Effects of overshooting OG

[ChairmanWow]

Just finished a brew day, and finished with something of a rare occurrence. I hit my mash temps, my pre-boil gravity, and my pre and post-boil volumes.

However, my OG reading registered about 8 points higher than expected (estimated 1.061, measured 1.0685-1.069). I could have held back some wort and watered it down to hit my goal, but everything else had gone so smoothly just I didn't feel like taking the trouble, so I just pitched the yeast.

My question is: aside from a higher ABV, what effects would a higher OG have on an otherwise unaltered recipe? Will the hops be less or more apparent? Will there be balance issues from a higher final gravity causing residual sweetness to overpower the IBUs designed for a lower gravity beer?

Of course, I'll find out in a couple weeks either way, but I'm curious if anybody else has some input on this.

 

[dkevinb]

My guess is that the effect will be minimal. 1.061 vs. 1.0685 is not a large percentage difference. There might be a very slight reduction in perceived bitterness due to the slightly lower BU/GU ratio. What IBU were you shooting for? And how do you read your hydrometer to that precision?

 

[ChairmanWow]

I have a refractometer that I use for pre-fermentation gravity checks, so it was about 16.75 to 17 degrees. That puts the specific gravity somewhere between 1.068 and 1.070.

I was shooting for around 38 IBUs. It will be interesting to see how it comes out, but I don't think I'll stress too much. It'll just be a somewhat different beer than I had planned.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[jahdub]

If your preboil gravity, and pre and post boil volumes are as predicted and your post boil gravity is not as predicted, you're making some calculation errors somewhere.

 

[Sir-Hops-A-Lot]

If your preboil gravity, and pre and post boil volumes are as predicted and your post boil gravity is not as predicted, you're making some calculation errors somewhere.

X2
It sounds like you are getting a slightly stronger version of your beer than intended. You may like it more than the intended version.