The Honey Perplexion

[Piperlester]

So, I brewed the Holly Christmas ale (https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/holly-christmas-ale.145580/) this weekend.

Pre-boil gravity was 1.048, at 8.24G (and yes, I know preboil gravity isn't necessarily reliable). An hour later, after adding the 1lb of honey at 0 minutes, the OG ended up as 1.06 with ~6.25G remaining. According to some math, the OG should have been around 1.063 WITHOUT the honey.

I tasted the honey, and it's fairly sweet, so I know there's sugar in it, but I'm at a loss as to what might be causing the low gravity. Based on all the math, the honey added exactly nothing to the OG (granted, I didn't sample before adding the honey, so there exists the possibility that the preboil gravity was super low and the honey just brought it up to where it should have been).

Any thoughts?

 

[day_trippr]

Insufficient mixing prior to drawing your gravity sample?

Cheers!

 

[Piperlester]

Insufficient mixing prior to drawing your gravity sample?

Cheers!

I'd pondered that, but it's BIAB and gets stirred several times during the mash, and again for 10-15 seconds after squeezing the snot out of the bag... but that is the most likely answer. Too bad, was hoping for something a little more glamorous than "hey *******, mix better".

 

[day_trippr]

lol!
If that's the case (and the math strongly suggests it is) you're in plenty of company...

Cheers!

 

[Piperlester]

lol!
If that's the case (and the math strongly suggests it is) you're in plenty of company...

Cheers!

Well crap... guess it's time to up my game! Thanks man! BTW, you tie that fly in your profile pic?

 

[Oldskewl]

Boil off possibly? 6.25 gal seems a bit high. Recipe is for 5 gal. I normally target 5.5gal into the fermenter. That allows for a 1/2 gal of trub/yeast. I do bag my hops though.

 

[day_trippr]

[...]BTW, you tie that fly in your profile pic?

Yes, a few decades ago when my eyes were hella better than now
The pattern is called The Silver Doctor and features married slips.
One of my favorite salmon fly ties because it was so tough to get right...

Cheers!

 

[Piperlester]

Yes, a few decades ago when my eyes were hella better than now
The pattern is called The Silver Doctor and features married slips.
One of my favorite salmon fly ties because it was so tough to get right...

Cheers!

View attachment 594135

Well done. Tying flies is on my list of things to learn, along with finding more time to go fishing.