Holiday Brew-Ha-Ha recipe SG

[pudland]

Hello all. Yesterday I brewed the above recipe, to the "t", from the Beersmith 2 software. Estimated SG was supposed to be around 1.051 with a FG of 1.015.... At 65* we got 1.095! The yeast is Nottingham Ale Yeast, 2 packets pitched dry at 65* wort temp. Fermentation has taken off nicely and my chamber is set at 65*. Should I slide the my expected FG up to maybe the 1.022ish range?
Thanks!

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[Justdrumin]

With two packs I'd say notty won't have a problem taking care of that beer. More than likely it'll hit your fg. You may end up with a nice winter warmer. What temp is your hydrometer made for though? Mine is supposed to be done in 60*F wort.

 

[pudland]

Justdrumin, mine supposed to be done at 60* also. At 70* it says to add .001. Not that big of a difference though. "Winter Warmer" I like that!

 

[pudland]

Hahaaa! That's a first for me!

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[Justdrumin]

O yeah! Looks good to me! Some strong fermentation. Pretty common with Notty. It's known to be a beast. I'm sure it'll be great. It'll be a little higher ABV, but a lot of people like that for winter beers. Its high ABV can have that warming alcohol effect on it. I have a doppelbock that has that same effect. It's quite nice.

 

[Yooper]

Unless you somehow doubled the extract, or halved the liquid, there is no possible way that 6 pounds of DME and 1 pound of honey gave you 1.095 in a 5 gallon batch.

It just seems that any top off water added to the fermenter didn't mix well with the wort, and you took a "heavier" sample.

 

[kadozen]

Unless you somehow doubled the extract, or halved the liquid, there is no possible way that 6 pounds of DME and 1 pound of honey gave you 1.095 in a 5 gallon batch.

It just seems that any top off water added to the fermenter didn't mix well with the wort, and you took a "heavier" sample.

Maybe it's a holiday brew miracle?

 

[pudland]

Unless you somehow doubled the extract, or halved the liquid, there is no possible way that 6 pounds of DME and 1 pound of honey gave you 1.095 in a 5 gallon batch.

It just seems that any top off water added to the fermenter didn't mix well with the wort, and you took a "heavier" sample.

Yooper,
ya know what.... we pulled the sample after about 2 gallons had drained into the primary from the bottling bucket. We were straining it as we poured, except when we took the sample. It did seems quite thick to everyone. Now you got me thinking it was somewhat separated by the time we took the sample.

We poured the wort into the bottling bucket, then topped off to 5 gallons, took about 1 1/4 gallons to top-off. We did not stir it. We figured it would mix well enough as it fell into the primary.

Well dangit.... I guess the estimate ABV will be measured by the ole "drink 1 every 15 minutes on an empty stomach, have someone watch your eyes with a flashlight and use a alc/body weight chart to get close" method!!

I can only imagine it is close to the recipe estimate, I'll see what the FG comes out at.

Does it matter that the recipe called for a 45 min boil but we boiled the DME for 60, added the honey and hops at 15 minutes in and so on?

Thanks

 

[pudland]

Maybe it's a holiday brew miracle?

kadozen,

Wouldn't that be lovely!

 

[pudland]

Update. It was enjoyed by some, including me. I just brewed another batch on sunday. Stirred the top off water in and got 1.076 SG. Nothing changed in the recipe except I used El Dorado hops. It must have to do with the spices and orange peel oil causing the wort to be more buoyant?

 

[RM-MN]

Update. It was enjoyed by some, including me. I just brewed another batch on sunday. Stirred the top off water in and got 1.076 SG. Nothing changed in the recipe except I used El Dorado hops. It must have to do with the spices and orange peel oil causing the wort to be more buoyant?

What it really has to do with is the difficulty of stirring well enough to thoroughly mix the denser wort with the top off water.

Here's a quick experiment to show how difficult it is. Take a glass tumbler and fill it with water. Now dump in a tablespoon of honey. This honey is more dense and sinks to the bottom, much as your concentrated wort does in the fermenter. Now take a toothpick and stir until the honey is well mixed. See what we mean that mixing the wort and the top off water is difficult?:rockin:

 

[pudland]

What it really has to do with is the difficulty of stirring well enough to thoroughly mix the denser wort with the top off water.

Here's a quick experiment to show how difficult it is. Take a glass tumbler and fill it with water. Now dump in a tablespoon of honey. This honey is more dense and sinks to the bottom, much as your concentrated wort does in the fermenter. Now take a toothpick and stir until the honey is well mixed. See what we mean that mixing the wort and the top off water is difficult?:rockin:

That's a great analogy! We discussed this before i took the sample. I had my cohort stirring with a 15" long paddle before and then while I took the sample. It took about 4 pulls on the thief to fill the cylinder up enough to float the hydrometer.