Actual starting gravity significantly higher than kit's numbers

So for my second batch, I started another kit brew, this time an Irish Stout. The kit's starting gravity was from 1.048-1.052, but when I took two samples (after cooling the wort to 70F and adding water to make 5 gallons), both my starting gravities were 1.062 [temperature corrected]. When I sipped the thief sample it was very sweet and bitter.


What gives?

Sounds like beer to me. I wouldn't be worried about the gravity varying, especially on the high side. Seems you did good.

don't worry to much every kit i've done did the same for me. just remember it might finish a tad higher than listed also. never trust just one hydro reading to determine if beer is done always do another 1-2 days later before bottling((saves bombs,carpet to)

I wish I had that problem. I am consistently starting with low OG. I made several near O'douls batches and now have resorted to adding DME and corn syrup!

I will be getting two ABV increasers tomorrow from Austin Homebrew to try to rectumfy this.

To speak to your problem, I had a bottle bomb at 1.025 FG. Be patient and be sure you get below that FG. I would recommend putting the freshly bottled brew in a cooler or something else that will contain and explosion.

Extract kits are rarely that far off in starting gravity. If the beer called for 5 gallons and you have that volume my guess would be that the wort was not mixed thoroughly.

Well, to further compound my confusion, one of my malt extract bottles [Briess Dark 3.3lb] had a stuck lid. I was able to pry it off and the protective surface looked intact but was discolored. Since the LHBS was closed, I opened the container and compared to the other container that was "normal". Since I could not detect any discernible difference between the two in terms of smell or sight, I used it.

Of course, now that my initial SG is off, I am mildly concerned. I hope that everything is fine and I am just brewing a stronger batch...


But...I do have a question. If everything works according to recipe but you end up adding less water and/or more solute, wouldn't the specific gravity be higher?

Blender said:

Extract kits are rarely that far off in starting gravity. If the beer called for 5 gallons and you have that volume my guess would be that the wort was not mixed thoroughly.

Click to expand...

That's what I figured, but I was very careful to mix according to recipe directions and I stirred the wort frequently and there was no sticking or burning.

Quikfeet509 said:

That's what I figured, but I was very careful to mix according to recipe directions and I stirred the wort frequently and there was no sticking or burning.

Click to expand...

It happens when you mix the wort with the water in the fermentor. There is only so much fermentable sugar in the extract per gallon of water. Did you add any additional sugars such as dextrose or honey?

Wasn't one of those canned kits was it ? The first few I made had higher gravity than I expected, it turned out to be because I didn't realize that 5 gallons UK is not the same as 5 gallons US, so even though I thought I was following the instructions I was a gallon short on the water.

Sounds like either you used less water than you you were supose to (boiling off to much or just measuring wrong like uk vs us as was stated). Or your wort just wasn't evenly mixed.

If kits use a lot of steeping grains this can also throw off og but that sounds like a lot for just variations in efficiency.

Anyway I wouldn't worry to much. You'll beer will just be a bit stronger and full of flavor. Just make sure your fg is good because the yeast that came with the kit may not be able to handle the extra sugar. If it gets stuck above 1.020 or so give it a light swirl and see if you can't get the yeast back up and working. And don't ferment to cold (or to warm obviously) or the yeast may give out early. Also if its high and your bottling just use a bit less priming sugar, which you should on a stout anyway.

Also posting the type of yeast and pitching procedure may help you get better solutions if you do have a problem with a high fg.

I'll write up the specifics tonight or tomorrow night.

So I was reading through a section on Mashing from Palmer's book when I realized that a slight deviation I made from the recipe probably resulted in my higher OG numbers. Here's the recipe:

Ingredient

• 6.6 lbs Briess Dark Malt extract
• 8 oz. malto-dextrine
• 4 oz. Briess crushed crystal 60 malt grain
• 8 oz. UK crushed roasted barley grain
• 1 oz. Northern brewer bittering hops
• 5 oz. priming sugar
• 1 Munton's ale yeast

Instructions said:

1. Put two gallons of clean water in the brew pot, put the crushed grains in a bag and immerse. Heat the water to 160-170*F, do not boil, and then remove the grain bag and allow it to drain without squeezing. Discard the bag.

2. Heat brew pot to boiling and remove from heat. Add malt extract and matodextrin. Stir well and constantly stir until it returns to a boil. Add bittering hops. Boil for 60 minutes, sans lid, for 60 minutes.

3. Cool wort, strain, pour into primary fermentor. Add 70*F water until reach 5-gallon mark...BLAH BLAH BLAH.

Click to expand...

Okay, so what I changed from the directions was to steep the grains for 15 minutes at 160*F. I also added water to the brewpot to make about 3 gallons while I was boiling the wort [although I still finished with 5 gallons].

Apparently, the additional steeping time really increased the OG by 0.01. Hopefully the end result works. I am also going to modify the recipe by adding 32 oz of cold-brewed coffee when I put it in the secondary.

Thoughts?

Adding coffee sounds real tasty, nice breakfast beer.
I don't think that little malt added that much sugar to the wort, most likely you are off a little on your volumes.
Don't worry about it, your still make some great beer unless your doctor is "tea toddler" and told you never to drink a beer over X ABV.
If so, get another doctor, it is either all or none.

Your deviation had no impact whatsoever on the gravity. As another commenter told you, this is the important bit:

Add 70*F water until reach 5-gallon mark

Click to expand...

Every new brewer - and some experienced brewers - screws this up from time to time. You need to mix the cool wort into the cold water really, really, really well in order to homogenize the solution. I guarantee 100% that's the source of your gravity being out of whack, so long as your volumes are accurate. No matter how much you boil your wort, if you're adding more water to reach a volume mark of five gallons, your gravity can only be within a certain range.

Mods, if there isn't a sticky about this in the FAQ (I couldn't find one, but I'm hopeless at searching HBT), can we please add one?

Cheers,

Bob

Interesting. On this, my second batch, I tried to be more cognizant of getting to 5 gallons and aerating the cooled wort. But if this is definitely my source of error, then apparently I need to pay even more attention...or drink less Bear Republic Hop Rod Rye while I'm brewing.


Hmm...but if adding less initial water is the best way to increase the [potential] ABV, then I think it was a good mistake to make this early in my career.

Quikfeet509 said:

Interesting. On this, my second batch, I tried to be more cognizant of getting to 5 gallons and aerating the cooled wort. But if this is definitely my source of error, then apparently I need to pay even more attention...or drink less Bear Republic Hop Rod Rye while I'm brewing.

Click to expand...

You just have to stir the ever-lovin' dog-snot out of it. Not only will this mix the bitter wort with the top-off water, it will go a long way toward proper aeration.

Hmm...but if adding less initial water is the best way to increase the [potential] ABV, then I think it was a good mistake to make this early in my career.

Click to expand...

Not sure what you mean here. By 'initial water', do you mean the amount in the boil or the amount in the fermenter?

Bob

BobNQ3X said:

You just have to stir the ever-lovin' dog-snot out of it. Not only will this mix the bitter wort with the top-off water, it will go a long way toward proper aeration.



Not sure what you mean here. By 'initial water', do you mean the amount in the boil or the amount in the fermenter?

Bob

Click to expand...

Amount in the fermenter that is supposed to be topped off to 5 gallons.

Quikfeet509 said:

Amount in the fermenter that is supposed to be topped off to 5 gallons.

Click to expand...

Gotcha. In that case, the gravity of the boil is still immaterial to what the recipe says the OG should be.

When you brew with extract providing the bulk or all of your fermentables, you have no control over the OG, unless you change the amount of extract specified in the recipe. In other words, if you use the two 3.3lb tins of extract specified in the recipe, you will end up with an OG around 1.050 whether you have 1 or 3 gallons in the kettle. Now, specialty grains will add some fermentable sugars. But not enough to shift the gravity by ten points or more.

That's why the obvious diagnosis of your symptoms is insufficient mixing. See what I mean?

Cheers,

Bob

To update, my stout spent 10 days in the primary before I transfered it into the secondary (along with cold-brewed coffee) and when I took a reading before the transfer, it was 1.028.



Starting Gravity: Kit (48-52), Actual (62)
Final Gravity: Kit (15-20), Actual? (28)


Hopefully the transfer will stimulate some more activity, although in all honesty, there is a high probability I will drink it regardless.

Well there has been some activity for the past two days, so hopefully the actual FG will be close to the expected...unless that is some extraneous microorganism going crazy in my carboy.