Low OG

[MattyIceGfunk]

So I just brewed and I realized after I pitched that I forgot to take the OG. Went back down and took it... The first time I did it was about 1.020 then it was 1.045 then the last time it was back down to around 1.030. I added a ton of hops to this brew and I believe I read once the more hops you use the more sugars you need to add. I used 1lb of caramel 40 and 3.3 lbs LME along with about 5oz of casscades/centennial.

Did I screw up bad?

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

Depends. How's it taste?

 

[MattyIceGfunk]

Didn't do a taste test but it smelled wonderful.

 

[MattyIceGfunk]

I guess my question is if I added too many hops and not enough sugar could this land me with a super low ABV?

 

[OldStyler]

Wait, how big is this batch? 3.3 lbs LME in a 5 gallon batch is going to be pretty light.

 

[MattyIceGfunk]

Yea, it's a 5 gallon batch. Ugh

 

[asterix404]

Yea... so you didn't screw up at all but the amount of sugar you used was very low, you will end up with something like an indial pale bitter. It should taste fantastic.

 

[MattyIceGfunk]

Does this mean I will have about 3% alc though?

 

[jaycount]

Yeah, probably in that ball park of 3%. Did you plug the ingredients into beer software before brewing this or just toss the stuff in and call it good?

Beer Calculus is great for eyeballing your numbers and seeing how things will play out before brew day.

 

[Ohio-Ed]

Unless you did a full boil, your varying OG measurements are probably because of the top up water. It is very difficult to mix wort & water thoroughly and your measurement will vary based on the mix in your sample.

Ed

 

[MattyIceGfunk]

Well I topped it off with about a gallon and a half of water so I'm hoping that's all it is. Thanks for the input guys!

 

[Ohio-Ed]

Well I topped it off with about a gallon and a half of water so I'm hoping that's all it is. Thanks for the input guys!

That would explain why your results varied.
Based on the amount of LME, you probably still have a pretty low gravity.

 

[OldStyler]

+1 the low gravity. The good thing is that if you like hops, you probably have a pretty hoppy brew going for you. Plug what you did into beercalculus like was mentioned previously for an approximate IBU number. You should also be able to put a good number of these down. Out of curiosity, what kind of yeast?

 

[MattyIceGfunk]

+1 the low gravity. The good thing is that if you like hops, you probably have a pretty hoppy brew going for you. Plug what you did into beercalculus like was mentioned previously for an approximate IBU number. You should also be able to put a good number of these down. Out of curiosity, what kind of yeast?

Well I Do love my hops so I guess I will wait and see how it turns out. I just used Nottingham dry ale yeast. Activity in the airlock this am so I got that going for me.