Help please - brewing right now

[TxBigHops]

Made a bunch of mistakes during my first all-grain brew day. Worst of these is I dumped 1/2 pound of grain on the ground and the recipe was a touch light on expected OG as it was. Only thing I have available is about 2.5 pounds of very old extract. Probably 5-6 years old.

Am I better off to make a lighter beer, or add 1/2 pound of the old extract at the end of my boil? The extract has been in a sealed container which i just opened, and it smells really good. I don't think its's spoiled in any way. Nothing growing on it. It has not been refrigerated, just room temp all these years.

 

[smAllGrain]

I would say let it be a little light. 6 year old extract doesnt sound good.to me

 

[JKaranka]

What is your OG? If you are working on a 1.040 bitter and missed half pound I'd consider it, but if you're brewing something stronger than 1.055 I'd say don't bother.

 

[flars]

The extra light DME that you use for yeast starters could be used?

 

[soccerdad]

If it is DME and has been in a sealed bag it is prob ok. But I still go with the others ... go light and live with the mishap.

 

[TxBigHops]

It's a wheat pale ale. OG is supposed to be 1.054. I really don't want it much lower than that. I don't have any DME. The extract is liquid. It's dark colored, but I really don't care about the final color of the beer, and I would add it to the very end of the boil, so hopefully wouldn't effect color too much.

 

[TastyAdventure]

Don't add dark, old liquid extract to a wheat beer. That sounds terrible. Add less bittering hops, as your lower OG will need lower IBUs to go with it

 

[beergolf]

I would go with the less grain option .A half pound will not make a big difference in OG. About .003 points So you should come in at abround 1.051.

Old LME is probably not a good thing to add.

You could also increase the boil time. You will end up with a little less beer but at the OG you are looking for.

 

[TxBigHops]

OK. Lighter beer it is. Thanks everyone! I also missed low on my mash temp, so I may end up with more fermentables anyway.

 

[McKnuckle]

Boil a bit longer. End up with slightly less volume but higher OG.

 

[TheMattTrain]

I'm for the longer boil and less beer. Quality over quantity!

 

[mlafnitzegger]

boil a bit longer. End up with slightly less volume but higher og.

+1

 

[TxBigHops]

Update. I'm pretty worried. Just took a pre-boil gravity reading and it's only 1.030 at 160 F. I think I have about 7 gallons in the kettle. How far do I have to boil this down to get to 1.050? Any lower and it's almost near beer. Also a longer boil (of unknown duration) is going to screw up the hops schedule. It's supposed to be a hoppy wheat (about 35 IBU) But if the 60 minute addition stays in too long, won't that up it even higher, espcially if I have to cook it down to less than my anticipated 5.5 gallons?

 

[soccerdad]

If you typically boil off 1.5G per hour 90 min will boil off prox 2G and you will 5 (give or take). Do the hops on a typical 60 min schedule. You need to do the math using your boil off rate and prox desired final volume.

 

[Davefox15]

i go lighter or like MCkunckle said just boil it for a bit longer..lower volume but higher OG

 

[Hamaki]

Update. I'm pretty worried. Just took a pre-boil gravity reading and it's only 1.030 at 160 F.

If SG was indeed 1.030 at 160 you're likely near 1.050 at 60 degrees and after boil off you may end up nearer 1.065.

 

[beergolf]

If SG was indeed 1.030 at 160 you're likely near 1.050 at 60 degrees and after boil off you may end up nearer 1.065.

That is just about what my prediction was in my first post.

A half pound will not make a big difference in OG. About .003 points So you should come in at abround 1.051.

I would just let it ride.

 

[aprichman]

Update. I'm pretty worried. Just took a pre-boil gravity reading and it's only 1.030 at 160 F. I think I have about 7 gallons in the kettle. How far do I have to boil this down to get to 1.050? Any lower and it's almost near beer. Also a longer boil (of unknown duration) is going to screw up the hops schedule. It's supposed to be a hoppy wheat (about 35 IBU) But if the 60 minute addition stays in too long, won't that up it even higher, espcially if I have to cook it down to less than my anticipated 5.5 gallons?

Relax and have a homebrew

Not sure what you mean by any lower than 1.050 is "near beer". A lot of beer styles are closer to 1.040 and are awesome.

Like others have said, hydrometer readings are temperature specific. Your hydrometer should have notation on the instrument that tells you what temperature the readings are accurate at. Usually this would be 60-65F.

Also keep in mind that when you prime your beer for bottling you bump the ABV up by ~.25%

 

[TxBigHops]

If SG was indeed 1.030 at 160 you're likely near 1.050 at 60 degrees and after boil off you may end up nearer 1.065.

Bingo! We have a winner! I knew there was a difference in SG at different temps, but I didn't realize how big a difference. Found an online calculator that told me my unbelievably low 1.030 was really 1.049 at 60F. So I was all worked up over nothing. I even sent my wife to the LHBS for a pound of DME prior to making this discovery. But I didn't use it, thankfully.

End result, 5.15 gallons in the carboy at 1.057. So I actually boiled off too much! Ha! Lessons (many) learned. Next all grain should go much better.

Thanks everyone for the assistance. Love this place!