grain bill a little short--what would you do?

[jack13]

I am brewing a beer I did recently, which turned out great. It's a Pilsner Urquell clone (https://byo.com/recipe/pilsner-urquell-clone/).

Grain bill is supposed to be:

8 lbs. (3.6 kg) Pilsner malt
1 lb. (0.45 kg) Vienna malt
0.5 lb. (0.23 kg) Munich malt
0.5 lb. (0.23 kg) Carapils

But while out yesterday I stopped at my LHBS and went from memory on the grain bill and got the pilsner wrong (only got 7 pounds).

First time I did this, my OG was 1.050 with a target of 1.048. So 2 points over.

I'd rather not reduce batch size, so my question comes down to whether, with a 'delicate' beer like this there is any risk adding some light DME . And if it's OK, how much should I add and when should I add it? ...keeping in mind I don't want to make up for the WHOLE 1 pound that I'm short since I was 2 points over w/8 pounds of pilsner last time.

In case it's relevant: I'm planning to do a decoction mash again, as per the recipe, and will use the gigayeast czech pilsner yeast I harvested from the previous batch.

 

[JohnSand]

I would use the DME as a late addition in the boil, last ten minutes. A pound of pilsner is about .7# of DME. Two points is really no difference, I wouldn't try to adjust for it. Good luck, keep us posted.

 

[filthyastronaut]

I'd probably just skip the DME and brew it anyway. The OG will be a little lower but you may not notice the difference in the final product.

 

[Miraculix]

+1

Don't add dme. Just brew it without and accept a slightly less alcoholic beer. The original is also below 5%.

 

[grampamark]

Agree with the unbathed space cadet.

Assuming you use the same yeast and have the same attenuation, you will end up around half a percent less ABV. That's not a significant difference.

 

[jack13]

I'm sure it would have been just fine either way, but I went with the majority view and left it as-is--no DME. OG is 1.046, so two points on the other side of the target this time.

Thanks, all!