Adding sugar to primary, part 2

Didn't want to jack the other thread with a specific question - here's mine. I am brewing a stout kit from NB and my OG was crazy - 1.020. Would it be o.k. to add some more sugar (a week into ferment) to kick the gravity up to the point that the beer will be worth drinking? (who needs a 2% beer). How much would you recommend to get it close to 1.04 -1.05?

That gravity reading is way too low for any stout. Did you do a partial boil and mix your wort with water? If so, it's critical to mix that solution up completely before you take a gravity reading. This is one of the more common reasons for an unusually low gravity reading.

Yep - and made sure the stuff was well blended. I can't even begin to figure out what went wrong. In fact - I stirred and rechecked 3 times.

How many pounds of grains or extracts were in the kit and was it for 5 gallons?

Here's the recipe:

Specialty Grains
1 lbs. Simpson's Roasted Barley

Fermentables
6 lbs. Gold Malt Syrup

Boil Additions
1 oz. Nugget (60 min)

If you choose dry yeast
Safale S-04. Optimum temperature: 64-75° F.

If you choose liquid yeast
Wyeast #1084 Irish Ale Yeast. Optimum temperature: 62-72° F.


Pretty simple so I can't imagine what I screwed up. Whatever the issue - the fault was mine.

Back to my first thought - would it make sence to add more sugar now?

Personally, I would not add more sugar. I'm still believing that something went wrong in the gravity measurement, though I don't know what it could be. If you used that ingredients bill, there is really no way you could have come out at 1.020. If indeed you did come out at that low reading, adding sugar is gonna make a very dry beer with no body.

monty3777 said:

Here's the recipe:

Specialty Grains
1 lbs. Simpson's Roasted Barley

Fermentables
6 lbs. Gold Malt Syrup

Boil Additions
1 oz. Nugget (60 min)

If you choose dry yeast
Safale S-04. Optimum temperature: 64-75° F.

If you choose liquid yeast
Wyeast #1084 Irish Ale Yeast. Optimum temperature: 62-72° F.


Pretty simple so I can't imagine what I screwed up. Whatever the issue - the fault was mine.

Back to my first thought - would it make sence to add more sugar now?

Click to expand...

It's an extract batch, and they are almost foolproof.

At the minimum with that recipe your OG was 1.048

It's a pretty common issue for ANYONE using extract and then topping off with water (and that includes partial mashes) to have an error in reading the OG...In fact, it is actually nearly impossible to mix the wort and the top off water in a way to get an accurate OG reading...

When I am doing an extract with grain recipe I make sure to stir for a minimum of 5 minutes (whipping up a froth to aerate as well) before I draw a grav sample and pitch my yeast....It really is an effort to integrate the wort with the top off water...This is a fairly common new brewer issue we get on here...unless you under or over topped off or the final volume for the kit was 5 gallons and you topped off to 5, then the issue, sorry to say, is "operator error"

If you want you beer to be a stout, then regardless of the reading you took, do not add any sugar, you will thin and dry out the beer...that is really the main reason we add sugar to beers, and usually it is Belgians we are doing it to NOT STOUTS- boosting the ABV while thinning out the body and drying out the beer.

I really doubt you beer is as low as you think it is...it is RARELY what the new brewer who says it is ends up being. (We see this a lot)

In this case, since you have a pound of roasted barley, I wouldn't mess with changing anything.

Just trust that since this is an extract kit, unless you added too much water, that you did everything right, and the beer is the OG it was supposed to be.

Revvy said:

When I am doing an extract with grain recipe I make sure to stir for a minimum of 5 minutes (whipping up a froth to aerate as well) before I draw a grav sample and pitch my yeast....

Click to expand...

There's my problem - no way did I stir it that long. Perhaps for about 20 seconds (4 times because I kept checking readings).

monty3777 said:

There's my problem - no way did I stir it that long. Perhaps for about 20 seconds (4 times because I kept checking readings).

Click to expand...

And what I am saying is, it doesn't matter what your reading was.....the "real reading" in an extract batch is what it said it would be in the recipe or beersmith....Whether or not you mixed it up enough before you took the reading it mixed itself up fine during fermentation.

So unless you had a final volume a gallon or so higher than 5 gallons....you recipe will be fine and at the OG it was supposed to be, so don't add any more sugar....

Yeah, he understands you, Revvy. And you're right: I just brewed a biggish beer that was predicted to be about 1.082. Stirred, measured, and it was 1.070. Stirred a lot again, and bingo: on target.

Yep - I gotcha Revvy

Happened to me on an extract batch a while back. There's a thread around here somewhere where I asked the same question. Beer turned out fine.

Another point in favor of full boil, if you have the equipment.

Joker said:

Another point in favor of full boil, if you have the equipment.

Click to expand...

Definitely!

Although as Revvy stated if you use extract and use the correct amount of water you really can't miss your OG. You can take a reading just to have it for your records but you really only need to take SG and FG reading to see when fermentation is complete.

Is full boil another name for all grain? Or is that partial mash brewing?

monty3777 said:

Is full boil another name for all grain? Or is that partial mash brewing?

Click to expand...

No it is another name for not having to add top off water at the end of the day. It's similar to ag and partial mash brewing in the sense that you boil a larger amount of wort down to 5 gallons (if it is a 5 gallon recipe) but you are still doing an extract batch.

This is a great thread on the benefits of doing a full boil with extract if you can do it.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f37/if-full-boil-possible-do-89826/

The IPA I brewed that won the KY state fair homebrew competition was a full boil extract w/ steeping grains batch. Full boil really makes a positive difference in the quality of the beer.