used and how much, and mash temps. Since you have a bit of specialty malts in there, your FG could be higher.

gcdowd said:

Most of my ales that used safale 05 finished around 1.010 but it could be anywhere around that. A lot of it depends on what malts you used and how much, and mash temps. Since you have a bit of specialty malts in there, your FG could be higher.

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Thank you. Very Helpful - will give at least a general target to look for.

I hope to get up and running on Beersmith soon, but I don't quite understand enough to set up proper preferences on equipment and such. I imagine that will be a helpful tool with these kinds of questions.

It will help, yes. Good luck in your brewing endeavors!