Recipe predicted 1.048-1.052 SG but I hit way higher...

[37OliveStBrews]

Hey all,
I brewed a partial mash recipe yesterday from MW supplies for a Dubbel. I used my new DIY mash tun for the first time and although I was a bit low on my strike temps I still came out with a SG of 1.060. I don't think this is a bad thing but what could have contributed to this? My water level and final volume was spot on at 5g.

 

[Kirbster]

Magical beer elves sprinkling your kettle with joy.

All seriousness aside, could you post the recipe so we could get a better understanding of what happened?

Usually partial mash kits from midwest/austin/etc are done on the stove in a brew bag and that limits their extract efficiency. By using a mash tun you probably got a better efficiency than was estimated through Midwest.

You could also put your mash into an efficiency calculator and see what they gave you for efficiency and compare it to what the kit suggests you will get for efficiency.

 

[brettwasbtd]

Was this a full boil, or did you top off with water? If you topped off there could have been some uneven mixing. What was the exact ingredient list and mash poundage? More info would help disect this.

 

[37OliveStBrews]

Here is the ingredient's list from MW website: Our ingredients for this recipe include 6 lb. Belgian Pils malt, 3.3 lb. Light Malt Extract, 1/4 lb. Aromatic, 1/4 lb. Biscuit, 1 lb. Light Candi Sugar, 1 oz. Hallertau, 1 oz. Saaz pellet hops, priming sugar, and yeast.

I followed roughly the steps per their instructions for water volume, but did add a little to try and get more sugars from the mash during the sparge.

The boil yielded roughtly 2.5 gallons of wort which I cooled and then topped off in my carboy with water. Prior to taking the sample for measuring gravity I did my best to swirl or mix the wort and water together. I suppose they could have not mixed well.

I got great fermentation, so much so I had to add a blow off instead of airlock about 4 hours later (I did a 36 hour yeast starter).


Hope this helps the "critiquers" out there...I appreciate everyones feedback on this.

 

[brettwasbtd]

Ya, the high reading is most likely from topping off with water. Even a thorough mixing like you did can have spots that are higher or lower. Id just go with the upper end of there stated starting gravity. Also, are you sure your gallon lines on your carboy are accurate? I know a lot of buckets can be off a bit and you could potentially have maybe 4.75 gallons. That could up the gravity reading.

 

[JoeBlaze]

Had the same thing happen to me today. I brewed the NB AG Chocolate Milk Stout and ended up with a gravity much higher. I did have to replace the grains with grains from my LHBS since the false bottom was slightly warped and caused a completely stuck sparge the first time.

 

[dcp27]

The boil yielded roughtly 2.5 gallons of wort which I cooled and then topped off in my carboy with water. Prior to taking the sample for measuring gravity I did my best to swirl or mix the wort and water together. I suppose they could have not mixed well.

It's always best to measure prior to topping off to avoid any mixing issues. you can just adjust the SG to the appropriate volume after, i.e. current OG *current volume = batch OG * batch volume

 

[CanadianNorth]

However you end at your final volume, I have found that high gravity throws off the beer significantly, - especially with 'lighter beers' and O.G.s under 1.050.

I always 'top up' my wort to try and get close to my intended spec. grav. It might mean tossing a bit of your hard-earned brew, but you'll be happier with the results IMHO.

 

[millaj92]

Any time you're adding water, getting a good accurate sample to measure is usually really challenging.

 

[Calder]

1.060 seems very reasonable for 5 gallons. That's about 60% mash efficiency.

You have 6.5 lbs of grain which has the potential for 234 points. At 50% efficiency it would yield 117 points

3.3 lbs LME = 119 points

1 lb Candi Sugar (this was dry/rock and not syrup?) = 45 points (syrup = 36 points)

Total points with a 50% mash efficiency = 117+119+45 = 281

In 5 gallon = 281/5 = 56 points per gallon or = 1.056 specific gravity.

You got 1.060 so your efficiency was a little better.

If you had a 80% efficiency, you could have gotten a 1.070 wort.