strangely high OG

[iduncant]

Hey everyone,

Fairly new to this and I have a quick question about something that happened. I was brewing a leffe clone from here https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f71/revvys-belgian-blonde-leffe-clone-202852/

It expects an OG of 1.068. Mine came out to 1.084. I followed the recipe to the letter and hit the mash temp +/- 2°.

Any idea why something like that could happen?

 

[flars]

Refractometer not calibrated or hydrometer reading not temperature corrected?

See line 16 of the legal disclaimer.

 

[brewprint]

I had the same issue the other day but with an extract kit. Looked like it was 1.082 and supposed to be 1.068. I attribute it to hitting the side of the "Thief" when I was reading it.

Anyone know of a 'skinny' hydrometer?

 

[iduncant]

Hydrometer was working fine on other batches, showing the correct readings. Plus the temperature correction raised my OG not lowered it.

I gave my hydrometer a tap and got the air bubbles off of it, made sure it was in the middle of the jar, the instrument was working fine.

Any suggestions on how this could have happened? Would you end up with more sugar if your grain was too finely crushed?

 

[Demus]

What was the efficiency the recipe was predicated on? Many factors influence this including crush, water qualities, temperature, mash pH and lautering technique to name a few. Assuming your measurement is correct you simply extracted more from your grain than the recipe called for. Either that or you boiled down to a lower volume.
In the future, simply calculate the gravity as you run off your mash, and stop when you've collected the amount you want...


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[surffisher2a]

Did you boil off too much wort by accident?

Did you fly sparge instead of batch sparge, and thus hit a higher efficiency then the recipe called for.

Did you happen to get a pre-boil OG?

 

[Balog]

Is your thermometer for the mash properly calibrated?

 

[WayFrae]

If the recipe was calculated at 70% efficiency and you achieved 80% efficiency plus boiled off a little bit too much water then this would easily explain the numbers.

 

[Demus]

Best way to hit target OG is to work in "gravity points". It's sounds a bit complicated at first but is extremely easy to work with, especially for all grain brewers. Here's the way it works:
If target = 5 gallons of 1.050 wort
-subtract 1.0
-eliminate decimal places an multiply times gallons (50x5) to get 250 points.
-now just calculate as you go; let's say your first 2 gallons show 1.070
-that's 70x2 or 140 points.
-let's say the next 2 gallons dilute it down to 1.050
-that's 50x4 or 200 points
Let's say you know your boil off will be one gallon, so you want to collect 6 gallons. What gravity will 6 gallons have to be to hit 1.050 at 5 gallons?
-simple! 250 points DIVIDED by 6 gallons, (41.66) or 1.042
If you're under you can either collect more and boil off more, or add malt extract or other fermentable. If you're over you can add water and make a bigger batch, stop the sparge and add water, or make stronger beer. Either way, you're in control, not the author of the recipe...
PS, you can see the value of a refractometer here; many gravity samples are required...



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[iduncant]

Is your thermometer for the mash properly calibrated?

That's a very good point... the thermometer was included in a kit... the hydrometer was purchased from a specialty store.

I'll have to check that or just replace it with a better thermometer.

 

[iduncant]

Best way to hit target OG is to work in "gravity points". It's sounds a bit complicated at first but is extremely easy to work with, especially for all grain brewers. Here's the way it works:
If target = 5 gallons of 1.050 wort
-subtract 1.0
-eliminate decimal places an multiply times gallons (50x5) to get 250 points.
-now just calculate as you go; let's say your first 2 gallons show 1.070
-that's 70x2 or 140 points.
-let's say the next 2 gallons dilute it down to 1.050
-that's 50x4 or 200 points
Let's say you know your boil off will be one gallon, so you want to collect 6 gallons. What gravity will 6 gallons have to be to hit 1.050 at 5 gallons?
-simple! 250 points DIVIDED by 6 gallons, (41.66) or 1.042
If you're under you can either collect more and boil off more, or add malt extract or other fermentable. If you're over you can add water and make a bigger batch, stop the sparge and add water, or make stronger beer. Either way, you're in control, not the author of the recipe...
PS, you can see the value of a refractometer here; many gravity samples are required...



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Yes the Refractometer is clearly a superior tool. Getting that beer from fermentor to test tube and back again in a sanitary environment is annoying to say the least!

Thanks for the tip though. Looks like i'm going to have some strong beer this time... Can i dilute it a little later without ruining the taste? or would it be best to just leave it as it is?

 

[Demus]

I wouldn't dilute it post boil. Who knows, it might be better at 8% abv!!



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[iduncant]

I wouldn't dilute it post boil. Who knows, it might be better at 8% abv!!

Lets hope!

Thanks for all the feedback guys!

 

[iduncant]

Thanks for the help with it guys.

I've learned that my crush was way too fine. I was using a VitaMix blender (as i don't have a mill yet, i'm lacking both space and money at this point). So my extraction was VERY high.

Tasted the beer though after 2 weeks primary and a week conditioning, it tasted like beer, which is good for my 1st all grain batch.

we'll see how it tastes next week after it's been in bottle for 2 weeks.

 

[iduncant]

Coming back to this thread after having consumed all of this particular batch. It was damn tasty. fermented down to .002 for around 10%.

My girlfriend's father absolutely loved it. He's a big fan of belgians and he thought this was a damn tasty copy. He felt it tasted like a heavier Leffe.

I'll have to try this again, paying closer attention to the gravity readings. I'd be very interested to try this out with all the numbers spot on.

 

[Demus]

The numbers are never "spot on"!! Glad it turned out well, nice work!


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