Low OG?

[TheJadedDog]

So my estimated OG in ProMash was 1.062 and my actual OG was only 1.050. Grain bill was:

1lb Munich
1/2 lb CaraMunich
(steeped for 20 min in 1.5gallons at 160 deg)

6lbs DME

I made sure to shake up the carboy to get everything mixed together and aerate and I used a wine thief to take the sample so it did not come from the top.

Is it possible that ProMash is adding sugars from the Munich as if I were mashing?

Any thoughts are greatly appreciated.

 

[malkore]

extract can have varying levels of sugars, although usually its the LME that screws people up, not DME.
DME is 1.040 per pound per gallon. so that alone would get you 1.048 in 5gallons w/6lbs.

I'm guess Promash assumes you are mashing, not simply steeping grains, and that's where your other points came from.

 

[GIusedtoBe]

Dog, I got the exact same OG when I did a recipe w/ 6 lbs of Muntons DME. Mine was 1.050 at about 78 F so I figured it was closer to 1.052 - 1.055

I just did a hefe with 6.6 lbs of LME that the book said should come in at 1.048 - 1.050 and my actual was 1.040 at 68 F so I'm guessing about 1.042

Most of the books I've read act like you should get higher readings so I don't know what gives. I think Malkore is right.

Regards,
Al

 

[TheJadedDog]

Yeah, I think promash overstates the OG sometimes. I've never run into this problem with it before, but then, I've never used this much Munich Malt before either. Hopefully it will be more accurate when I start doing PM.

I was thinking it may have also been due to absorption in the hops. I figure, if the hops absorbed a lot of the wort then my top up water may have diluted it more than usual (this was also my first time using whole hops). I haven't taken the time to mark out my glass carboy so I have no idea if I actually got a full 2 gallons of wort into the fermenter.

 

[Cregar]

Putting the ingredients in Beer Alchemy it give a OG of 1.054. When I measure, it's pretty much right on.