ABV/gravity questions

[Bobb25]

I am into my second year of all grain brewing. I buy the grains pre milled from reputable on line sources. I use Beersmith for the recipes. Measuring my gravities with a hydrometer, and correcting for temperature, my OG's have come out higher than planned, and my FG's have come out near or lower than planned. My beers planned for the 5 to 5.5 % ABV range, have been coming out at 7 to 7.5 %. If I have a pint of my Octoberfest Marzen on an empty stomach, while preparing dinner on the Barbque, I can feel the buzz. Although not a trained taster, the beers seem tasty. What can be causing the high OG and ABV ?

 

[bucketnative]

Your mash efficiency is higher than that of the setting in Beersmith.

Also, I find that most yeast will attenuate greater than what some of the calculators predict. It kills me when Brewer's Friend gives an FG for Belle Saison of 1.009.

You could try mashing higher to keep the FG a little higher... less fermentables.

 

[plankbr]

I am into my second year of all grain brewing. I buy the grains pre milled from reputable on line sources. I use Beersmith for the recipes. Measuring my gravities with a hydrometer, and correcting for temperature, my OG's have come out higher than planned, and my FG's have come out near or lower than planned. My beers planned for the 5 to 5.5 % ABV range, have been coming out at 7 to 7.5 %. If I have a pint of my Octoberfest Marzen on an empty stomach, while preparing dinner on the Barbque, I can feel the buzz. Although not a trained taster, the beers seem tasty. What can be causing the high OG and ABV ?

You're getting a higher brewhouse efficiency than planned. I use brewer's friend and I am able to calculate my efficiency based on my OG gravity readings. Once I brew, if I overshoot and know the efficiency, I am able to re-calculate my recipe (less grain) to achieve the desired numbers. If you do overshoot, you are also able to correct with adding water pre-fermentation to achieve you actual OG. This is the dilution calculator I use.

 

[Bobb25]

You could try mashing higher to keep the FG a little higher... less fermentables.

You are probably right with the mash temps. Keeping mash/strike temps where I want them has been a thorn in my side.

 

[dmtaylor]

It could also be a simple post-boil volume thing. If the recipe is for 5 gallons but you only end up with say 4 gallons, then your OG, FG, and ABV will be high by a factor of 5/4 or 25%.

 

[jddevinn]

You need to get your boil off rate, efficiencies and so on and correct the recipes to your equipment and process.