Loss in BH efficiency when adding simple sugars to boil?

[nosoup4me]

In my last few beers that I added simple sugars to the end of the boil came out low on est. gravity... actually the recorded OG is where it would be if I didn't add the sugar at all. Both beers had a recorded mash efficiency that was right on target.

• In one beer I added 1.25# of honey in the last minute of boil (just slowly poured in) and then basically killed the heat.
• The other one I added 1# of dextrose to the last 5 minutes (just tossed in quickly).

My guess is that the sugars didn't incorporate into the wort. But I didn't see any caramelization in the pot so I don't really know.

Any ideas? Does it really matter if I add them at the beginning or end of the boil? Maybe they would incorporate better with more time?

Or maybe it's something else. After the first batch came in ~10 pts low I was so frustrated that I recalculated my boil off on my pot, checked for accuracy of my volume gauges only to find that everything was where it has always been.

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I'm calculating Mash Efficiency with a pre-boil SG. and OG is calculated from Beersmith (which Ive been using for 3 years) and then I doubled checked the value with Brewer's Friend after I missed my OG.

9.66 (gal) * 12.6° (1.051) = 7.1 (gal) * C2

C2 = 17.14° Plato (1.070 OG)

Which is what my OG was on the money.

 

[Biscuits]

They definitely incorporated. I don't use Beersmith or Brewer's Friend, but I am betting, based on what you've said, that they discriminate between sugars extracted from the mash and sugars added during the boil.

 

[day_trippr]

Beersmith has a decent library of fermentable additions and it definitely includes them in the post-boil "original" gravity.
I would suspect insufficient stirring prior to drawing your gravity sample...

Cheers!

 

[doug293cz]

I agree with day_trippr, you most likely have errors in your pre-boil SG measurement and/or your post-boil OG measurement. Poor mixing is a common problem with pre-boil measurements (unless doing a no-sparge.) Late additions of sugar to the boil can also cause errors due to insufficient mixing. Depending on where you pull the sample, mixing caused errors can be either on the high side or the low side.

Brew on