High OG on Brewers Best Kolsch

[buckeyebrewer521]

My buddy and I brewed A Brewers Best Kolsch kit last night and our OG was 1.056 and our range was supposed too be 1.046-1.050. We upgraded to Wyeast Kolsch Yeast strand, but we are still concerned about the high OG. We followed the directions as closely as possible. Does anyone know what could cause that? I took the reading at about 64 degrees, could that also be a factor? This only our second batch, so any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[Pie_Man]

Did you use top off water in your process? Top off water is the number one reason for inaccurate readings. The 64F temp reading is not your problem, that's appropriate.

Was this an extract brew? Can you post the recipe?

 

[twistr25]

+1 to top off water issue. Or if you did a full boil, maybe you boiled off a little more than you thought. 1.056 isn't incredibly high and would just increase the ABV slightly. The other side of it is your FG will still need to hit the recipe value. If it does, you will get the higher ABV, but if it hits 1.013 instead of 1.01, then it really comes out pretty close to the same.

 

[buckeyebrewer521]

It was an extract kit. We pour the wort in the primary, then topped off with tap water. I think we had a little less than 2.5 gallons of wort, then filled fermenter up to 5 gallons. Will the Kolsch benefit from a longer secondary? I don't know it letting it sit longer will help us hit our FG. I will see if I can post the recipe that came with the kit.

 

[buckeyebrewer521]

Recipe:

Fermentables:
3.3lbs Pilsen LME
2.0lbs Wheat DME

Specialty Grains:
12oz Carapils

Hops (Pellets):
1oz UK Fuggles
1oz GR Tettnang

Yeast:
1 Wyeast Kolsch Strain Smack Pack

Steeped Specialty Grains for 20mins at 150-155 degrees, brought to boil, added 3.3lbs Pilsen LME and UK Fuggles, boiled for 44 mins, added 2.0lbs Wheat DME, boiled 5 mins, added 1oz GR Tettnang, boiled for 10 mins. Cooled to about 80 degrees in an ice bath, strained into fermenter, then topped with tap water to about 5 gallons. Took OG sample and pitched Wyeast pack.

Thanks for the input guys!

 

[buckeyebrewer521]

Forgot to ask, how does the top off water effect the reading?

 

[one-L]

More topoff water dilutes the sugars more, thus a lower OG reading. +1 on probably undershooting on the water a little bit (or maybe getting a little more out of the Carapils during the steep) resulting in a slightly high gravity.

 

[twistr25]

It was an extract kit. We pour the wort in the primary, then topped off with tap water. I think we had a little less than 2.5 gallons of wort, then filled fermenter up to 5 gallons. Will the Kolsch benefit from a longer secondary? I don't know it letting it sit longer will help us hit our FG. I will see if I can post the recipe that came with the kit.

Do you have the means to more or less lager? I just finished a kolsch and I let it sit in secondary at lager temps for 2 to 3 weeks and it turned out amazing. I was sorry to see it go. Ultra clear and crisp. Perfect to finish off the summer season.

 

[Pie_Man]

Forgot to ask, how does the top off water effect the reading?

Basically, the wort and plain water are at different gravities, so it takes a very, very, thorough mixing to get an accurate reading. With extract, it's usually more accurate to estimate OG based off of your recipe. This may help to explain, http://www.howtobrew.com/section2/chapter12-3.html (read through 12-6).

I'm also confused about your grain bill, using average yields from extract, I get a different calculated OG. Are you missing some extract, or sugar in the fermentables that you posted? You took the gravity reading after the top off water addition, correct?

Pounds PPG GP
2 X 40 80 DME
3.3 X 34 112.2 LME
Total GP 192.2
Volume 5
OG 1.038 (Total GP / Vol.)

 

[twistr25]

Speaking of recipe, it's a little better practice to add your DME at the beginning of the boil and the LME at flameout. That can help reduce some extract "twang" flavors and keep the beer a bit lighter in color.

 

[buckeyebrewer521]

Do you have the means to more or less lager? I just finished a kolsch and I let it sit in secondary at lager temps for 2 to 3 weeks and it turned out amazing. I was sorry to see it go. Ultra clear and crisp. Perfect to finish off the summer season.

I have a carboy i can do an extended secondary in, but the temperature in my basement is about 63-64 degrees steady. My garage was colder, but the weather jumped up to about 40-50s here in Ohio. What temperature should I be looking for?

 

[buckeyebrewer521]

Basically, the wort and plain water are at different gravities, so it takes a very, very, thorough mixing to get an accurate reading. With extract, it's usually more accurate to estimate OG based off of your recipe. This may help to explain, http://www.howtobrew.com/section2/chapter12-3.html (read through 12-6).

I'm also confused about your grain bill, using average yields from extract, I get a different calculated OG. Are you missing some extract, or sugar in the fermentables that you posted? You took the gravity reading after the top off water addition, correct?

Pounds PPG GP
2 X 40 80 DME
3.3 X 34 112.2 LME
Total GP 192.2
Volume 5
OG 1.038 (Total GP / Vol.)

We just followed the recipe that came with the kit. All the listed ingredients were in the box and we added them per the recipe. The OG range we also go off of the recipe sheet. It is available on their website in a pdf, but I can't get it to post here. We are very, very new at this so just followed to recipe as close as we could.

 

[buckeyebrewer521]

Speaking of recipe, it's a little better practice to add your DME at the beginning of the boil and the LME at flameout. That can help reduce some extract "twang" flavors and keep the beer a bit lighter in color.

The wort was pretty dark before topping off, I was kinda confused by only doing the wheat for 15 mins. We did a Christmas ale awhile ago and all the extract went in at the beginning, both the LME and DME.

 

[solbes]

Typically with WY2565, you want to primary ferment between 56 and 61F for a couple of weeks. Then rack to secondary and "lager" between 32 and 40 F for three-four weeks. But at these lower primary fermentation temps, you definitely want to make a healthy sized yeast starter. Preferably 2.5-3 quarts.

That said, I don't think that will be possilbe now. No worries, it will still make good beer. Keep it as cool as you can in your basement in primary for 1.5-2 weeks total. Then chill it in your garage for a couple of days. Rack to secondary on top of some hydrated gelatin (unflavored Knox, search for how to do this). The gelatin will help the yeast drop out over the lagering period. Try to get it even colder. Maybe rotate some blue ice packs next to your secondary vessel on the garage floor. After 3 weeks, bottle it up and enjoy. I'm about to make my 5th Kölsch, love em!

 

[buckeyebrewer521]

You took the gravity reading after the top off water addition, correct?

Yes the sample was taken after straining the wort into the fermenter, and then topping off.

 

[Pie_Man]

So, the brewer's best website lists the OG as 1.042 - 1.046, http://www.brewersbestkits.com/pdf/1015 2013 Kolsch Recipe.pdf. Including the carapils in my calculation, which I believe Brewer's Best is factoring into their OG calculation, the math at least makes sense.

Pounds PPG GP
2 X 40 80 DME
3.3 X 34 112.2 LME
0.75 X 35 26.25 Carapils
Total GP 218.45
Volume 5
OG 1.044 (Total GP / Vol.)

So, the wort and extract were probably not mixed thoroughly enough for an accurate reading. And/or, your volume is less than 5 gallons.

I agree with the fermentation comments as well.

 

[buckeyebrewer521]

Thanks so much for all the insight! I did not mix the fermenter a bunch before collecting the sample. I will take another reading in a week or so and see where we are at. You guys are a big help, I'll follow up and let you know how it turns out!

 

[buckeyebrewer521]

Hey guys just wanted to post an update. Took a SG reading tonight and hit right in our range. Today was a week after brewing and we hit 1.012 with our goal being 1.010-1.014 so we were about perfect. Going to give it a little longer in primary since the krausen layer is still on top, then rack to secondary to hopefully lager for a few weeks. Thanks again for the advice, I'm super happy to see it hitting the goals we were looking for.