My ABV is higher than expected

Hey all, long time lurker.

I'm relatively new to brewing but seem to be halfway decent at it. I brew partial mash due to the fact I live in a small apartment on the 4th floor.

I use an app to calculate all my estimates for everything (which might be lazy)

I brewed a rye pale ale a couple weeks ago. I was aiming for an OG of 1.062, and it came it at 1.063 after adding my yeast starter. The FG was supposed to be 1.017 for a final ABV of 5.9%. I fermented at 67 degrees for two weeks.

I transferred to my secondary for dry hopping today after taking a FG reading which came in at 1.012. After accounting for temp changes, I calculated my actual ABV to be about 6.8%.

Am I getting a lot more efficiency out of my mash than I am estimating? Do these apps just suck? I use Brewer's Friend if that makes a difference.

I'm no perfectionist but this is a substantial difference.

Cheers!

Other than that, it smells delicious

Here's the recipe if anyone is interested. I named it "Citrus Tricky to Rock a RYEme"

5 gallon batch, 4 gallon boil; 60 min boil

2.1lbs 2 row
4 lbs light DME
1 lb 6 oz Rye
1 lb Munich
3.75 oz Canadian Honey
9.5 oz Victory

Mash @ 153; add DME with 15 minutes left in boil

.75 oz Columbus @ 60
.5 oz Citra @ 30
.5 oz Amarillo @ 15
.5 oz Citra @ flameout
.5 oz Amarillo @ flameout
1 oz Citra (dry hop 7 days)

47 IBUs

Wyeast American Ale 1056
2L Starter

1.063 to 1.012 should give you 6.7 at 60. What was your mash temp?

Higher Mash temp more body/sweetness and less fermentable sugars
Lower Mash temp less body/dry and more fermentable sugars

NervousDad said:

1.063 to 1.012 should give you 6.7 at 60. What was your mash temp?

Higher Mash temp more body/sweetness and less fermentable sugars
Lower Mash temp less body/dry and more fermentable sugars

Click to expand...

153ish, I think it had dropped to about 148ish at the end of the 60 minutes. I had my pot wrapped in a blanket.

It could have gone lower, I'm guessing. I forgot to write it down. I need to be more detailed.

Flem said:

153ish, I think it had dropped to about 148ish at the end of the 60 minutes. I had my pot wrapped in a blanket.

It could have gone lower, I'm guessing. I forgot to write it down. I need to be more detailed.

Click to expand...

148 is low and would explain the higher ABV. You create more fermentable sugars which will give you a higher ABV.

That probably explains it then. Thanks!