Is it OK to reboil with added DME to achieve OG?

[HopsterMacBrew]

I just made my first all grain batch. Unfortunately, my mash temps were high and I ended up missing my OG by quite a bit. Target is 1.047 and I only got to 1.032! The wort is cooled and is still in my brew kettle and I have not pitched my yeast.

My thought is to put the BK back on the burner, bring it up to boil again and add enough DME to achieve my target OG. I envision boiling for no more than 20 minutes. This is a small batch (2 gallons) and I've already figured how much DME will be needed to hit target.

Has anyone ever done a re-boil to achieve target OG? Is there anything else I need to consider (besides controlling my mash temp better next time?)

 

[cheesehed007]

By no means am I an expert, but I don't see why it wouldn't work. Here's what worked for me. I missed OG on the last PM I did. I boiled up about 1/2 gal water and added 2lbs of DME. Added that before I pitched the yeast. Good luck. I'm sure others may have better ideas. Cheers.

 

[GrogNerd]

add the 20 minutes to the timing for your hops

wouldn't expect optimum efficiency for your first attempt. might take a couple batches to learn the system.

 

[seckert]

By no means am I an expert, but I don't see why it wouldn't work. Here's what worked for me. I missed OG on the last PM I did. I boiled up about 1/2 gal water and added 2lbs of DME. Added that before I pitched the yeast. Good luck. I'm sure others may have better ideas. Cheers.

I agree that you should boil separate water with the dme and then add in the fermentor. if you boil the full batch your hop timing will be all off.

 

[JonM]

I say ferment this batch as it is, and then brew another one using the experience you gained from this first one. Sounds like a lot of hassle to try to fix a minor error.

It might even be good! About a year ago, I made a math error while measuring out my grains and wound up with about 30% less grain that I needed, and accidentally wound up with a 1.030 or so OG. I considered adding extract, but ultimately said forget it and just let it ride. Wound up with an awesome session beer. Thereafter, I deliberately made that "mistake" a couple more times so I could keep session ales around.

 

[Trox]

I agree that oyu should just ferment this one as is for now and use the experience in the next batch, but if you wanted to try and bump the OG up just do as the others say and boil the addition seperate, cool it down, and then add it to the wort prior to pitching.

 

[JDGator]

just add DME until you reach your goal OG. you could always add some hot water to the DME to help dissolve. then pour it in to the FV. it's done all the time with extract brewers.

 

[Yooper]

I'd probably just boil two cups of water, add the DME, cool it, and then add it to the fermenter.

There isn't any reason in the world to boil the whole batch again. There is no reason to not add it, either. It's done all the time.

 

[HopsterMacBrew]

Hey guys, thanks for the advice. I appreciate both sides of the discussion, but I've decided to go for the reboil with DME. Mainly because this is a small batch and it is an Irish Stout. I'm not terribly concerned about the hops being off a little. So, I'm just going to add some extra-dark DME. Besides, the wort has been sitting, covered, in my fridge for 2 days so I kinda want to boil again just to make sure nothing is in there that shouldn't be.

 

[StrongBad42]

Really? A bunch of experienced brewers just gave you some really solid advice. Why ask for help if you're not going to listen to it? Your beer will turn out better if you listen to the pros around here, trust me.

 

[HopsterMacBrew]

Really? A bunch of experienced brewers just gave you some really solid advice. Why ask for help if you're not going to listen to it? Your beer will turn out better if you listen to the pros around here, trust me.

Um... Well, I did take some of the advice given. NO ONE definitively said that reboiling would absolutely 100% ruin my batch. I read the responses as well as some other threads and made a decision based on what I read and my particular situation. Some said just to go with it as-is and chalk it up to a learning experience. This definitely has been a learning experience but, sorry, I'm not going to settle for a sub-par batch if I believe it can be improved. At this point, the recipe isn't repeatable anyway, I just want to end up with something that is drinkable.

I wanted to know if reboiling would cause problems. The only answer to that it was too much effort and that my hop schedule would be off. I was fine with that. I was more concerned about my gravity being way, way off.

I'm not trying to be disrespectful at all. I'm just trying to salvage this batch. Going forward, I'll try to improve so I won't have to go through all this again.

 

[Thedutchtouch]

I'm surprised nobody is reacting to the cooled wort in the fridge for 2 days thing... That's just asking for an infection to start...(unless that is a normal thing to do with stouts/porters but I've never heard of it before)

 

[OakPond]

I'm surprised nobody is reacting to the cooled wort in the fridge for 2 days thing... That's just asking for an infection to start...(unless that is a normal thing to do with stouts/porters but I've never heard of it before)

This.

There is a reason there is such a good market out there for wort chillers. That said, at the same time at least it was in the fridge, and not just sitting out at room temperature which would be a better environment for bacteria to grow. But once he takes it out, if some got in there during the time period it was in the fridge, once the temp went up they would just start taking off and destroying his batch.

Although. at least it's only a 2gal batch. Not much to ruin here if spoilage does occur.

 

[dranderson]

So if you miss the OG you can add more Yeast and re-ferment?

 

[peterj]

Hey guys, thanks for the advice. I appreciate both sides of the discussion, but I've decided to go for the reboil with DME. Mainly because this is a small batch and it is an Irish Stout. I'm not terribly concerned about the hops being off a little. So, I'm just going to add some extra-dark DME. Besides, the wort has been sitting, covered, in my fridge for 2 days so I kinda want to boil again just to make sure nothing is in there that shouldn't be.

Yeah if it's been 2 days since you made this, I would go ahead and reboil it as well. But there's no reason you need to boil for 20 minutes. Pasuerization happens at temperatures over 140F so really you don't even need to boil at all if you don't want to. Extract doesn't need to be boiled. You could hold it at 140F for 30 minutes or go to a higher temp for less time. Once you get around boiling temps though, all foreign organisms are killed pretty instantly.

So if you miss the OG you can add more Yeast and re-ferment?

Huh? No. What does this mean? He hasn't added any yeast yet.

 

[PRE66_6TART]

Really? A bunch of experienced brewers just gave you some really solid advice. Why ask for help if you're not going to listen to it? Your beer will turn out better if you listen to the pros around here, trust me.

I was thinking the same thing until I got to the part about the wort sitting around for two days. The solid advice he got was before this bit of info was revealed. If he had just brewed it, then there would be no reason at all to re-boil the whole thing. Two day old wort is possibly a good reason to boil. Maybe not in all cases, but if it's a stout and you're not worried about losing hop character.

 

[Trox]

So if you miss the OG you can add more Yeast and re-ferment?

If you miss the OG adding more yeast won't do anything for you, but you can add some extract so as to hit the OG you expected.

 

[JDGator]

people do no chill by leaving the wort sit until it cools to pitch temp 12-24hrs. if his sanitation is good and the wort is in a carboy or bucket with airlock, i wouldn't be worried about the 2 days.