Low gravity on my kolsch PM...what to do?

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Tennessee

Active Member
Joined
Jun 11, 2009
Messages
27
Reaction score
0
Location
M'WAUKEE
My gravity reading was a bummer on my 5 gal. batch of Kolsch this Saturday...1.034. I was shooting for 1.044. My recipe was like this....
3# 2 row
2# German Pils
mashed in 2 gals. of H2O for an hour @ 155º (mash-in-a-bag method)
sparged @ 175º in 2 gals
I got a gravity reading of 1.048 in <4 gals of wort.
I boiled for 90 minutes adding .5 oz. of hops @ 90 minutes & 60.
@ 15 minutes I added 3# of DME (light pils) & irish moss.
OG was 1.034 when topped off to 5 gals.

My question is...can I boil some more DME (I have 3# on hand) & add it to my already fermenting (for 2 days now) beer & if so, how much should I add to bring my gravity to about 1.044?
 
Something is off with you hydrometer or volume measurements:

1.048 Mash X 4 Gallons = 192 Gravity Units
3# DME X 45 pts/# = 135 GUs

Total Gravity Units: 327 GU

327 GU / 5 Gallons = 65 = 1.065 estimated gravity

I'm guessing your wort wasn't properly mixed. It looks like the most likely scenario is that you overshot your gravity.
 
Agreed with above, your math is way off. I'm drinking a extract Kolsch I brew a month ago. Used 4# DME, 1# Munich, 0.5# Wheat and my gravity was around 1.042 It turned out great by the way
 
I know for certain that there is 5 gal. in my carboy, so I guess the issue is with my gravity reading?
I gave the carboy a few real good swirls before taking my gravity sample but I suppose I could have drawn off a pocket of watered down wort. My hyrdometer is sitting one click below 1.000 in cool tap water (not very scientific I know), so I dunno....

I am gathering I should just leave it alone & see how it comes out?
 
Back
Top