1st brew question(low OG)

[slayerextreme]

brewed my 1st batch yesterday,,,,

I went with the Brewers Best Russian Imperial Stout.....I followed the direction precisely....I thought all was well....when it came time to test the OG I ended up with a reading of 1.072 the instructions say it should be between 1.076-1.080.....and I wanted to ask here if its normal to fall outside of the set range, either above or below ....

and also what might have caused an out of range condition....

and most important..what effects of being outside the range by .04 may have on my first batch.

I will say the fermentation of this recipe is off the chain!!!!! Pitched the yeast last nite about 7pm, and had my first bubble about 9:30.....and it has been raging all day today...the air lock has been removed twice today and dipped in sanitizer to clean it out....the foam coming out of the top of the airlock starts to run down onto the lid of the fermenter , and I just want to keep it clean... I may swap it out for a blow-out tube later today

 

[kh54s10]

Assuming this was an extract kit with top up water. If so, you used all the ingredients and ended up with the right volume, your gravity was within the published range.

It is difficult to fully mix the wort and top up water. That or the sample was out of the temperature range of the hydrometer. Have you checked the calibration of the hydrometer? 1.000 in distilled water.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[eluterio]

It is normal to fall short or above. Could be several factors, at what temp you checked the sample with your hydrometer. If it was checked above or below 60 degrees it could be off a point or two. Also, did you check your hydrometer aka calibrate it with distilled water at 60 degrees. The boil off can also determine how much wort you have. The more concentrated it is the higher the OG will be and vice versa.

Since this is your first batch it could be that your fermentation volume might be over 5 gallons or 6 what ever the amount of wort you were supposed to collect. Calibrating your bucket or carboy is also a good step to ensure consistency.

Nothing really from being .04 points off it might finish a bit lower leaving the beer to be dryer or finish right were it needed to be.

I have several extra airlocks just for this reason. I swap them out once they have tons of foam buildup. Blow off tube will work great! Just make sure you keep everything sanitized.

Just a reminder Pitch tons of yeast on big beers!

 

[mrgrimm101]

Did you take a temperature reading before you tested the OG? I've read that 60F is the ideal temperature to take a hydrometer reading, as that is the 1.00 point for water. It is supposed to vary by about .002 per 10 degrees different from 60F. If the sample was, for example, 70F, the hydrometer will read about .02 less than it actually is. In your case, if the sample was 70F, the OG is closer to 1.074.

The OG helps determine the final ABV of the beer. A slightly lower ABV will lead to a slightly lower ABV. I read that the FG of that particular kit is supposed to be 1.017-1.020. According to the recipe, it should have an ABV of about 7.5%-8%. If your OG truly is 1.072, then the beer should be closer to7% +/- (according to the app on my phone.)

The flavor might be slightly off, but it shouldn't effect it too much. It could be slightly dryer than you were going for. You may get more hop flavor peeking through as well. Either way it'll more than likely be good and will be drinkable.

RDWHAHB

 

[charliehorse]

I'm not sure that I'd worry about being out of range by .004. Likely this might be caused by not getting all of the LME out of the can or by adding a bit too much water to the fermenter when you topped it off. When you're extract brewing, you add all of your sugar in the form of extract. There is very little (if any) sugar coming from your steeping grains.

Edit: Was your sample at 65 degrees when you tested it? If it's too hot, your gravity reading will be low.

 

[slayerextreme]

lets see...I started with 2.5 gallons..after my boil I had right at 2 gallons of wort...because it took 3 gallons to top the fermenter off for the mixture to get to the 5 gallon mark

ok..here is what I remember about the temps......the kit said to cool the wort to "approx" 70 degrees....i actually poured from the brew pot to the fermenter at about 76 degrees, and I was thinking that adding the cold water would drop the temps lower, it did but the temp was about 72 when I pitched the yeast....

 

[eluterio]

You should be fine but I would take the time and calibrate your hydrometer for your final gravity.

How many packs of yeast did you use? Im going to assume if it was part of a kit they gave you yeast.

 

[slayerextreme]

yes..I used the yeast sachet that came with the kit...gonna go look at some videos and do some reading on the calibration of the hydrometer...

thanks for the replies and input!!!!

 

[brewingupward]

Slayer - based on your actual temperature being a little over 70 degrees you are only about .002 off from the estimated. This is almost negligible and could have come from water not being exactly 5 gallons or from wort not being mixed perfectly when you pulled the sample.

 

[eluterio]

Calibration is distilled water bought from a store. Thermometer to check temp. Fill hydro jar check temp must be 60 degrees. Once there place hydrometer in the jar and it should be at 1.000. If not then it's off and adjust from there. Adjusting means subtract or add from OG or fg.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew