Confidence brewing

[crawkraut]

-Newb.
-Brewed batch 5/6 over the weekend.
-10gal.
-split into 2 fermenters.
-Didn't hit my OG and knew it when I was putting the wort in the fermenters.
-Didn't calculate for efficiency loss properly in my setup as I was trying to brew a semi-big beer. Should have more grains.
-Occurred to me that had I known the OG close to the end of the boil I could have added some DME to boost the gravity. (I'm sure y'all have done this, no?)
-Can I add DME to the fermenting wort now to boost the gravity?
-Any gravity boosting techniques would be appreciated.
-clearly I've got to work on my mashing technique, ensure grains are properly milled, and make the proper calculations.
- used beer smith.
- recipe was:
oil Size: 13.44 gal
Post Boil Volume: 11.44 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 10.00 gal
Bottling Volume: 9.25 gal
Estimated OG: 1.068 SG
Estimated Color: 8.7 SRM
Estimated IBU: 75.2 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 65.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 71.6 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
23 lbs 4.0 oz Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 1 80.9 %
2 lbs Caramel/Crystal Malt - 30L (30.0 SRM) Grain 2 7.0 %
2 lbs Munich Malt - 10L (10.0 SRM) Grain 3 7.0 %
12.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 20L (20.0 SRM) Grain 4 2.6 %
8.0 oz White Wheat Malt (2.4 SRM) Grain 5 1.7 %
1.60 oz Galena [12.50 %] - First Wort 20.0 min Hop 6 21.8 IBUs
1.60 oz Horizon [11.20 %] - First Wort 20.0 min Hop 7 19.5 IBUs
4.0 oz Sugar, Table (Sucrose) (1.0 SRM) Sugar 8 0.9 %
1.60 oz Centennial [8.70 %] - Boil 30.0 min Hop 9 17.5 IBUs
2.00 Items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 mins) Fining 10 -
1.60 oz Cascade [7.30 %] - Boil 5.0 min Hop 11 3.8 IBUs
1.60 oz Citra [13.90 %] - Boil 5.0 min Hop 12 7.2 IBUs
1.60 oz Northern Brewer [10.30 %] - Boil 5.0 min Hop 13 5.4 IBUs
2.0 pkg #WLP002/WLP001 [35.49 Yeast 14 -


Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Medium Body
Total Grain Weight: 28 lbs 12.0 oz
----------------------------
Name Description Step Temperat Step Time
Mash In Add 39.62 qt of water at 162.5 F 152.0 F 60 min
Mash Out Add 19.95 qt of water at 203.9 F 168.0 F 10 min

Sparge: Fly sparge with 2.97 gal water at 168.0 F

[I pretend that FWH is like a 20min hop addition to reconcile theoretical IBUs to actual IBUs based on info I mined from homebrewtalk...]

 

[Thunder_Chicken]

Just let it be. If there is wort there will be beer. Maybe not the beer that you intended, but beer nonetheless. RDWHAHB.

 

[crawkraut]

Yes. Good advice. Forgot to add that this was my first 10gal batch and OG I hit was ~1.062. And I split the mash into two different tuns, used grains and water for a 10 gal batch, just split everything in half...

Well for one of these fermenters, the Wlp001, we'll be transferring to secondary and adding an infusion of mango and habanero. "A little sweet heat herbal treat". Why not.

 

[Thunder_Chicken]

Yes. Good advice. Forgot to add that this was my first 10gal batch and OG I hit was ~1.062. And I split the mash into two different tuns, used grains and water for a 10 gal batch, just split everything in half...

Well for one of these fermenters, the Wlp001, we'll be transferring to secondary and adding an infusion of mango and habanero. "A little sweet heat herbal treat". Why not.

All I read was "...I hit 1.062..." My lips got tired after that. You'll make beer. Relax.

 

[crawkraut]

Yeah but isn't he point to make good beer, the challenge to hit the targeted numbers, to concoct a medley of delightfulness, simply looking for some ideas here, exploring alternatives. I have considered your pov, simply let things be and live with what is, but that doesn't help to accomplish the task at hand here.

Still wondering about DME additions.

 

[neosapien]

I wouldn't add any DME. At 1.062 you've still managed to make something >= 6% abv, and the hop punch you have in there should be nice and balanced. With more DME added, you could possibly turn it into an overly malted facebreaker (which would be fine if that was your intent). I'm of the opinion that it's best to just let it ride out and learn from the finished product, then adjust in the future.

 

[chefcurt]

I believe the dme needs to be boiled for at least a short time. So adding it now is not a good idea.