First attempt at homebrewing - 1.038 OG

[Dcgf05]

First timer here, just finished putting my first run in the fermenter but think I may have messed up. I made the northern brewer caribou slobber recipe but I think that I might have messed up. First, I apparently over-cooled my wort to 60 degrees before I moved to the fermenter. I think that will probably affect my yeast (dry). Second, I think I added too much water to the wort because my OG was measured at 1.038.

Other than that, I think everything went according to recipe. I was wondering if there 's anything I can/should do to fix my mistakes now rather than end up with not good beer. I bought a kegging setup, so I'm guessing I can just bottle the excess caused by adding too much water, but also was wondering if I need to fix the yeast situation. Thanks!

 

[icebob]

maybe yo will just be able to drink more before you get $hitface

 

[geoffm33]

What should the OG have been? And what volume was the recipe vs what is currently in the fermenter? How much water did you add?

The low OG could be from the water addition not being thoroughly mixed.

 

[Dcgf05]

Sorry for the delay, website says OG should be 1.052. I would estimate that I added between 3.5-3.75 gallons water to the wort (probably way too much) on the 5 gallon recipe.

 

[pablosbrewing]

Assuming you bought the default dry yeast (Danstar Nottingham) - no worries as this yeast can work down to about 54F. Normally you start higher and ferment this yeast no lower than about 57F, and since the recipe calls for 64-70F I would raise the temp by setting in a room in that range. It also won't hurt to swirl the bucket or carboy several times a day until you have airlock activity.

The OG should have been in the 1.052 range - so you are going to get more of a Mild Ale which is NOT a disaster. It's going to be lower ABV (maybe around 3.5%) - but as long as ferments ok it's going to be beer and should taste good.

I'm guessing you have about 6.75 gallons instead of 5. I think you should be able to bottle the extra:

Priming sugar calculator - you want ~ 2.4 volumes of CO2
http://www.northernbrewer.com/priming-sugar-calculator/

Keg:

Put 5 gal in keg with priming sugar brought to boil in 1 cup water
Or
Put 5 gal in keg and force carbonate​

Bottle:

Check volume in bottling bucket - add correct priming sugar brought to boil in 1 cup water
Or
Get some carbonation drops that you can add to each bottle​

 

[masskrug]

Your yeast will be fine.

You will have a light session beer. Your BMC friends might even like it. Drink it up and start the next one

 

[Dcgf05]

Thanks guys, I feel much better about the first run now. I will follow the advice and enjoy the results. I have the northern brewer rogue dead clone ale up next, I'll make sure to avoid these mistakes next time. Cheers

 

[CraptainWirtz]

How sure are you about your volumes? If you were expecting 1.052 for a 5 gallon batch, and your hydrometer read 1.038, you would actually have more like 6.84 gallons of wort. Are you fermenting in a bucket or a carboy? What size? I think it's much more likely that you have close to 5 gallons, but you didn't mix the wort with the top-off water well enough, so when you pulled a sample for your gravity reading, it was more water than wort and gave you an erroneously low gravity, as geoffm33 said.

 

[tooldudetool]

I agree with the Craptain (sweet name!), there's not way you would have 6.8 gallons of wort unless you are fermenting in an 8 gallon wine fermenter. If you have the typical 6.5 gallon bucket fermenter you would have obviously filled it to overflowing. It is very common for extract brews to give incorrect measurements due to the top off water not being thoroughly mixed with the concentrated wort. With extract brews figuring out the OG is a no brainer, all you have to know is the number of pounds of extract and the volume in the fermenter and you can calculate the gravity without having to measure. For example liquid malt extract is 37 points per pound per gallon. 6 pounds of LME x 37 points is 222 points. Just divide 222 by your volume in the fermenter. 222 / 5.5 = 40, or an OG of 1.040. Maybe you added another half gallon: 222 / 6 = 37, or an OG of 1.037. Maybe you filled it to exactly 5 gallons: 222 / 5 = 44, or 1.044. See, its actually very easy to figure out. You will also get another couple points from steeping crystal malts, but its not usually more than 2-3 added to the final calculated OG.