Problems targeting OG

[kmonty]

Have been brewing using extract with steeping grains for over a year now. Some success and some failures. Lately, I bought a new brew kettle and like it, but I am having trouble consistently reaching the target gravities.

1st brew - sweet stout. Boiled too long trying to reach hot break that I never reached. Target OG, 1.059. Actual OG, 1.073. The beer came out alright in the end, but it was too sweet.
Today I brewed a robust porter. I checked the the volume after adding extract and it was supposed to be 7 gallons but was 7.5 gallons. Pre-boil target, 1.060. Actual pre-boil, 1.057. So I boiled for a half-hour to get rid of the extra water, checked to make sure it was an even 7 gallons, then added hops for 60, etc. Target OG, 1.065. Actual OG, 1.074.

Any ideas as to why the difference between the pre-boil and OG was so large?

Thanks in advance!

 

[duboman]

Have been brewing using extract with steeping grains for over a year now. Some success and some failures. Lately, I bought a new brew kettle and like it, but I am having trouble consistently reaching the target gravities.

1st brew - sweet stout. Boiled too long trying to reach hot break that I never reached. Target OG, 1.059. Actual OG, 1.073. The beer came out alright in the end, but it was too sweet.
Today I brewed a robust porter. I checked the the volume after adding extract and it was supposed to be 7 gallons but was 7.5 gallons. Pre-boil target, 1.060. Actual pre-boil, 1.057. So I boiled for a half-hour to get rid of the extra water, checked to make sure it was an even 7 gallons, then added hops for 60, etc. Target OG, 1.065. Actual OG, 1.074.

Any ideas as to why the difference between the pre-boil and OG was so large?

Thanks in advance!

Extract beer kits are usually spot on, the fact that you are having issues measuring your water volumes is where the problem lies. Too much water and you fall short because of dilution, too little water and the wort is more concentrated and you overshoot the OG. Be more careful with your water volumes and you will not have OG problems.

 

[29thfloor]

If you're doing extract with steeping grains I don't think you would ever get a true hot break. That happens durring the process where they make the extract.

Most extract recipes I've done were pretty accurate. If you're doing a full boil it's possible to overshoot your pre-boil volume and end up still having too much at the end. One way around this is to just boil the amount needed for the batch and then top off at the end to make up for whatever boiled off. I don't think adding that bit of top off water is going to make much difference in the taste of the beer.

if you're doing partial boils, I'm not sure how you could be that far off. A fixed amount of extract in a fixed batch size should give you the same OG every time.

 

[kmonty]

Thanks for the advice. I have been brewing recipes from Brewing Classic Styles, yet when I put them into iBrewmaster, I have to tweak the numbers to get everything close to the percentages in the book.

I have been doing full-boil. And I appreciate the tip on the hot break! A friend of mine that does all-grain has expressed how important the hot break is, but now I realize it won't happen with extract. Very good to know!

I measured the 7 gallons needed before adding the extract, then noticed it was much higher after the extract. I suppose next time, I will trust that the larger volume after the extract is added is part of the recipe and not muck it up by out-thinking myself!

Thanks again