First 10+ gallon batch and now OG is too high

[Bisco_Ben]

So yesterday I brewed an 11 gallon batch of edworts "bee cave brewery rye ipa". Everything went according to plan and my boil-off even seemed to be on point, or at close enough considering I filled my bottling bucket well enough above the 5 gallon mark each time while transferring into the carboys. I however had to do a double batch sparge due to my mash-tun/cooler's capacity. Just to clarify, this means I mashed for 70 mins at the correct 153-154* range, drained and then batch sparged to the brim with 4 gallons, drained, and then did this again with another amount (~3.5 gallons) in order to hit my correct pre-boil volume (12.5 gal). I am also not sure of the evaporation rate of my bigger kettle/propane burner, but kept a slight rolling boil the whole time and am still fairly confident that the post-boil volume was correct, if not very close. So in the end when I took my OG reading, it came in at 1.075 while the recipe called for 1.064. Thats just over a .010 difference! What would be your recommendations on my next move regarding this beer, considering I definitely dont want to end up with 11 gallons of un-drinkable beer, or waste the decent amount of $$$ invested in this batch.

 

[Bisco_Ben]

Bump...Any words of advice anyone? Is being .010 over my target OG a big concern? Should I dilute with water? Should I absolutely never do a double batch sparge again? The price tag/larger volume of this brew has me concerned a bit more than i usually would be.

 

[tre9er]

You made a stronger beer. No big deal. You can top it off with distilled water (or boiled and cooled water) if you like...or just enjoy it

What else changed? If volume was spot-on, perhaps the crush was better this brew. What efficiency were you using in the recipe? Where did you get this number?

 

[Bisco_Ben]

I am going to blame it on the fact that I was forced to do a double batch sparge, stirring pretty well both times. How much would I have to boil off roughly in order to gain .010 on a recipe that called for 1.064 anyway? What sort of effect will this have on the IBU's and hop flavor/aroma? I would assume that the beer will now be sweeter due to higher malt content from higher efficiency from double batch sparge and perhaps less bitter/hoppy? I dont mind this beer becoming an imperial version of itself as long as nothing is thrown too out of balance.

 

[tre9er]

I am going to blame it on the fact that I was forced to do a double batch sparge, stirring pretty well both times. How much would I have to boil off roughly in order to gain .010 on a recipe that called for 1.064 anyway? What sort of effect will this have on the IBU's and hop flavor/aroma? I would assume that the beer will now be sweeter due to higher malt content from higher efficiency from double batch sparge and perhaps less bitter/hoppy? I dont mind this beer becoming an imperial version of itself as long as nothing is thrown too out of balance.

Higher volumes increase hops utilization, but a lower hops-to-wort concentration should relatively even things out if you think the volume was a tad low. Basically I don't think you'll taste much of a difference unless you're a seasoned judge or have made the beer several times (or are shooting for a clone of something you frequently drink).

Ten points is a lot, yes. How sure are you of your volume that went into the fermenter? Is your fermenter marked in increments? You could weigh it also and get an idea. Minus the fermenter's weight, wort should be roughly 8lbs/gallon.

You also don't know how highly your yeast will attenuate. If they fall out before chewing it way down to planned FG you could end up with a similar ABV but just more mouthfeel.

All in all I think you'll like the beer anyway.

 

[Bisco_Ben]

I use my bottling bucket to transfer the wort into my carboys, which came marked with 2, 2.5, 3, 3.5, 4, 4.5 and 5 gallon marks. Granted I had a big strainer bag lining the bucket to take out hops, both times when I filled the bucket to rack the wort into my carboys it was well above the 5 gallon mark so at the very most my volume could be off by quarter/half a gallon and I would think that wouldnt cause a .010 difference.

 

[tre9er]

What temp was the hydro sample (or did you use refractometer)? How did you chill the sample, if it was a hydro? From where did you draw the sample, ie. from the kettle, top or bottom? From fermenter? While wort was still running off or after mixing and aerating?

 

[Bisco_Ben]

The hydrometer sample was at 76 degrees so I adjusted accordingly. I chilled the wort with my usual copper IC chiller which took much longer obviously due to the double size of the batch compared to my usual 5.5 batches. I took the sample as the wort was still a bit warm as I was outside and it was getting darker and windy and felt I would just finish the chilling by putting the carboys in the chest freezer and cooling them there before pitching. So the sample was probably around 100 when I took it and was while I was running half the wort from the bottling bucket into the fermenter. It had a fair amount of hop particles/proteins in it for sure so I am not sure how all of this effects a reading.

 

[tre9er]

1. I don't like temp corrections for hydrometers.

2. I find the most accurate samples come from the fermenter after stirring/aerating to mix well. I've gotten some weird readings (like only gaining a few points from preboil to postboil) depending on where I took the sample.

 

[SC_Ryan]

2. I find the most accurate samples come from the fermenter after stirring/aerating to mix well. I've gotten some weird readings (like only gaining a few points from preboil to postboil) depending on where I took the sample.

I've never experienced that with an all grain batch. Unless water was added to the wort after the boil, there would be no need to stir to get an accurate (well mixed) reading.

 

[SC_Ryan]

From your post, I'm assuming you single batch sparged all of your previous brews, all of which were 5.5 gal. My best guess it that you reached a higher efficiency due to the double batch sparge. This is good news. Just calculate this efficiency as a baseline and use it going forward for your 11 gallon batches. I haven't seen this particular recipe but I'm guessing that adding 10 points to an IPA isn't going to send it out of balance. You'll just get an extra 1.0-1.5% alcohol. Hell, it may even be better than the original.

 

[tre9er]

I've never experienced that with an all grain batch. Unless water was added to the wort after the boil, there would be no need to stir to get an accurate (well mixed) reading.

Well, I have. YMMV. I think any density sample should benefit from mixing, especially when heat and cooling are ongoing

 

[Bisco_Ben]

These last few posts remind me that i was cooling the wort as i began transferring it to my carboys. Could this create such an unequal mix that would not only throw off my hydro reading but also mean that the wort in the 2 seperate catboys are totally different from each other?

 

[Devils_Chariot]

Did you take a pre-boil gravity reading? If you know your boil-off rate you should be able to calculate (using software in my case) your post boil gravity. measuring pre-boil gives you the opportunity to tune the wort with water or extract additions pre-hops so you can get the post gravity your are looking for. Diluting with water post boil will adjust the SG but is diluting your hops and specialty grains.

 

[SC_Ryan]

These last few posts remind me that i was cooling the wort as i began transferring it to my carboys. Could this create such an unequal mix that would not only throw off my hydro reading but also mean that the wort in the 2 seperate catboys are totally different from each other?

No, the simple act of boiling the wort is enough to mix it into a consistent solution. The only reason you should get different gravity reading from the same AG wort would be if the same wort was tested at different temperatures. Even then, once temperature equalizes, they should read the same. If one carboy was pitched hotter than the other, you may end up with two different beers regardless of the fact that the worts were the same.