Pliny clone- missed OG by .020; suggestions?

[DrGarbonzo]

Hey all,

I brewed Northern Brewer’s Pliny the Elder extract clone yesterday and am wondering if i misunderstood the instructions. They recommend making a 6 gal wort to account for krausen and hop absorption loss, but my OG ended up being 1.050 instead of the target 1.070! The ratio of water to wort was about 3.5 water to 2.5 gal wort so is it just super diluted? I added a 1/2 lb corn sugar a day later and will add another 1/2 lb once it chews through the malt but hesitate to add any more than that. Any ideas on getting the OG up? I don’t have any headspace left to play with but could perhaps siphon out some wort and boil it with DME and some hops, then chill and add back? I’ve got maybe 3 more days of krausen time left. Cheers!

 

[501irishred]

It seems more likely there was some kind of equipment error in reading the SG, than an actual 20 point discrepancy in an extract kit. Did you take the reading before it was cooled? Did you check calibration in water? Either way, I'd say leave it alone without anymore additions. Significantly increasing ABV after the fact will probably not end the way you hoped.

 

[RM-MN]

Unless you really mismeasured the amount of water you added you didn't miss the OG. The concentrated wort does not mix well with top off water and you simply got a bad reading. It happens so often that I recommend an extract brewer just assumes that the OG is what the kit says. It saves a lot of worry and the beer comes out as it should.

 

[DrGarbonzo]

Makes sense, thanks! I’ll let it ride and see how it goes. Appreciate the advice

 

[NGD]

Unless you really mismeasured the amount of water you added you didn't miss the OG. The concentrated wort does not mix well with top off water and you simply got a bad reading. It happens so often that I recommend an extract brewer just assumes that the OG is what the kit says. It saves a lot of worry and the beer comes out as it should.

This! This is a kit you don’t want to mess around with to much. I’d bet RM-MN is on the money. Letting it ride would be my choice. Let us know how it turns out.

 

[DrGarbonzo]

This! This is a kit you don’t want to mess around with to much. I’d bet RM-MN is on the money. Letting it ride would be my choice. Let us know how it turns out.

Just bottled it last week - I'll update when I've tried it - smelled great; I think you all are correct.

 

[Alex4mula]

I had these Gravity discrepancies all over top and bottom. Beer always came out great at the end.

 

[NGD]

One of those bottles has to be ready for a test by now. Any update?

 

[DrGarbonzo]

One of those bottles has to be ready for a test by now. Any update?

Tried one (and another) just for you, NGD! It’s phenomenal. No off flavors, juicy hop nose with a slight bitter/ dry / Belgian alcoholic taste. No real head to speak of, but maybe in a week. My best brew thus far by far!

 

[NGD]

Awesome man! I’m stoked for you. Way to take one for the team. I’m assuming you’ve had Pliny before. Curious as to how it stacks up?

I’ve been tempted to try this kit. Sounds like its a solid winner.

 

[RM-MN]

No real head to speak of, but maybe in a week.

I've sampled my beers starting at one day in the bottle all the way up to 2 years. My beers with less amount of hops still take some time to develop a head. The 3 weeks "rule" for time from bottling to sampling is a good rule of thumb for getting a beer that develops a good head. Some may take longer, some may never develop a good head. Oils or soap residue will completely destroy the head on your beer. Since your Pliny has a lot of hops, the oils from the hops may hinder heading.

 

[DrGarbonzo]

I've actually never had Pliny before! Not sure if we get it regularly here on the East Coast. But this brew did remind me of some double IPAs I've had from Stillwater Artisinal. Yeah the kit was great - if you include the hop extract, it probably includes about 1 lb of hops.

 

[NGD]

I've actually never had Pliny before! Not sure if we get it regularly here on the East Coast. But this brew did remind me of some double IPAs I've had from Stillwater Artisinal. Yeah the kit was great - if you include the hop extract, it probably includes about 1 lb of hops.

Pretty sure Russian River doesn’t distribute to the east coast. They keep a pretty tight reign on distro...at least they used to. I gave up trying to keep up.
Thanks for the recommendation. I may have to give it a shot.