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th767

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Hey everybody,
Just started my first brew. Brewing from a Brewer's Best California Pale Ale Kit. Recipe calls for initial OG from 1.050-1.060. My batch has an OG right at 1.070 for the initial. Is this bad? I didnt exactly follow the exact instructions per the kit, but rather kinda winged it from a home brew class and reading about 2 different books on the subject.
Sorry if this is an easy question, my mind is racing all over the place...time for a beer ;)

Thanks!
 
Did you end up with 5 total gallons in the fermenter? If not that would explain the high OG.
 
Did you end up with 5 total gallons in the fermenter? If not that would explain the high OG.

Well I guess that's the answer. I ended up with between 4 and 5 gallons. I did manage to get a little boil over, but not much. The only other problem I had was when I turned on the hose attached to the Wort Chiller, mayhem ensued. Needless to say I got some untreated hose water in the Wort right after boil. Hopefully it just adds character :)

Thanks guys!

Tim
 
For your gravities to be right, your top off must be right. It will still be beer though. In the future though i have some reccomendations:

I use the brewers best kits all the time. They are my favorites... Follow the instructions exactly. The only exeption to that is to do full boils if you can. I start with 5 gallon of water and do my liquid additons late in the boil to avoid extract twang.

And i top up to 5 gal with hwever much spring water i need. Usually a gallon or so after it hits the fermenter. Exactly 5 gal, and then i areate the crap out of it, i use an air mattress pump..really!

And the wort chiler water wont hurt. Pitch on it and leter cook
 
Thanks for the tips! I did do a full boil. What is the twang you are talking about? I added the malt pretty much right away after the boil started. Noob mistake i suppose...

Woke up this morning to see a little bubblage. Very psyched! Thanks again for the tips!
 
Go to home depot/lowes and get a long piece of skinny PVC pipe.. I have one that's like 6 feet tall by maybe 1/4" in diameter... get a one gallon pitcher that is graduated. Fill your brew kettle with a gallon of water, put your "measuring stick" on the bottom of the brew kettle, and mark it with a sharpie. Do this over and over until you get to 5, 5.5, 6, 6.5 gallons. Make sure you indicate which one is 5 and 6 with a special marking. While boiling keep the stick in the bucket with the star san so it's ready to go. With about 15 mins to go in the boil drop the stick to the bottom of the kettle and see how much water you have, add the appropriate amount, careful not to add so much so fast you lose your boil. get it up to 5 gallons and you are g2g.

It sounds like your OG was spot on if you were to actually have had 5 gallons. My last stout was over a smidge too, but I had 4.8 gallons... this was before I knew you could just add water. Also when you boil keep the heat pretty low, don't do a raging boil. Be consistent in your boil temps and make a note of exactly how much liquid boils off in the hour. Probably in the area of 1gal per hour depending on temp and width of your kettle. Then when sparging make sure you have 5 gallons PLUS whatever your 1 hour boiloff amt is, which will probably equal 6 gallons or a bit more. Good luck, and congrats!
 
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