Help on starting gravity please. 2nd brew

thunder92 · Apr 29, 2015

I just brewed a batch of centennial ale I found on the site. I must have gotten the water measurement off or the boil didn't boil of as much as I thought it would. Anyway my Starting OG was 1.030 instead of around 1.039. Will this beer suck the big one?

feinbera · Apr 29, 2015

Was this an extract batch? If so, and if you got the right volume of wort + top-off water into your fermenter, it's far more likely you got a bad reading due to uneven mixing than actually missed by that many points.

If you did actually miss by nine points, your beer will still be pretty good. A little lighter in color, flavor and ABV than what you were aiming for, but still imminently drinkable; heck, that may even be a plus with the hot days of summer coming up.

Next batch, carefully measure your pre- and post-boil volumes, then, the time after that, you'll be able to hit your numbers exactly because you'll know how much your particular system boils off, versus just using a generic (and probably inaccurate) rule-of-thumb like "about a gallon an hour."

MadHomebrewer · Apr 29, 2015

I'm pretty new as well, but you should be fine. It will just be a little less ABV. I know some like to keep some light DME on hand incase they under shoot there gravity.

My last brew was supposed to be a double IPA, but my OG is as more in the IPA range. Just bottled taste great just less ABV. I was at 5.5% instead of 7%

thunder92 · Apr 29, 2015

thanks for quick reply. It was an all grain batch and I measure pre aerating. I had been stirring it every so often though. My main problem I now know if not knowing how much I ended up with after boil. I need to mark my carboy next time. And I don't really care if the alcohol content is low. Thanks alot

MadHomebrewer · Apr 29, 2015

I think the biggest thing with all grain is the sparging and getting all that sugar out of your grains. That is something I am struggling with too.

thunder92 · Apr 29, 2015

could be that too. I just scooped out wort when it hit 170 on the way to boil and poured it over my grain bag about 6 times in a strainer over the pot. Used a 4 cup measuring cup. Worked great but I don't know the exact process.

Brewing is fun though!