Gravity Question

[duskb]

I just finished brewing a Bock and dumped the wort onto a fresh yeast cake.

Usually when I go to top off I measure up to the 5 gal line (which I verified was spot on). For the first time I dumped my wort in and realized the trub kicked that marker off a bit. I grabbed my hydrometer after guessing how much to add and got a reading of 1.074 (Recipe calls for 1.067). I added some more water but haven't bothered to verify where I'm at since for fear of over-diluting the mixture. It's way beyond the 5 gal. line now.

How do you guys manage to get the gravity close? Do I just keep sucking up samples till I get it or let it go?

 

[trigger]

Just let it be. It'll be great. I boil down to the volume I want then put it in the fermenter. I record the OG to calculate my eff. After a while you get a good knowledge of what to expect for eff at various gravities.

For now, put the airlock on and enjoy the sh!t out of it in 4 months, cause it'll be great.

 

[DubBrew]

Download beersmith. It has many great tools. One of which is a dilution tool that would have told you how much water to add to go from 1.074 to 1.067 based on several factors including current volume. If your low you can boil off some water before adding yeast our and dme. Beersmith can assist hete too.

 

[duskb]

Just let it be. It'll be great. I boil down to the volume I want then put it in the fermenter. I record the OG to calculate my eff. After a while you get a good knowledge of what to expect for eff at various gravities.

For now, put the airlock on and enjoy the sh!t out of it in 4 months, cause it'll be great.

4 MONTHS????

Holy crap. I was only planning on keeping this in primary for 3 weeks and kegging it.

Glad I posted. I'll need to read on up Bocks then to get an idea on what I'm doing.

 

[trigger]

Well, when you said Bock I assumed you're using a bavarian lager yeast. That means anywhere from 2-4 weeks for fermentation and D-rest (if needed). Then crash cooling for a few days, then kegging and lagering. For a beer that's at 1.07x you'll want to lager for at least 2 months, especially if you're doing it at near freezing. You can carb during this time, but really you're in for the long haul on a beer like this. Higher gravity lagers take a long time to come into their own.

 

[earwig]

You could also make a beer measuring stick. With this you would know how much you have in your brew kettle before dumping it into the fermenter. I recently made one out of a .67 cent yard stick from Home Depot.