How to boost points after missing Og? Simply add sugars?

[NinjaPoodles]

So I just realised that I totally missed my og like an idiot :
First off.. Og was supposed to be 1.047 and Fg is supposed to be 1.011
(5.5gal recipe for corona clone)

After brewing my beer and all, I let it ferment 2 days (where yeast was going wild) before realizing that it first stopped fermenting and going crazy and second that I had forgot to take a gravity check
So I took a gravity reading and hit 1.015........ after 2 days.... So I'm completely confused ..
I know I entirely f'ed up (sorry, no better description that how bad I did) as I steeped the flaked rice (which was 2lb) at 155 instead of mashing at higher temp...

My question now is, can I save this beer? It smells pretty nice, and seems to have quite the taste aswell (from what was left off sample), only thing is that it doesn't have enough sugar atm and yeast is craving more. Even if this will change the outcome of the expected recipe, can I add sources of sugars to stimulate my yeast aswell as end with a decent Abv? Say some dme or liquid caramel/malt or honey perhaps? If so, how much would be needed? (probably going to be honey)

Thanks a lot fellow brewers!
- A newbie :X




Edit:
in case they are needed, on the overall, these were the used sugars (qqt) and other ingredients :
- Mashed Caramel 20L Cargill (227g)
- Rice Flakes (1kg)
- Powder Cbw Golden Light Malt (1.5kg)
- Dextrose (500g)
- Carraghenine/Irish moss (20g)
- Cz Saaz (3oz)
- Lemon Zest (.5oz)

 

[McKnuckle]

What makes you think anything is wrong? If you didn't record OG, you won't know the final ABV - but it doesn't really matter. You are 1.015 after only 2 days. This is possible - it clearly fermented vigorously. Was it an extract brew? If so, you hit your OG - it's almost impossible to miss unless you measured water volume totally inaccurately.

You have to leave this beer alone now and stop checking its gravity. After only 2 days, it is not done! Wait 7-10 days, then check gravity again. Don't start messing with it and adding sugars.

 

[RedlegEd]

What makes you think anything is wrong? If you didn't record OG, you won't know the final ABV - but it doesn't really matter. You are 1.015 after only 2 days. This is possible - it clearly fermented vigorously. Was it an extract brew? If so, you hit your OG - it's almost impossible to miss unless you measured water volume totally inaccurately.

You have to leave this beer alone now and stop checking its gravity. After only 2 days, it is not done! Wait 7-10 days, then check gravity again. Don't start messing with it and adding sugars.

^^ +1 What McKnuckle said! You're obviously making beer. The only reason to mess with the gravity at this point is to hit a certain style criteria for entering into a contest. If you're not doing so, leave it alone and see what wonders your little yeasties provide! You may not have "f'ed up" (your words) as badly as you thought...hell, you might have even improved the recipe! Remember this is a hobby/obsession, revel in the joy of making your own beer and learn by doing!

 

[NinjaPoodles]

What makes you think anything is wrong? If you didn't record OG, you won't know the final ABV - but it doesn't really matter. You are 1.015 after only 2 days. This is possible - it clearly fermented vigorously. Was it an extract brew? If so, you hit your OG - it's almost impossible to miss unless you measured water volume totally inaccurately.

You have to leave this beer alone now and stop checking its gravity. After only 2 days, it is not done! Wait 7-10 days, then check gravity again. Don't start messing with it and adding sugars.

Could it have really dropped from 1.047 to 1.015 in 2 days ;oo ?? I though it took over a week for it to process before getting such drastic difference readings between og and fg

I'm scared my wort my not have enough sugar cause it didn't get no sugar (or barely any) from my flaked rice (which was 1kg of the total 3.25kg of sugars, so roughly 30%) as I didn't leave it long enough (25mins) and too low of a temperature (155) as I didn't think it had to be brewed like grains :S

 

[NinjaPoodles]

^^ +1 What McKnuckle said! You're obviously making beer. The only reason to mess with the gravity at this point is to hit a certain style criteria for entering into a contest. If you're not doing so, leave it alone and see what wonders your little yeasties provide! You may not have "f'ed up" (your words) as badly as you thought...hell, you might have even improved the recipe! Remember this is a hobby/obsession, revel in the joy of making your own beer and learn by doing!

Really? maybe I'm overcautious about with my beer :/ I'm just scared about the flaked rice I missed in the recipe as I replied to McKnuckle
Either way, thanks for reassuring me on that one


Just to put an images on words

 

[RedlegEd]

That's a fine looking beer! If it doesn't hit the ABV you intended, so what?!?! If it's lighter, but tastes really good, it'll make great session type beer where you can enjoy a few without getting hammered. I've found as I get older, it's more about the taste and enjoyment than it is about getting wasted. You could drink Listerine (at about 20% ABV,) get hammered, and your breath won't stink after you puke. That's not why we brew beer (hopefully.) Use this as a lesson to improve your brewing process. Checklists are a wonderful thing and keep you on track. Most brewing software (e.g. Beersmith,) and the online versions (Brewer's Friend,) offer brewing checklists. Follow those, and you'll likely not forget something as simple as taking an OG after the boil. Let us know how it turns out. BTW, make sure you keep it out of harsh light so you don't skunk it.

 

[chickypad]

I'm scared my wort my not have enough sugar cause it didn't get no sugar (or barely any) from my flaked rice (which was 1kg of the total 3.25kg of sugars, so roughly 30%) as I didn't leave it long enough (25mins) and too low of a temperature (155) as I didn't think it had to be brewed like grains :S

The problem with the recipe is that there is no base malt to convert the rice. But it's really not 30% of the fermentables in your recipe, as extract gives more per lb than grain. Per Beersmith Rice has about 32 ppg, and you would expect some smaller percentage of that to be obtained depending on mash efficiency - say 24 pts? Which means you were only about 5 SG pts or so short for the batch. This makes sense as the sugar and DME should give you about 1.036 in 5.5 gal by themselves. Add in the half lb of caramel and you were probably getting close to 1.040.

 

[mongoose33]

Could it have really dropped from 1.047 to 1.015 in 2 days ;oo ?? I though it took over a week for it to process before getting such drastic difference readings between og and fg

I'm scared my wort my not have enough sugar cause it didn't get no sugar (or barely any) from my flaked rice (which was 1kg of the total 3.25kg of sugars, so roughly 30%) as I didn't leave it long enough (25mins) and too low of a temperature (155) as I didn't think it had to be brewed like grains :S

I've brewed several beers with OG of 1.063-1.065; they've taken off like a house afire after 12 hours, and after 2-3 days the krauesen has dropped, so if you had particularly good conditions for yeast, I wouldn't be surprised to see it at a low level after a couple days.

 

[NinjaPoodles]

That's a fine looking beer! If it doesn't hit the ABV you intended, so what?!?! If it's lighter, but tastes really good, it'll make great session type beer where you can enjoy a few without getting hammered. I've found as I get older, it's more about the taste and enjoyment than it is about getting wasted. You could drink Listerine (at about 20% ABV,) get hammered, and your breath won't stink after you puke. That's not why we brew beer (hopefully.) Use this as a lesson to improve your brewing process. Checklists are a wonderful thing and keep you on track. Most brewing software (e.g. Beersmith,) and the online versions (Brewer's Friend,) offer brewing checklists. Follow those, and you'll likely not forget something as simple as taking an OG after the boil. Let us know how it turns out. BTW, make sure you keep it out of harsh light so you don't skunk it.

I guess you're right In fact, I don't even like getting drunk, only like beer for it's taste and satisfying quench (& cause I hate soft drinks), so I guess Abv doesn't matter that much; thanks for making me realize this, guess there's always much to learn from the wise older brewers haha ;P
I'll stick to beer over Listerine though ahahaha
And thanks for those sites, will definitely use them for my next brew this tuesday (Raging Red Irish Red Ale - from Mysticmead) and be a bit more organised !

And damn you're right, totally forgot to put it in a dark place! Do you think I can leave it there, but cover it up so no light goes on it? (still student in a small apartment lol, don't have much place where I live to store it :x)

 

[NinjaPoodles]

The problem with the recipe is that there is no base malt to convert the rice. But it's really not 30% of the fermentables in your recipe, as extract gives more per lb than grain. Per Beersmith Rice has about 32 ppg, and you would expect some smaller percentage of that to be obtained depending on mash efficiency - say 24 pts? Which means you were only about 5 SG pts or so short for the batch. This makes sense as the sugar and DME should give you about 1.036 in 5.5 gal by themselves. Add in the half lb of caramel and you were probably getting close to 1.040.

''no base malt''? I don't get what this is and why is it needed for rice flakes to have it's sugars extracted ;o
I get what you mean for the other types of sugars though, man I should use those calculators more often :l
THanks for your reply btw

 

[theseeker4]

''no base malt''? I don't get what this is and why is it needed for rice flakes to have it's sugars extracted ;o
I get what you mean for the other types of sugars though, man I should use those calculators more often :l
THanks for your reply btw

Rice flakes have starch, but don't have the enzymes to convert the starch to sugar. Base malt, like pale two row, has a lot of diastatic power, which simply put is the enzyme power to convert starch to sugar. You need a base malt with enough diastatic power to convert its own starches, and the starches of an adjunct like the rice, to sugar, or you won't be adding to the OG of your beer. If you steeped the rice without a base malt like pale two row or Pilsen malt, it did not add any sugars to the beer, so won't increase the gravity or the alcohol at all.

 

[chickypad]

Right, as above the starches in the rice (and many other grains) need to be converted into fermentable sugars. In order to achieve this you need malt in your mash that has the enzymes required to make this conversion (the diastatic power mentioned above). Some grains like crystal malt have a lot of their starches already converted in the production process, and can be steeped for flavor, color, and some sugar contribution. Other malts and all adjuncts like rice and corn need to be mashed.

See also here.

 

[RedlegEd]

And damn you're right, totally forgot to put it in a dark place! Do you think I can leave it there, but cover it up so no light goes on it? (still student in a small apartment lol, don't have much place where I live to store it :x)

Sure, you do what you can do with what you've got. Cover it up, but try to keep it cool. Better cool and slow, than hot & fast. Closets seem to be a good spot if you have room, if not, bathrooms work well too.