How to fix a low OG

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Reddog68

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Hello all,
Just brewed a brown ale, and i am not very happy with the outcome! OG is 1042, when it should be 1058. Not to mention it doesn't have the dark brown color i was looking for. Looks like my mill has come out of adjustment, that is the only i can think of that would affect my brew that much.
I was thinking about doing a small stove top batch of caramel and chocolate, to see if i can raise the gravity and bump the color. Any thoughts?
thanks! (hurry...before my fermentation kicks off!:D)
 
Boil a pound of molasses in some water (no more than 4 cups) and add it after it cools, will add a great flavor to the beer and boost the gravity. Will make the brown ale a little bit drier.
Good Luck
 
Or dark DME if you can get it...caramel and chocalate malts will boost gravity but not fermentables if I recall correctly.

That's correct. Specialty malts as a rule add very few fermentables. How to Brew by Palmer discusses this.

If you're always getting low OG, you can fix it two ways;

Cover it up by adding more grain, extract, or sugar when you brew.
Solve the root cause of your low efficiency (grain crush, mash temp management, water pH and composition, etc.)

Since you appear to be done the brew, adding more grain is out. Adding sugar will add gravity points, but it will come at the cost of flavour and body. Adding extract is probably a better option, but make sure it's also sterilized before adding to the fermenter.
 
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