First Batch, Low OG

[Greyhound]

I got my brewing equipment this morning for Christmas and immediately proceeded to ignore my wife & family while I brewed my first extract kit. I'm sure I'll pay for that later, but that's for another day...

Anyway, I did my best to follow the expert advice on these forums, in John Palmer's book, as well as the instructions that came with the kit. Everything went according to plan and I was feeling pretty good about my first batch of brew till I took the OG reading. The instructions said it should have been 1.042-1.046. I took the reading multiple times and kept coming up with 1.039 (1.040 at 59 F). The only reason I could think of was that maybe I topped off to more than 5 gallons, but I don't think so - it looked like it was at the 5 gallon line, but it was harder to read than I thought it would be.

So I guess I have 2 questions:
1) What's the most likely cause of a low OG, and
2) more importantly, how is this going to affect the taste of my beer?
I'm really hoping for a RDWHAHB here

If it helps, here's the extract kit & procedure I used:
Midwest's Irish Red, which includes:
6 lbs Gold LME
12 oz caramel 40L
2 oz Special B
2 oz Roasted Barley
1 oz Cascades Hops
1 oz Fuggle Hops

Steeped the grains in 3 gallons of water, added all of the LME & Cascades (60 minutes), added the Fuggles with 2 minutes remaining, cooled the wort, topped off to 5 gallons, took OG, pitched yeast.


Thanks in advance for the help - you guys are the best!

 

[hamilt22]

Welcome and congrats on the Gift of Beer!

Did you steep the grains at ~155F for 30-40 minutes? If you steeped them when the water was cold (or too hot), the enzymes in the grains would not have been able to convert the starches into sugars. That and topping off with too much water are the only things I can think of at the moment... But 1.040 isn't so far off from where it should have been.

The lower gravity will make your beer lighter bodied and lighter in ABV, but it will still be delicious!

Good luck!

 

[Greyhound]

hamilt22, thanks for the reassurance.

To steep the grains, I heated the water to 160 then shut off the heat & added the grains for 30 minutes. Even though I shut off the heat, I didn't remove the pot from the burner, so water temp got up over 170 for a few minutes. Could that be my problem???

 

[phidelt844]

First of all, your comment of leaving the family immediatly to brew had me rolling...

Steeping grains, to my knowledge, do not provide many, if any, fermentables. My guess is that either your hydrometer is off a bit (mine's off .002, for instance), you have a bit more than 5g, or you did not mix the wort with the top-off water enough. My first batch, I was way below the kit's stated OG, but all I did was aggresively pour my wort from the kettle on to the top-off water in my primary. With no shaking/mixing, it gave a totally innacurate reading.

Basically, with extracts, it's almost impossible to miss your OG if you have the proper amount of water. Either way, at only .003 off, I don't think you have anything to worry about; sounds like you had a successful first brew! Congratulations, and good luck getting back on the family's good side!

 

[Nurmey]

Congratulations on your first brew! It sounds like you have your brewing priorities right on.

Usually the reason for a low OG on a extract kit is that the wort and the top off water didn't get mixed thoroughly. Did you shake that thing like it owed you money? Even if you didn't get it mixed, the yeast will find the sugar and you will have beer in a few weeks.

You steep water getting a little high will not be a problem. The biggest problem with the first batch is having the patience to wait until it's actually done before you bottle.

 

[Greyhound]

D'oh! I didn't even think to blame the equipment! So I just went & measured some plain water. At 68 F the hydrometer read 1.000 almost dead on. Oh well, it was worth a try - thanks for the suggestion.

I'm pretty sure I mixed well, too. I put the lid on the fermenter & shook it for maybe 30 seconds to aerate & mix. It had a few inches of foam on top when I was done. I got some foam into the hydrometer tube when I took my reading, but again, I think my reading was accurate (say +/- .001).

AS for the family, if the beer comes out good, all will be forgiven.

 

[NZGirl]

Hi and welcome... I'm glad your first brew is going to turn out good!

Now for the "waiting patiently" part...

 

[Tripod]

D'oh! I didn't even think to blame the equipment! So I just went & measured some plain water. At 68 F the hydrometer read 1.000 almost dead on.

First, congrats on the first brew and welcome to the addiction...WHOOPS...I mean HOBBY!

If I remember right, your hydro is designed to measure plain water to be 1.000 at 60*F. If you are getting 1.000 at 68*F, then the Hydro still could be off a bit. Sometimes, the little paper strip inside can slip out of place.

Still, if you are only off by a few points then RDWHAHB.

-Tripod

 

[Greyhound]

Thanks Tripod. You're right; I just re-read the instructions for my hydrometer. It is calibrated to 60 degrees, but it says there's no adjustment at 68 degrees.

So...I'm going to take your advice and relax & have a Sam Adams - that is, until the home brew is ready. Cheers.

 

[goplayoutside]

Usually the reason for a low OG on a extract kit is that the wort and the top off water didn't get mixed thoroughly.

+1

This happens all the time with partial boils. With an extract brew you have nothing to worry about, the sugar is in there and will become beer. Congrats!