Low OG

[chadd]

Hello all,

I know that the OG isn't all that important but I just put my second batch into the primary last night and the OG was quite a bit lower than what it should have been. It should have been 1.040 and it came out 1.023. The same thing showed on my first batch. Not sure if the hydrometer is out of wack or what is going on. I bounced the hydrometer off the floor last night and it shattered so I don' think I am even going to worry about getting another.

Any ideas what would cause the OG to be so much lower than what it is supposed to be?

Thanks,
Chadd

 

[Darth Konvel]

Question for you: Are you topping off (adding water to) you wort, then taking a gravity sample? If so, did you mix it fairly well before taking the sample? Is this an extract batch?

 

[chadd]

Question for you: Are you topping off (adding water to) you wort, then taking a gravity sample? If so, did you mix it fairly well before taking the sample? Is this an extract batch?

I brewed this up from recommendations from ScottT.

1.5 lbs Dextrine malt
9 oz 40 Crystal malt couldn't get 60
2 lbs Pale malt
3 lbs light DME
.5 oz goldings hops
Used white labs Edenburg yeast cant remember exact # off the top of my head.

I steeped the grains at around 160° in 1gal 1quart for an hour, then added another gal of water brought it to a boil and added 3 lbs of light DME boiled for 1.5 hours added my hops then boiled for another hour. I then cooled the wort down to around 75° siphoned into 6 Gal carboy and added filtered water to bring up the volume in the primary to 5gal, checked the OG temprature was then around 66° "1.023" then pitched the yeast. It is frementing well with about 2 inchs of foam on top after less than 24 hrs.

OG should have been around 1.040 and I measured 1.023 @ ~66°

My other batch was a best brew oktoberfest kit. I followed the instructions in the kit. It indicated a 1.040 OG also and I came up with about 1.023 OG it finished out at around 1.011

Think it was a crappy hydrometer or maybe I am not steeping correctly? The only thing I can figure on the top batch was that the girl at the LBS didn't give me the correct amount of grain. She put it all in one bag and I didn't weigh the overall weight. Next time I will get em bagged seprately.

Also I may have not gotten well mixed when I added the water too it. I did siphon it though so I thought it would have mixed it in well.

Thanks,
Chadd

 

[El Pistolero]

siphoned into 6 Gal carboy and added filtered water to bring up the volume in the primary to 5gal, checked the OG temprature was then around 66° "1.023"

After you top off you need to stir well...you took a sample that was more water than wort, hence the low OG...or in other words, what Lupus already said.

 

[ScottT]

Your mini mash "steep" was a little too hot, it should have been at 155F but you should have ended up with an SG of 1.039 for this batch as long as you got 40% effeciency from your mini mash. Using the pale malt and 1qt / lb, you should have. The 160 degree temps will give you a very sweet highly dextrinous wort that won't ferment very low since it's only the Alpha amalyze working at that temp.

I'm guessing that your hydrometer is faulty. Have you checked it in plain water to see if it registers 1.000?

 

[chadd]

Your mini mash "steep" was a little too hot, it should have been at 155F but you should have ended up with an SG of 1.039 for this batch as long as you got 40% effeciency from your mini mash. Using the pale malt and 1qt / lb, you should have. The 160 degree temps will give you a very sweet highly dextrinous wort that won't ferment very low since it's only the Alpha amalyze working at that temp.

I'm guessing that your hydrometer is faulty. Have you checked it in plain water to see if it registers 1.000?

Thanks for the suggestions all.

I tried to keep the temp down to 155° but was having a hard time keeping it that low on our electric cook top and the temp was not constant throughout the grain bag, it was hotter in the center than the outside parts of the grain bag due to the limited size of the electric burner I guess. I need to get a gas burner so that I can regulate the temp a little better. Cooking on an electric top is a pain, especially when trying to maintain a constant temp. I guess the best/cheapest burner to get would be a turkey frying burner?

I will let you guys know how this turns out.

Thanks again,
Chadd

 

[GABrewboy]

Chadd,

I am still pretty much a novice here, but I do know that you don't keep the temp constant. You bring the water up to 155, then steep the grains like you would tea bags. You don't leave the heat going that whole time to keep a constant temp. Your wort temp will go down as you steep, then you need to bring it back up once the steeping time has expired, whatever your time frame is which most is 45-60 mins. Just my 2 cents worth!!

GaBrew

 

[drengel]

Chadd,

I am still pretty much a novice here, but I do know that you don't keep the temp constant. You bring the water up to 155, then steep the grains like you would tea bags. You don't leave the heat going that whole time to keep a constant temp. Your wort temp will go down as you steep, then you need to bring it back up once the steeping time has expired, whatever your time frame is which most is 45-60 mins. Just my 2 cents worth!!

GaBrew

hes doimg a mini-mash it sounds like, not just steeping, in which case you do want it at a constant temperature to facilitate enzymes and all that stuff. but it doesnt sound like you sparged the grains, in which case you wouldnt ha ve gotten all the sugars into the wort that you just made availalable via mashing, hence the low OG. you need to rinse the grains with hot water (170) to get those sugars off the pale malt, dextrine...get a new hydrometer and try again. i had problems with lower OGs than normal when i was just steeping grains, once i started sparging them my OGs have risen considerably, sometimes surprising me on my own recipes by being higher than expected.

 

[Darth Konvel]

All good points.

After seeing the recipe, the OG was definitly not really 1.023. The DME alone should give you up around 1.026, so either the hydrometer is off or the sample wasn't a good representation of the whole.

Anywho, just another thing to chalk up as a learning experience. The brew should come out fine (even if it does come out hazy).

 

[Truble]

I just did a similiar brew last night, except without the loose grains-just 6lbs of DME and LME, and my OG was 1.047, so I think that his reading might be off too. I think it would be hard not to get at least in the mid 30's with that amount of extract.