First Extract Brew-Boil off and OG questions

Warning-Long post-Read the last 2 paragraphs if you want the short version with the questions.

After collecting equipment for the last 3 weeks I finally took the plunge today and completed my first brew day. I have been collecting equipment to do all grain, because that is what interests me the most (I like the idea of controlling everything, instead of using extracts, not knocking extract brewing by any means, I just enjoy fully immersing myself in my hobbies). My mash tun is not finished yet and I figured I would try an extract kit before making the jump to all grain.

The kit I bought was a Brewcraft USA Kit -a Belgian Wit
The recipe, incase anyone wants to copy it, went as follows:

4lbs Briess CBW Pilsen Light DME

Specialty Grains: (these came all ready to go, in a vacuum sealed bag)
1lb 2row
1lb unmalted white wheat
.5lb pre-gelatinized rolled oats
2 oz acidulated Malt

Bittering Hops:
1oz Saaz

Specialty Ingredients:
1oz Bitter Orange Peel
1oz Coriander Seed
2grams Paradise Seed

Dry pack of Safbre WB-06

According to the package:
Ferm temp: 68
OG: 1.051 FG 1.013
IBU: 17 ABV 5%
Color: 3SRM
Yield:5 Gallons

I steeped the grains at 155 (+,-2) for 30 min in 3 gallons of water. (instructions said 10min steep, but almost everything I have read falls in the 30 min mark). While steeping I put 3.125 gallons of water into my bk and started to warm it in the garage (figured just over 3 gallons to account for some water loss to steeping). Finished steeping and added that water to my bk water in the garage. BK water was 170 degrees when I added steeping water to it. According to the marks on my pot this put me right at 6 gallons of water in my bk.

I then cut the heat, added 3lbs of dme and brought it back to a boil. Once at a boil I added 1 oz of Hops and started my timer. (instructions called for adding last 1lb of dme at 15 min left in boil.)

With 15min left in the boil I cut the heat and added the last 1lb of dme-returned to boil and added my wort chiller and the orange peel, coriander and paradise seed.

Using wort chiller and a snow bank I was able to go from boil to < 90 in about 10 min (only had to empty my 10 gallon cooler twice). By the time I had unhooked the hose and put away the chiller, the bk had dropped to 80 so I brought it inside to the basement.

About halfway through the boil I noticed that it seemed like I was loosing a lot of water so to be safe I boiled 2 gallons on the stove and let it sit and cool. When I put my wort in the primary fermenter, I noticed I only had 4 gallons of wort in the bucket. I went ahead and topped off with some of the water I had boiled earlier-I would assume this is fine? The temps of the wort and the water I added were both in the low 70's.


(SHORT VERSION)

After topping off my og was 1.042-1.044 (its hard to read those hydrometers) the instructions said my og should have been 1.051. Could my attempt at doing a full boil and then topping off have cause this?

Also, is a 2 gallon boil off the norm? Its chilly here today- about 32 in the garage where I was brewing, could this have attributed to the higher boiloff? I have the turkey fryer propane tank and 32qt aluminum pot that I do my boils in. I guess I did not think I would loose a full 2 gallons through boil off and trub.

Now I am worried that this kettle will not be big enough to do some of the all grain stuff I had wanted to do. Apparently I will just have to bite the bullet and buy a big boy kettle right away.

*One other question/thought, the safbrew wb-06 listed a huge temp range for this yeast 59-75. Anyone have experience with this style of beer and yeast and what temp I should let it go at? My basement is right around 62, upstairs around 68. Or if it likes the cold end I can turn the heat down in the basement and keep it in the upper 50's.

Sorry for the long post and thanks it advance for the thoughts/help

Alex

My best attempt at putting this recipe into brewtarget shows me an OG of 1.042 - maybe I missed something. Still, after adding top-off water, it's hard to mix it up enough to get an accurate gravity reading - it tends to stratify. I think 2 gallon boil-off is a little higher than average, but probably not extreme - I don't do full boils, so hopefully somebody can give you a better answer on this. No experience with your yeast strain.
Wish I could help more.

Thanks. I had read about it being difficult to get a gravity reading after topping off. I tired to mix the heck out of it though. I almost wonder if part of the boil off could have been from it being cold and dry in the garage.

2 gallons is a bit high on a boiloff for a 32 quart pot. This of course depends on how high your burner is, diameter of the pot, length of boil, etc. Using your recipe in my excel calculator (assumes 70% efficiency of your steeping grains), I get an expected OG of 1.048 with your recipe and 5 gallon final volume. So you're about right - maybe a bit low since you topped off at the end, and as previously mentioned, it is very difficult to mix thouroughly enough to read an actual starting gravity.

In terms of your yeast (which I haven't used but have read a fair amount about), I'd ferment at the colder end of your range there. Sounds like your basement is the place. This should help reduce off flavors from fermenting too hot, as well as reduce some of the clove flavors this yeast often produces in abundance. Of course if you're looking for that flavor, keep it a bit warmer. After a few days, you can bring it upstairs to help ferment out the last few points if needed.

Hi and congratulations on completing your first brew! It's not uncommon to lose that much water during a boil, especially in dry, winter weather, and when you go to all-grain you'll lose more than that between the mash and boil (I needed 8.7 gallons of water for a 5 gallon batch with a 90 minute boil I just did, to give you an idea).

As far as the OG shortage, did you stir it really well after adding the additional water? it could have been you pulled your sample from a watery part of the wort if you didn't. This is especially true when measuring pre-boil gravity during an all-grain brew after sparging. I once thought I had a catastrophic 30% efficiency after measuring the PBG only to remember I hadn't stirred it; stirring it really well gave me a sigh of relief when it was only a point or two off of what I projected.

Though I haven't used your yeast myself, generally lower fermentation temps in a yeast's range will give you a cleaner, albeit simpler, flavor while higher fermentation temps will develop more esters and phenols. Also remember that yeast during fermentation generate heat while they are most active, so your fermentation temps will be a bit higher than ambient while it's bubbling away. If you want a cleaner flavor I would put your fermenter in the basement @ 62F, but if you want a more complex flavor profile, leave it upstairs @ 68F.

Welcome once again and I look forward to hearing how your first brew turns out!

I thought I gave it an adequate stir to mix it up, but I would imagine that completely mixing in the water with the wort would be difficult.

I think I will leave it in the basement to go for the cleaner flavor profile.

Thanks for the comments. Now just onto the waiting game for some quality fermentation. Having this going will force me to finish up my kegerator and to get the rest of my kegging supplies in order.

Did a little reading on the Safbrew WB-06, kinda nervous about using that yeast. One thread referred to it as a clove explosion https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f163/safbrew-wb-06-clove-explosion-200801/, and another referred to it as banana and bubblegum https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f163/safbrew-wb-06-clove-explosion-200801/

Hopefully I can split the difference and stay away from either end of the spectrum with this yeast. I think I will leave it in the basement for a few days and then bring it upstairs to make sure it finishes out and hopefully keep away the clove and banana flavors even. I had a vial of WLP400 that i picked up to do a hoegaarden clone with, I should have just pitched that instead.

Ohh well. Only time will tell.

Lid is starting to bulge a little on the bucket, being 24 since I pitched I would imagine airlock activity will come soon.

Popped the lid after 72 hours and the brew had already came down to 1.013. I did not have any blatantly obvious signs of fermentation which was why I checked. Apparently the boxed yeast in the kit was in good shape.

Its been 4 days now at 62 in the basement. Will probably bring it upstairs today (66 ish) to help finish it out and hopefully keep a nice balance. The hydro sample was pretty good, had a bite to it at the end that lasted on the back of your tongue and roof of your mouth. Commercially it reminded me a little bit of Stella-in terms of the aftertaste.

Not sure if this is the clove taste described or not. I guess I do not really know what the clove taste in beer is.