Low starting gravity?

[ghank15]

So I took a hydrometer reading of the "beer" that I brewed the other night(wednesday to be precise) It was rather low. I didn't think much of it until now. It is supposed to be a vienna lager.

the hydrometer reading was 1.020(supposed to be 1.055, If i remember correctly)

what does this mean?
will I have beer with no alcohol?

 

[Vuarra]

Was it an extract or grain brew? Extracts have a tendency not to mix well, and give falsely low OG. But if it is extract, RDWHAHB, since the yeast will mix it for you.

 

[ThePearsonFam]

we need more details... start by telling us your recipe.

 

[BaldManBrew]

If it's an extract kit, you filled your wort up with water to hit your 5 gallon mark. You then mostly likely took your reading, but all the heavy wort was on the bottom while your lighter water was resting on top. It does mix some when your adding your water, but not equally.

If it's an AG batch, I don't know

 

[ghank15]

it was an all grain batch(i knew that this was going to be messed up, being that it is my second brew ever, first all grain) i used revvy's vienna lager recipe that is on the recipe page from this websites recipe's

the website called for 8 lbs vienna malt, 1 lb crytstal malt, .5 lb caramunich malt, plus the hops and yeast.

I think the problem may have been that I did not have a 5 gallon brewpot (my next purchase, without a doubt) and i used two smaller pots (about 2 gallons each) I did not account for how much room the grain would actually take up, so I had to dump some of the water. I think this is where I messed up. I had to top it off with more water to fill my vessel. I think this may be the problem.

Is there anything else anybody needs to make a judgment on my problem? let me know, i am grateful for all help, and likewise am willing to give out any info I can

Is this actually a problem? Will my beer be watered down and have the effect of o'douls?

 

[ghank15]

i just took the gravity reading again...it was the same, maybe even a little lower...the wort tasted a little watered down, too. I know this is like a cardinal sin to homebrewers, but i think i may have to dump it.

any thoughts?

 

[cimirie]

If by, you dumped some water, you mean you dumped out some of the wort post-mash, then I'd say yes, you've found your problem. But, that's an awful low OG even considering that. I'd say you probably have more than one problem here. Unfortunately, as none of us were there to see your process, we're gonna have a hard time id'ing the problem.

This is probably not the issue, bit it's worth thinking about. Your hydrometer might be broken somehow. If you have access to another, I'd measure with that just to be sure. Also, did you adjust your reading for temperature? Just spitballin' ideas.

As to your beer... I'd say this will be extremely light body and very low abv. Not quite o'douls, but on that same path. Brew and learn. I wouldn't dump it. Use this beer as a light and refreshing summer lawnmower beer!

 

[ghank15]

well i dumped water as i was adding in the grains. but instead of halving the recipe with only 2-2.5 gallons of water per pot, i probably had 1 per pot, maybe a little more . I didn't add all the way up to 5 gallons because i did not want to water it down. I have a feeling I did anyway.

well, i guess this means i have to brew some more tonight or tomorrow.

 

[cimirie]

well i dumped water as i was adding in the grains. but instead of halving the recipe with only 2-2.5 gallons of water per pot, i probably had 1 per pot, maybe a little more . I didn't add all the way up to 5 gallons because i did not want to water it down. I have a feeling I did anyway.

well, i guess this means i have to brew some more tonight or tomorrow.

So if I understand correctly, you split the grainbill but only added about 1 gallon of hot liquor (water) to each. If this is the case, and I'm assuming you didnt sparge, your efficiency would be WAY low. That is my guess as to why your OG was off.

As an example, let's say grainbill was 10 lbs. I would mash with 12.5 quarts (just over 3 gallons). Sparge with 3.25 gallons, and boil off a gallon in the boil.

You could reduce the sparge or the liquor if you can't do a full boil an add to make the difference at the end. But your efficiency will suffer a touch.

 

[ghank15]

well I originally had approximately the 3.5 gallons in the pots, but i did not account for the volume of the wheat, so i started losing water, and before i knew it, i was almost roasting wheat with a touch of water.

come to think of it, i really messed up. good think i'm ready to go again.

now, I know that this information is available in other places, but there is so much info out there that it gets confusing. Until my 5 gallon brewpot(which I will be ordering very shortly) comes, and I am forced to use two 2 gallon pots to do my brewing, how do I go about not having the full 5 gallons (which I'm assuming is the standard amount for a small batch)

By adding water, are you just reducing flavor? Or will the wort and the water merge with one another in a pleasant way. This is what is confusing me. When I was using the kit, I just followed the directions. Boil, add, cook, remove boil add boil blah blah blah and I added water to my fermenter.

I am not using a kit for this brew (although I should probably still be using kits, I really want to make this beer and I couldn't find a good kit) If I do a partial boil with the full ingredients, is it acceptable to add water to the fermenter or should I just ferment the wort without adding water and accept the lesser yield for a better quality brew?

 

[ghank15]

also, this is really for future reference and not for this brew, if one were to follow a recipe for, lets say, a lager, how would the beer react if you used an ale yeast and fermented at ale temperatures.

likewise, how would the beer turn out if the recipe were reversed?

 

[drathbone]

It depends on the yeast. Generally you can look up the characteristics of yeast and the flavor profile and characteristics it will produce during fermentation. For the most part, lager yeasts give more mild, crisp beers given the lower temperatures.

 

[cimirie]

When you say that you have 2, 2 gallon pots, I am assuming you are referring to boil kettles. Is this so? What are you using for the mash?

If all you really have are this two pots for the boil, I would recommend doing a 2.5 gallon batch. Doing a full 5 gallon batch is tough enough with just a 5 gallon brewpot. Doing one with less than a 5 gallon capacity is really reaching.

Drop your batch size, adjust your recipe, and do half batches until you get a larger brewpot. My two cents anyways. To me, quality is more important than quantity.

 

[ghank15]

I have no problem dropping my batch size. I agree with you, quality over quantity no matter what. Yes, I am using two 2 gallon kettles for my mash until I can get one big enough to handle a full batch.

So am I better off not adding water to the wort at all(even though most kits recommend it)? I feel like this will just water down a good product.