First time all-grain. Problem with OG.

[eon]

I brewed my first all grain batch the other day. It was a milk stout. The estimated OG according to Beercalculus was 1.073

I took a reading right before the boil and it was around 1.050 or 1.052

I also forgot to take another gravity reading before/after pitching the yeast, so I don't really know where it actually finished.

I used wyeast 1099 and didn't make a starter. Just pitched the packet.

Anybody know what might have cause this? Hope the beer turns out ok. I figure even if I can hit 4-5% ABV, it will be in the range for that style. I was shooting for at least 7% though.

Here is the recipe if that helps:

OG 1.073
FG 1.020

27* SRM

29.8 IBUs

BU:GU 0.41

7.1% ABV

3 gallon batch
3 gallon boil
-------------------------------

(69%) 6 lbs. golden promise
(7%) 10 oz. pale chocolate malt
(2%) 3 oz. roasted barley
(7%) 10 oz. golden naked oats
(7%) 10 oz. milk sugar @ 15 minutes
(4%) 5 oz. crystal 80L
(4%) 5 oz. cara 45

0.20 oz. Perle @ 60 minutes
0.20 oz. centennial @ 60 minutes
0.20 oz. Perle @ 15 minutes
0.20 oz. Centennial @ 15 minutes
0.20 oz. Centennial @ 5 minutes

Wyeast 1099 British Whitbread

 

[Dogphish]

3 gallon boil and 3 gallon batch? does not sound right, but does not affect predicted OG calculations.

your recipe was aiming a 75% efficiency, you ended up with 50% efficiency. Did you batch sparge or fly sparge? The only time i've been able to hit my target 75%, i believe i added salts to the water, and fly sparged. I always had 50% efficiency with batch sparge

Many people say that the homebrew stores don't grind the grain small enough. They do it on purpose to mess up your efficiency, and sell more grain. That's the popular rumor, anyways.

 

[eon]

So dogphish, how do you think this will affect the over all quality of my finished beer?

*EDIT: I batch sparged.

 

[smagee]

I imagine I'm missing something here... What is the problem? 1.050 preboil gravity seems reasonable.

Edit: ah, i see, it was already at 3 gallons before the boil start?

 

[eon]

smagee, Any guess as to what the gravity might have been after the boil? I'm still not sure how this is going to affect my finished product besides the lower ABV.

 

[mgortel]

I think you are going to be fine.......

What type of Stout? Irish Stout for example....would shoot for a 1.050 OG......go with it....you will be fine. You will probaly end up with a FG of 1.010 (in that range) and your beer will be fine.

If you took enough data (i.e. wrote things down as you did them, recorded temps, OG, FG, etc....) you should be able to figure out why things didnt come out as planned as far as your OG...etc.

 

[smagee]

Well, some quick tinkering in Beersmith says that your post-boil gravity was likely in the vicinity of 1.060 (based on a 9% boiloff rate). This would vary based on your boiling vessel (i.e., a taller stock pot vs. a wider one), but it's probably a good starting point.

And a milk stout doesn't necessarily have to be high gravity, so I'm betting it'll still taste fine. If worse comes to worst, you can always brew another one right after and blend the two .

 

[dandw12786]

Well, you said your OG was 1.052 BEFORE the boil? Some water probably boiled off, so your actual OG will be higher, not sure how much though. It will probably taste a bit lighter than intended, and it won't get you plastered quite as fast, but it should still produce a good beer! I wouldn't really worry about it, enjoy your beer!

 

[Dogphish]

i think that your mash temperature was more important than your OG in this case. your OG was strong enough to produce a 5% or higher beer, which is nice.

if you mashed in the 150 to 155 temperature range, then your beer should have a nice body. if you mashed below that, then your ABV will be a little higher, but your beer with be thin. if you mashed higher than that temperature, then your beer will be lower in alcohol, and will be too thick/sweet.

 

[passedpawn]

OG is measured after boil. The gravity before the boil can be significantly lower in a small batch like that, so everything is probably OK.

Next time you brew, slow down and get all your measurements.

 

[rizomee]

Print a few of these out to help: http://www.aussiehomebrewing.com/BrewersLog/BrewersLog.html
Cheers

 

[eon]

Thanks rizomee!!!!!

 

[dzlater]

If you know much did you ended up with after the boil?
You can figure the OG.
G1 x VOL1 = G2 x VOL2
so
50 x 3 = G2 x VOL2
or
150 / VOL2 = OG