O.G Issues

Hi, I've been homebrewing for 2 years have had some success and some failures (learn as you go i guess)..anyhow this batch of Paulaner Hefe-Weizen I just brewed had a O.G of 1.036 @ 60 deg it should have been 1.053 - 1.054 reading was taken pre-pitch and the only thing i did not follow to a T is the amount of water for the mash step. The book wanted 1.5 gals water i used probably 3.0-3.5 gals. is this part that critical to O.G

You need to give us some specifics such as are you brewing all-grain or partial mash. Recipe would be a good help too. Generally you use 1.25qts/lb of grain, you can go higher or lower depending on what your preferences are. Did you end up with too much wort so the real problem is that you just watered it down or is it the proper amount of wort that is too low a gravity? If the latter you have lots of things that can impact that. The grain crush and mashing method are your key drivers there. Outline what you are doing with those two things and we can start diagnosing your problem better.

it's a partical mash ...2lbs german wheat malt, 1.5lbs german 2 row lager malt, specialty grain 4 oz of german munich malt in 1.5 gals water at 150 deg for 90 min.(this is where i started with too much water) ... sparge w/t 1/2 gal water @ 150 deg... per recipe omit 2.25 wheat DME so the total added was 3.75 lbs and 1oz herbrucker hops 3%AA for 60 min cool to 80 deg add water to make 5 gal total this is where the O.G was 1.035 the book calls for 1.053-.054 (before pitching yeast..)

quiznossucks1 said:

add water to make 5 gal total this is where the O.G was 1.035 the book calls for 1.053-.054 (before pitching yeast..)

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How well did you mix the top-off water? This is a very common cause of an apparent low OG. If you didn't mix it enough, don't worry, the yeasts will be happy to do the mixing for you.

-a.

ajf said:

How well did you mix the top-off water? This is a very common cause of an apparent low OG. If you didn't mix it enough, don't worry, the yeasts will be happy to do the mixing for you.

-a.

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i use a electric mixer and a 2 ft wooden spoon for about 2 mins so i get lots of oxygen in the mix my main question is how important is the 1.5 gals of water at the begining of the process?

i use a electric mixer and a 2 ft wooden spoon for about 2 mins so i get lots of oxygen in the mix my main question is how important is the 1.5 gals of water at the begining of the process?

BIAB brewers use a much higher water to grain ratio than the 1.25 qt per lb and get very good efficiency so I don't think that is the probem. What was your final volume of the batch?

quiznossucks1 said:

My main question is how important is the 1.5 gals of water at the begining of the process?

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It is very important. Too much water and the enzymes end up being too spread out and do not convert the starches to sugars as well.

For 3.75 lbs of grain I would use 5 quarts.

What else was in there. 3.75 lbs of grain will not get you to 1.035 in 5 gallons even with 100% mash efficiency.

Assuming you were supposed to get 75% mash efficiency, you were supposed to have gotten about 100 points from the grains, or 20 points per gallon in the final brew. Since you had a 1.036 wort instead of 1.054, I suspect you got very little out of the grain. You might have a temperature problem too.