Gravity way off.......

[hughey2000]

Attached is my recipe and the calculation from beersmith (I also entered it into ibrew and the calculation was very similar.) So as usual I put in all my ingredients and it auto calc's my OG. My problem comes in that no matter what I increase in the recipe I can't come up with the gravity I actually read. 1.088 anyone have an idea where the extra points might come from? Or maybe my hydrometer is broken?

View attachment 1431222027827.jpg

 

[CGish]

I assume you have stirred the wort thoroughly so you are not getting a false reading?

 

[d3track]

Temp you are reading at?

Is this 5 gal recipe, and do you have 5 gal post boil or do you need to top up?

 

[hughey2000]

Started with 6.5 gallons of water. Ended with about 4.75 gal. Topped up to 5 gal. Post boil. Took reading after transfer to fermenter. Cooled down to 70F.

 

[DoctorMemory]

I'd suspect it's the extract. It's notoriously hard to get a decent reading until everything mixes together, especially if you have to add top-off water. Usually the readings are low, though, so I could be off track. That's what stood out to me, though.

 

[pricelessbrewing]

The extract has a decription of "mash addition" which seems counter productive to me as it probably got some of it stuck to the grains. I would add it part way through the boil personally, like 30-15 minutes left.

 

[DurtyChemist]

I think it is honey. I made a golden strong and with 1 lb of sugar it didn't change the gravity expectation in beer smith if it was there or not.

 

[hughey2000]

The grains were mashed and sparaged then the extract was added to the wort. Just started using this program and still trying to figure it out. I was using ibrew master. It might be the honey. I do like what it adds to the beer though.

 

[DurtyChemist]

The grains were mashed and sparaged then the extract was added to the wort. Just started using this program and still trying to figure it out. I was using ibrew master. It might be the honey. I do like what it adds to the beer though.

Change the recipe in your program to exclude honey and see if the OG changes.

If this changed the OG add it back and remove the extract and see if the OG changes.

 

[hughey2000]

Thanks DurtyChemist. In going back through when I got to the extract I realized I had LME in the calculation but used DME in the boil. Made all the difference auto Calc was much closer 1.083. My reading was 1.088. That I can live with.

 

[BowAholic]

I see that you have equipment set at "POT 13g/50L BIAB" I use a 42Q/10.5G pot and usually do 7.5 gallons of water for a full volume 5.5g batch...when I set the equipment as you have it drops my expected OG to way lower than it should be...I wish I knew why. I wish I knew what to set it on to get it right... 5G Pot/Cooler usually comes out closer, but that's not what I use...ANYWAY I think it's an equipment setting/calc.

 

[DurtyChemist]

I see that you have equipment set at "POT 13g/50L BIAB" I use a 42Q/10.5G pot and usually do 7.5 gallons of water for a full volume 5.5g batch...when I set the equipment as you have it drops my expected OG to way lower than it should be...I wish I knew why. I wish I knew what to set it on to get it right... 5G Pot/Cooler usually comes out closer, but that's not what I use...ANYWAY I think it's an equipment setting/calc.

This can change things too. If the OP isn't making a 6.08 gallon batch it will change the gravity. 5.5 gallons will have a higher OG than 6.08 gallons.

 

[hughey2000]

Don't know why but the android beersmith doesn't have a 10.5 gal option. That is actually the pot I'm using. This was my first batch with the new equipment/full volume boil. My boil off was more than I expected which left me having to top it up.