Low Gravity, too low?

[Computertekguy]

I've been lurking the forum for a little while now, bout time i'd introduce myself.

Hello

Ok, now on with beer questions!

Me and my buddy tried doing a batch of our own recipe of Extra Pale Ale. Everything went nice and smooth but when we took a gravity reading before pitching the yeast, it was only at 1.02

Most other beers i've done recently (just started this as a new years project) have been around the scale of 1.04 for original gravity. I'm a bit concerned whether or not we watered it down too much and it's going to come out michelob ultra light. We used our new 6 gallon carboy instead of our existing 5gallons so I think we might of got the measurements wrong. Trying to get it to as close to 5gallons as we could.

Think 1.02 is too light?

Recipe looked kinda like this

160*F
1lbs 10L crystal (steep)
1Lbs rice flake (steep)

3.3 Muttons ultra light extract

20mins hops (spalt)
45 min hops (cent)

60min boil

 

[Computertekguy]

Forgot to mention that I added 1/4 cup of dried malt extract during the boil. Hopefully that pulls through.

Also, will the priming sugar help the abv any? For example, if I primed it with extra sugar will i get a higher abv or a bottle bomb waiting to happen?

 

[DD2000GT]

Did you shake the bajeebers out of the primary before taking that gravity reading?

 

[Computertekguy]

Did you shake the bajeebers out of the primary before taking that gravity reading?

Honestly dont remember. Usually do so i'd like to say yes.

It looks and smells great, I shook the hell out of it when I pitched the yeast. So far it looks lighter than any of the Lagers or pale ales i've done so far, but that is what i'm going for. All my brews look close to a porter more than a lager and they've been in primary for 12 days.

But anyways, even if it was at 1.02, I'm probably looking at a 3-4% arnt I

 

[The Blow Leprechaun]

It's pretty much impossible to miss your gravity significantly using extract.

It's also pretty much impossible to thoroughly mix the damn thing to get a precise gravity reading.

As long as your volume didn't go crazy, you're probably better off putting the numbers into brewing software to get your OG than you are using a hydrometer.

 

[ArcaneXor]

Well, you used only 3.3 lbs of Muntons ultra light extract in 5 gals of water. LME yields something like 37 ppg, so your expected original gravity would be:

3.3*37/5 = 24.42 (i.e. 1.024) from the LME
1*14/5 = 2.8 (i.e. 1.003) from the steeped Crystal
I don't know how much a quarter cup of DME weighs, but add another couple of points for that just as a guesstimate.

So your OG should have been around 1.030. based on your recipe.

Don't overprime your bottles - that will cause bombs. Instead, you can always re-calculate your recipe, boil up some extra wort according to the difference between what you have now and where you want to be, and add that to the fermenter. Just be sure to keep track of the hops as well, or you'll throw your beer off-balance.

 

[Computertekguy]

Well, you used only 3.3 lbs of Muntons ultra light extract in 5 gals of water. LME yields something like 37 ppg, so your expected original gravity would be:

3.3*37/5 = 24.42 (i.e. 1.024) from the LME
1*14/5 = 2.8 (i.e. 1.003) from the steeped Crystal
I don't know how much a quarter cup of DME weighs, but add another couple of points for that just as a guesstimate.

So your OG should have been around 1.030. based on your recipe.

Don't overprime your bottles - that will cause bombs.

I wasnt going to try it, but I was curious.

How about adding more DME that's been boiled and cooled? Say another quarter cup in about 10-20oz of water?

I'm getting less concerned with it. I have 5 Carboys full right now (this hobby turned obsession quickly). So I guess it wouldnt be too bad to have a session beer I suppose. Just disappointing to an extent