What a weird brew day....

[storytyme]

So I was feeling pretty organized for my brew today. Brewing a Dortmunder Export and things were going great. When I mashed it things got a bit weird. I mashed in a few degrees over what Beersmith called for like I usually do. Got a good mash in, but missed my temp by 8 degrees! I'm usually 1/2 a degree spot on. I noticed my mash seemed pretty thick, but I just added some hot water and got to around 150. I was shooting for 155.

So I continue on and mashed for 90 min since my temp was a bit lower than I wanted, so then I sparged and missed my pre-boil volume by about 3/4 a gallon. I'm usually dead-on for the volume. So I add a bit of RO water and continue on.

I take my pre-boil gravity to get my efficiency and low and behold I was at 110% efficiency! Shooting for 1.042 and was at 1.061. I know everyone reading this is super impressed at that efficiency I am usually at about 70-73%. So now all these things are starting to add up, but I didn't want to draw any conclusions until I get my OG. Hey, maybe things will just work out somehow right?

Well I finally took the OG reading and I knew it was off right away. Shooting for 1.060 (which was actually the pre-boil gravity), but instead it was 1.089! So now I have a beer that was supposed to be at 5.8% will now be at close to 10%. Holy moly!! So I am just laughing as I type this as I am not sure what to really do. Just pitch the yeast and see what happens? Will it just be super sweet? I swear I measured my grains correctly, but obviously I did not. Used Pilsner and Munich and one of them too much. So thank you for reading all of this. Hope you got a chuckle or maybe you can relate. Thoughts are appreciated. Thanks everyone.

***UPDATE***: As I was laying in bed last night I realized that I had the grains from the homebrew shop still in their bags so I got up this morning and weighed them to see which one I put too much in and guess what....neither. I did weigh right. So what the heck!? Now I am at a real confused state. Here is the recipe:

5.5 gal
9 lbs Pilsner (German)
4 lbs 5 oz (Munich)
2 oz Melanoiden
CLARIFICATION NEEDED. THANKS.

 

[seatazzz]

I would pitch and ride with it. If you're using dry yeast however, I would pitch two packets to make sure you've got enough cells. Lately I've been grabbing some wort from the beginning of the boil, chilling it, and using it to rehydrate my yeast. Maybe not needed, but I think it gives them a bit of a jumpstart.

Oh, and when your beer is finished, watch out....that's gonna be a strong one.

 

[Dland]

Age more than your normal beers, and enjoy. If you drink when young, likely a little harsh and more alcohol flavor, not that that is always a bad thing.

Weird brew days been the norm around here lately too.

 

[day_trippr]

You can always dilute the finished beer, just like the big kids

Cheers!

 

[storytyme]

You can always dilute the finished beer, just like the big kids

Cheers!

I am not sure if I want to do that, but part of me does. If I was to do that how the heck do I go about it?

 

[Lefou]

Holy crap. 110% efficiency.
Plus two on the dilution idea, only before boiling. Diluted beer just seems odd to me.
I've had days where extra wort came out with a higher than anticipated gravity. I just enjoyed the "mistake" and diluted leftover wort to drink as sweet barley tea.

 

[storytyme]

I would pitch and ride with it. If you're using dry yeast however, I would pitch two packets to make sure you've got enough cells. Lately I've been grabbing some wort from the beginning of the boil, chilling it, and using it to rehydrate my yeast. Maybe not needed, but I think it gives them a bit of a jumpstart.

Oh, and when your beer is finished, watch out....that's gonna be a strong one.

Age more than your normal beers, and enjoy. If you drink when young, likely a little harsh and more alcohol flavor, not that that is always a bad thing.

Weird brew days been the norm around here lately too.

You can always dilute the finished beer, just like the big kids

Cheers!

Holy crap. 110% efficiency.
Plus two on the dilution idea, only before boiling. Diluted beer just seems odd to me.
I've had days where extra wort came out with a higher than anticipated gravity. I just enjoyed the "mistake" and diluted leftover wort to drink as sweet barley tea.

SEE UPDATE TO ORIGINAL POST

 

[storytyme]

I just put the grain bill into a couple online calculators and got OG of 1.076 (brewedbyus) and 1.067 (brewers friend). What happened to Beersmith here that says its 1.060? Very confused and starting to get a bit frustrated to be honest.

 

[storytyme]

I just put the grain bill into a couple online calculators and got OG of 1.076 (brewedbyus) and 1.067 (brewers friend). What happened to Beersmith here that says its 1.060? Very confused and starting to get a bit frustrated to be honest.

Just did it on pad and pencil and it worked out to 1.087 which is what I hit. So what happened Beersmith?

 

[beernutz]

Perhaps the grain bags you got from the LHBS did not weigh what they claimed to.

If you think the Beersmith calculation is off you could post a screenshot of the Design tab or output a beer xml file and post one or the other.

[snip]

***UPDATE***: As I was laying in bed last night I realized that I had the grains from the homebrew shop still in their bags so I got up this morning and weighed them to see which one I put too much in and guess what....neither. I did weigh right. So what the heck!? Now I am at a real confused state. Here is the recipe:

5.5 gal
9 lbs Pilsner (German)
4 lbs 5 oz (Munich)
2 oz Melanoiden
CLARIFICATION NEEDED. THANKS.

 

[storytyme]

 

[divrack]

Yea something off with the estimate. I use the mobile version but it might have funny numbers entered for quantities somewhere, like boil off or whatever.
If so the chances are that your ibus will be off to a corresponding degree and you can just dilute no bother. One of my better Beers was a pale ale I made too strong and hoppy and just stuck a third spring water in the keg.

 

[storytyme]

Yea something off with the estimate. I use the mobile version but it might have funny numbers entered for quantities somewhere, like boil off or whatever.
If so the chances are that your ibus will be off to a corresponding degree and you can just dilute no bother. One of my better Beers was a pale ale I made too strong and hoppy and just stuck a third spring water in the keg.

Moving forward what do I do for next brewday? Just say this was a fluke? Don't want to screw up another one? I know it was something off with a number but I need to know where. Man this is frustrating.

 

[danielthemaniel]

Did your mobile beersmith have a different equiptment profile than your desktop version? That will throw off all your numbers in a hurry.

 

[bkboiler]

betting you entered your recipe in lb and purchased grains in kg...

 

[storytyme]

So I figured out the problem. I was actually very efficient for this batch. I did mill my grains a lot slower and I mashed in a lot longer and with that said I probably hit around 85-90%. My equipment profile was at 66%. I guess I wasn't getting myself enough credit with improving as a homebrewer. So I brewed again today and put my equipment profile at 70% and my numbers are spot on. It was actually one of my best brew days that I have had. Thanks to everyone for their thoughts. Cheers.

 

[Soulshine2]

So I was feeling pretty organized for my brew today. Brewing a Dortmunder Export and things were going great. When I mashed it things got a bit weird. I mashed in a few degrees over what Beersmith called for like I usually do. Got a good mash in, but missed my temp by 8 degrees! I'm usually 1/2 a degree spot on. I noticed my mash seemed pretty thick, but I just added some hot water and got to around 150. I was shooting for 155.

So I continue on and mashed for 90 min since my temp was a bit lower than I wanted, so then I sparged and missed my pre-boil volume by about 3/4 a gallon. I'm usually dead-on for the volume. So I add a bit of RO water and continue on.

I take my pre-boil gravity to get my efficiency and low and behold I was at 110% efficiency! Shooting for 1.042 and was at 1.061. I know everyone reading this is super impressed at that efficiency I am usually at about 70-73%. So now all these things are starting to add up, but I didn't want to draw any conclusions until I get my OG. Hey, maybe things will just work out somehow right?

Well I finally took the OG reading and I knew it was off right away. Shooting for 1.060 (which was actually the pre-boil gravity), but instead it was 1.089! So now I have a beer that was supposed to be at 5.8% will now be at close to 10%. Holy moly!! So I am just laughing as I type this as I am not sure what to really do. Just pitch the yeast and see what happens? Will it just be super sweet? I swear I measured my grains correctly, but obviously I did not. Used Pilsner and Munich and one of them too much. So thank you for reading all of this. Hope you got a chuckle or maybe you can relate. Thoughts are appreciated. Thanks everyone.

***UPDATE***: As I was laying in bed last night I realized that I had the grains from the homebrew shop still in their bags so I got up this morning and weighed them to see which one I put too much in and guess what....neither. I did weigh right. So what the heck!? Now I am at a real confused state. Here is the recipe:

5.5 gal
9 lbs Pilsner (German)
4 lbs 5 oz (Munich)
2 oz Melanoiden
CLARIFICATION NEEDED. THANKS.

I cant exactly help you with your efficiency but since my recent find on my own hydrometer being damaged while trying to calibrate it...I'm asking you this simply since your reading was 0.029 off .
Have you calibrated your hydrometer yet?
110% efficiency , just doesnt sound plausible to me.