OG Come Up Short NB Caribou Slobber

[DeanWolf]

I ran my second extract partial/full boil batch today and I'm trying to figure out where I may have gone wrong to only reach an OG of 1.042 instead of the 1.052 the recipe called for. The hydrometer was calibrated at 60 degrees to 1.000. I ended up chilling the wort in the test tube to 60 to see if that would give me a better result which it didn't.

This was the extract kit for the NE Caribou Slobber;

Maillard Malts Specialty Grain
- 0.25 lbs Briess Caramel 80L
- 0.25 lbs Fawcett Pale Chocolate
- 0.125 lbs Black Malt

Maillard Malts Extracts & Other Fermentable
- 6 lbs Amber malt syrup
- 1 lbs Amber dry malt extract

HOPTIMUS REXTM
PREMIUM HOPS
- 1 oz US Goldings (60 min)
- 1 oz Liberty (45 min)
- 1 oz Willamette (15 min)

YEAST
Dry yeast: Danstar Windsor Ale Yeast.
Optimum temp: 64–70° F.

On the stove top I steeped the grain beginning at 140 degrees up to 165 degrees for 22 1/2 minutes. The recipe called for 15 minutes, however, I found some other information in a video reference partial/full boils that recommended 30 minutes so I spilt the difference. After lifting the grain out and allowing it to drain, I placed it in a strainer and rinse it with 1 quart of water at 165 degrees. Added the rinse back into the pot.

While steeping the grain in the mesh bag, I had 4 1/4 gallons of water coming to temp in the 10 gal pot on the burner outside. When I added the steeped grain tea to the pot, the water temp was 169 degrees. I stirred throughly and brought to a boil.

Reduced heat (turned off burner) and stirred in the 6 pounds of Malt Syrup. Then I stirred in the 1 pound of Amber DME. Once both LME and DME were stirred in well I fired the burner and brought to a boil.

Added the hops as the instructions stated at, 60, 45 and 15 minutes. I also inserted the wort chiller (3/8"x50' coil) after stirring in the final hops at 15 mins.

Once I completed the boil at 60 minutes, I shut down the burner and turned on the wort chiller. Reduced heat from a boil to 91 degrees in 9 minutes. After chilling the wort to 78, I brought the pot into the house and the wort further cooled to 74 degrees. I strained the wort into the 6.5 gal big mouth bubbler and agitated well before I pulled the sample with the thief to test. After reading 1.040 approximately, I put the test tube into the freezer to chill the wort to 60 degrees in case like when I calibrated the hydrometer it needed to be 60. I ended up with a OG 1.042.

I'm wondering if during the Partial grain boil if I used to much water (1 1/2 gal)? I know I exceeded the two quarts per pound I had read somewhere that is recommended, but thought because the recipe calls for using 2 1/2 gallons I'd be ok. Considering this kit only has 5/8 pound of grain I'm wondering if using to much water may have caused my low OG?

Sorry for the long drawn out post, just thought I'd try to be as detailed as possible. Thanks in advance for any help! Cheers!

 

[nckid4u]

How much total liquid do you have in the primary now? 5 gallons? My only guess is you ended up with too much water.

 

[DeanWolf]

In the primary I have 5 gallons. I topped off with 1/2 gallon to get 5 gallons and agitated before taking my reading.

For the partial boil to steep the grain I used 1 1/2 gallons and rinsed with an additional quart.

Thanks

 

[RM-MN]

To have a partial mash you would need one of the base grains like 2-row pale malt or similar. I don't see it listed so what you really have is extract with steeping grains. I made that mistake when I started brewing too. With an extract batch there is a known amount of sugar so if you got the water volume right, your OG is perfect. What isn't perfect is the mixing and lots of people have trouble with that. The malt extract is very dense and is very difficult to get to mix properly so you got a sample where there was a bit too much water. No problem, the yeast will find the sugars and stir it all up for you. Congrats on making beer, may you make many more.

 

[DeanWolf]

Didn't mean to imply I was doing a partial mash. That's what kind of had me baffled is that I've followed the directions...well, except for switching over to a full boil.

Is it something to possibly to do with the extract kits being formulated to say a 2 1/2 gallon stove top boil and not a full boil, I wonder?

 

[meatcleaver]

wort stratification, it's because its a partial boil...
your top off water is not thoroughly mixed with your concentrated wort & its throwing your measurement off
dang near impossible to miss your og with extract, as long as you topped off to the correct volume assume the predicted og is correct

 

[jrcrilly]

Is it something to possibly to do with the extract kits being formulated to say a 2 1/2 gallon stove top boil and not a full boil, I wonder?

No. That can affect hop extraction but not gravity. As RM-MN said, all of the sugars are in the extract and have been carefully measured by the maker. If you used the intended volume of extract and ended up with the intended volume of wort the gravity is correct. As he also stated, it is common for new extract brewers to use an improperly mixed sample and erroneously conclude that the gravity is off. It isn't - unless you left a substantial portion of the extract in the can. If the reading is low, it is surely the reading that is suspect, not the gravity.

 

[DeanWolf]

Thanks for the quick input everyone! I did make sure I grabbed all of the LME by spooning a little of the wort back into the jug to shake up and get it all out of the container so that wasn't the issue. I think I'm understanding as long as the volume is right, you really can't miss I guess when using an extract kit. Thanks again!

 

[Subdivisions]

wort stratification, it's because its a partial boil...
your top off water is not thoroughly mixed with your concentrated wort & its throwing your measurement off
dang near impossible to miss your og with extract, as long as you topped off to the correct volume assume the predicted og is correct

This ^^ I used to just take my OGs for granted when doing extracts. I'd only measure the FG. Just make sure you have measured and marked 5 gallons on the fermenter.