Aw crap...read LME as DME

[DownstairsBrewing]

Making a batch of 'Hennepin Avenue' from Methods of Modern Homebrewing by Chris Colby. Apart from a little bit of burn at some point late in the mash or very early in the boil, all seemed good. Cooling was slow, moved it into the fermenter, took OG. Hoping I did decently well on the grain mash, but figured the extract does the heavy lifting.

OG supposed to be 1.051....I have 1.064 or so. WTF? Pitched anyway, because the temperature was finally right, and then started to troubleshoot. Did not take long - 2.4kg of DME or 3 kg of LME....I used 3kg of DME.

So, now what? Add some water? Just let it ride?

edit: funny thing is, I remember thinking 'hey, I thought would have more DME leftover for making starters', hours earlier.

 

[S-Met]

Let it ride.

 

[JohnSand]

I have done both with success.

 

[bpgreen]

If you let it ride, it'll be a bit stronger than expected and will probably taste a little sweeter than designed.

If you add water, it'll be closer to the way it was designed (not quite exact because you're not increasing the hops) and you'll get more beer.

I'd probably let it ride if I were brewing, but either way works, and it's really up to you to decide which you'd like better.

 

[S-Met]

Brew will be a little higher abv, but that's it.
Did you do a full-volume boil, or did you add h2o? If doing partial volume and adding h2o, gravity is almost always off due to incomplete mixing. And did you check the temp at the time of gravity or calibrate for temp correction?

 

[DownstairsBrewing]

Brew will be a little higher abv, but that's it.
Did you do a full-volume boil, or did you add h2o? If doing partial volume and adding h2o, gravity is almost always off due to incomplete mixing. And did you check the temp at the time of gravity or calibrate for temp correction?

No full volume boil - the recipe calls for a water top up, so had I realized my error I could have made an adjustment then, albeit not one that dealt with the hops. Incomplete mixing might be a factor, but the vast majority of the discrepancy is from 600 extra grams of DME. The hydrometer is calibrated to 20C, the measurement was at 21, so minimal difference there.

Yeast is WLP 051, so I am fortunate there, higher ABV should not make much difference.

 

[RM-MN]

Send it to me when it is finished. I've drunk beers with higher ABV before. I can handle it.

 

[DownstairsBrewing]

Well, I decided to leave it alone and see what I get.

 

[S-Met]

I don't have near the experience as many on here, but I can assure you that aside from sanitation and oxidation or bad source ingredients, it is near impossible to ruin your beer. Minor goofs can be the difference between good and great beer, but its still beer.

In your instance, you followed a recipe, it just wasn't the one that came with your kit. But I'll guarantee that there is a recipe that matches what you did.

Final takeaway: my 1st paragraph I said its near impossible to ruin a beer. I left out a big exception, the impulse correction. The realization that you did or didn't do something and hastily try and correct whatever mistake you think you made. Best option, RDWHAHB
Relax, don't worry, have a home brew.

 

[DownstairsBrewing]

I opened it up about an hour after the pitch, thinking I should do something. It had a good aroma, nice hop 'nose' to it, so my concern about the flavour balance was somewhat reduced. At the same time, I could already see early signs of fermentation, and did not want to introduce any risk to that or possible infection. So, it won't be the 4.9% AEPA I was aiming for it, we will see in a couple of weeks. I will probably tune the dry hopping up just a notch to partially compensate.

I am actually more concerned now about the small area of scorch in the pot, where I think some syrupy stuff from the seep must have got a little charred. Hoping that won't introduce a significant taste.

 

[bpgreen]

RDWHAHB

 

[DownstairsBrewing]

Epilogue:

It was supposed to be an American Extra Pale Ale, 43 IBUs, 4.9% ABV. It is not really that. Hopping held up quite well, considering, it came in at 6.9% ABV, something close to a lighter IPA. Not the best beer I have ever made, but not bad at all.