Additional 3lbs of DME

[whodatgeauxbrew]

A few weeks ago I brewed 5 gallons and put in a total of 9 lbs of DEM. The following occurred before and after the brew:
1. No hot break. We continuously stirred in the DME and kept it boiling but there was no hot break.
2. Initial gravity: 1.036
3. After 2 weeks of fermentation, final gravity: 1.020
4. ABV: 2.1%
4. Crystal Malt: 1 lb, 40L and 1lb victory malt
5. 16 oz of Honey at flameout.

The beer tastes less hoppier that other batches we've brewed.
Hop Schedule:
1. @ 45 min: .5 oz amarillo and .5 oz centennial
2. @ 30 min: .25 oz amarillo and 1 oz columbus
3. @ 15 min: 1 oz columbus

My questions are:
1. Did we read the hydrometer wrong?
2. Is it normal to not have a hot break?
3. Shouldnt the OG be higher since we added 50% more DME? I though each extra pound of DME should increase the ABV by 1%.
4. Previous batches we've done have tasted very similar to Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. Why did this one taste so differently?

 

[Wally556]

My guess on the OG thing is that you did a small boil (3 gallons) and the top off water wasn't mixed in well enough. So, you got a low OG.

Only 45 minutes for your bittering hops? That seems short to me. I usually do at least 60, if not longer.

Have you tried plugging it tin http://beercalculus.hopville.com/recipe? That's my main place for calculations.

 

[whodatgeauxbrew]

We actually started off with 5 gallons, but obviously some burned off. At the end, I believe that we added about 1 - 1.5 gallons of water, so that makes sense about the low OG.

I forgot to add that we added 1 oz of Amarillo @ 60 for bittering hops.

Would it help to add another package of yeast? We used one package of Wyeast 1045 American Ale smack pack.

 

[rcreveli]

+1 to the top of water not being mixed well. Here is what I got from Beertools Pro

OG 1.093
FG 1.024
ABV 9.45%
IBU's 79.3
SRM 22

Doubling the DME, Added a lot of converted sugars and a ton of body as well as significantly more alcohol.

A pale is has 1/2 the alcohol, 1/2 the body, 1/2 the color, 1/2 the bitterness so it should taste different.

 

[rcreveli]

With the extra Amarillo you IBU's are now 117. It's like a very dark double or triple IPA

 

[Revvy]

There's little or no hot break with extract beers, because the hot break happens at the maltser's when the are boiling the wort down to make the extract.

It's a pretty common issue for ANYONE topping off with water in the fermenter (and that includes partial mashes, extract or all grain revcipes) to have an error in reading the OG...In fact, it is actually nearly impossible to mix the wort and the top off water in a way to get an accurate OG reading...

Brewers get a low reading if they get more of the top off water than the wort, conversely they get a higher number if they grabbed more of the extract than the top off water in their sample.

When I am doing an extract with grain recipe I make sure to stir for a minimum of 5 minutes (whipping up a froth to aerate as well) before I draw a grav sample and pitch my yeast....It really is an effort to integrate the wort with the top off water...This is a fairly common new brewer issue we get on here...unless you under or over topped off or the final volume for the kit was 5 gallons and you topped off to 5.5, then the issue, sorry to say, is "operator error"

More than likely your OG is really what it's supposed to be.

 

[whodatgeauxbrew]

Thanks for the responses. We initially thought it tasted like a high gravity beer but we werent sure b/c of the OG.

 

[schokie]

Brewers get a low reading if they get more of the top off water than the wort, conversely they get a higher number if they grabbed more of the extract than the top off water in their sample.

I had this exact problem last night when brewing. I topped off and took a gravity reading without mixing. It was 1.024 which was waaay less than expected. I suspected I made the mistake Revvy mentioned, gave a couple good stirs, then remeasured. It came out 1.056 which was spot on what my estimate was. This step will be added to the brewing checklist from now on.

The problem is now I'm second guessing all my previous brewing calculations.

 

[whodatgeauxbrew]

Since this didn't turn out to be an American Pale Ale, what style of beer would this be?

 

[gallagherman]

...We initially thought it tasted like a high gravity beer but we werent sure b/c of the OG.

You could always do the ol' Mandrometer - or the "drink 6 in a row and see what happens" test. If you don't remember finishing the test, its high gravity.

 

[ajf]

Like the others have said, your true OG would be something > 1.090.
If you got down to 1.020 FG, that's 78% apparent attenuation which isn't too shabby. I don't think there would be anything to gained by pitching extra yeast.
To answer your original questions,
1. Yes - inadequate mixing
2. As Revvy said, not abnormal
3. See 1
4. It will taste different because you have an OG of about 1.09? when SNPA has an OG of about 1.056.
If you leave it in the fermenter for another few weeks, then the FG will probably drop a bit more.

-a.

 

[Pommy]

Sounds done to me. As suggested before drink 6, if you feel nothing its the 2% you measured it to be, if you wake up with no idea what happened its the 9% stuff. That DME has to go somewhere so I think the top up water might be where you got your OG reading. Personally I dont think the FG will get much lower, maybe give it a week and take some readings along the way, if its steady then its good to go.

 

[whodatgeauxbrew]

If we want to try this recipe again, should we cut the hops dramatically? I feel like we wasted hops because we could barely taste them. I am guessing this is because the alcohol overwhelms the hop flavor.

 

[BeerJorge]

You could always do the ol' Mandrometer - or the "drink 6 in a row and see what happens" test. If you don't remember finishing the test, its high gravity.

Very effective...

 

[Wally556]

If we want to try this recipe again, should we cut the hops dramatically? I feel like we wasted hops because we could barely taste them. I am guessing this is because the alcohol overwhelms the hop flavor.

give it time to age/condition before you decide to change the recipe.