FIRST AG HEFE! OG: 1.070, ok or dilute?

[RippaBitta]

Ok...

I brewed up my first Hefe today.

7.5 kg wheat malt
7kg barley malt
250g rice hulls
100g Hallertau
30g Orange peel
30g Coriander

The wort is currently cooling, sitting at around 45 degrees celcius at the moment.

Took a hydrometre reading and its 1.070!!

Is this too high? Should I dilute the wort before pitching the yeast once it hits a suitable temperature?

I have a total of 55 litres waiting to be poured into the fermenter...!!

I was hoping for a beer around the 6% range, not 8%

Please help!!

Cheers,

RippaBitta

 

[RippaBitta]

Just used brewersfriend.com's hydrometer adjustment calculator and with a temperature of 45 degrees celcius and my hydrometer calibrated at 15.6 my OG would actually be 1.079..!!!

Bit worried...

 

[CanAusBrewer]

Well if you wanted to go for a 6% ABV beer and your OG is 1.079 with 55 L of wort, if you add 15.7 L to get 70.7 L of wort with 1.061 OG. If your OG is 1.070, you will need to add 7.7 L to get 62.7 L total with 1.061 OG.

 

[RippaBitta]

Cheers mate!

After pouring her out of the kettle into the fermenter it worked out there was about 42 litres there, topped her up to 50 litres and got 1.061 right on the mark!

Just waiting for the temperature to drop before I pitch my M20 Bavarian yeast starter

 

[CanAusBrewer]

Sounds like that should give you a great 6%ish hef! In future, use a dilution calculator so you will always know exactly how much water to add to get your desired OG, regardless of how consistent your efficiency is.