Low original gravity, help

Hi I am new here but looking for a little assistance. I just attempted a Green Flash West Coast IPA recipe and right before I pitched my yeast at 68 degrees, I took a hydrometer reading of 1.050. I was looking for 1.059.

Here's my tweaked recipe

In 2 gal water,
Steep 1 lb crystal 40
Steep 1 lb cara-pils (dont know if this actually can be steeped)
sparged with .25 gal water and added another .75 gal

Then I added 1 lb Dry malt extract and 3 lbs liquid light malt extract
Boiled and got a little hot break

90 min: .5 oz simcoe .2 oz columbus
60 min: .25 oz simcoe .25 oz columbus
30 min: .25 oz simcoe .25 oz columbus
20 min: 1 tsp irish moss
15 min: .75 oz simcoe .75 oz columbus
10 min: 1 oz cascade
5 min: added another 3 lbs LME
1 min: .50 oz simcoe .50 oz columbus

Took off heat and let sit 5 min before ice bath. Took about 30 min to get to 70 degrees


Now I was expected 1.059 because of the following formula:

1 lb DME at 44ppg = 44
6 lb LME at 37 ppg = 222
1 lb crystal 40 at 22ppg = 22
1 lb cara-pils at 8ppg = 8

Total = 296 divided by 5 gallon batch = 1.059

I've never split up the LME into 2 additions with the second one being at 5 min. Was this the cause? Other theories might be that my boil evaporated a lot, to the point where I had to add 3 gal to my 5 gal carboy

2nd part of this problem- is should i still continue with my dry hop schedule? It calls for .50oz simcoe, .50oz columbus, .50oz centenial, .50oz amarillo, .2 oz cascade

It tasted pretty good, a little sweet but damn bitter and high hops flavor (what I'm going for) but if I messed up my malts somehow then hops will be out of whack.

Thanks in advance for any help

I get 1.054 in Beersmith with the ingredients that you have listed into 5 gallons. I would bet that you just didn't have the wort mixed real well when you took the measurement.
How accurate is your final volume measurement? The boil off wouldn't matter as you are just boiling off water and replacing it at the end. I would still continue with your dry hop schedule as this wouldn't be affected by the gravity at all.

What MachineShopBrewing said. When I top off the wort I usually sit there and stir like like crazy for 5 minutes to make sure it's properly mixed, which helps with aeration anyways.

You should have the same amount of fermentable sugar, regardless how much water boiled off. Top causes of low OG with extract brews are insufficiently mixed wort and top off water, and poorly calibrated hydrometers (or failure to correct for temperature).

Regardless, the dry hop schedule will only add aroma and not bitterness. It shouldn't be affected by your starting gravity. i would go for it, as I love dry hopped IPA's, and amarillo and centennial are among my favorites.
This sounds great!

RDWHAHB, and Cheers! Y

Thanks for the help guys. I add some original numbers off and was first looking for 1.065 but then I realized my error too late and was instead shooting for 1.059 and since i misssed that by a bit- a little frustrated. haha whatever, its beer. I will still dry hop for some nice aroma.

I usually rack to a secondary after about 7 days to dry hop but thinking this time I'll just leave in primary and throw in those hops a few days before bottling. How's that sound?

fireworks15 said:

I usually rack to a secondary after about 7 days to dry hop but thinking this time I'll just leave in primary and throw in those hops a few days before bottling. How's that sound?

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sounds perfect, id wait at least 2 weeks before you do it tho.