Measuring OG... How close is good enough?

[urg8rb8]

How close +/-, in points, to the OG would you say is close enough? Let's say the calculated OG is 1.060, what's an acceptable measured range would you say is close enough?

 

[hilts]

This is related only to efficiency. I use brewing apps/calculators to measure where my sg should be vs what my results are. My concerns are consistency. The wort calculator app that I use allows me to adjust for efficiency, which gives me a better idea of what the resulting beer will be, given any recipe. I am usually within 3% of target gravity given my brewhouse efficiency of 78%

 

[brewcat]

+/- .003 points

 

[RM-MN]

Who will be drinking the beer? Can they tell the difference between a beer with an OG of 1.060 and one with 1.050 or 1.070? If not, why get worried if the OG isn't what is expected.

 

[mongoose33]

How close +/-, in points, to the OG would you say is close enough? Let's say the calculated OG is 1.060, what's an acceptable measured range would you say is close enough?

Close enough for what?

Do you mean based on some estimate OG from software like Beersmith, such that you can trust what it tells you and have no need to measure it?

Software always produces an estimate from a model; the effectiveness of that model depends on a number of variables. If you're referring to an all-grain brew, then things like the pH of the mash, mash temp, the fineness of the crush, how long you mash--all these may influence the outcome.

If you can do things exactly the same way every time, and have a good established equipment profile and ability to meet parameters like temp during the mash, then it should be fairly close.

 

[Soulshine2]

so your OG is off a little ... low? go back and reboil it off some ... High? add more boiled water .
Or, leave it and drink it as is. It'll still taste fine , Im sure

 

[Oginme]

It depends. Generally, I will not act on anything within a couple of thousandths from my target. There is no way anyone will be able to discern the difference from target or even know that my brew was not planned that way.

I always look at the gravity reading in the context of the volumes. If the reading is pretty far off, and my volume at the end of boil is off correspondingly [i.e. high volume and low gravity or low gravity and high volume] where I know that the source of the gravity being off is due to my process. Since my process is pretty well defined in BeerSmith, such an excursion is usually a sign that I did something wrong.

The other side of that is that if the volumes either follow the gravity readings or are right on, it means that something has changed in my mash efficiency and I then start to look at my grain mill to make sure it has not changed.

In short, the fact that the gravity is off is really not much of an issue. The ramifications of it being off are worth looking at to make sure my process remains repeatable.

 

[urg8rb8]

The OG I'm referring to is the desired target OG. For example, If I was shooting for 1.060 and I hit 1.056. Is it good enough? Or would you say that target was missed?

 

[mongoose33]

There OG in referring to the the desired target OG. For example, If I was shooting for 1.060 and I hit 1.056. Is it good enough? Or would you say that target was missed?

If your target was 1.060 and you missed it, you missed it. It's not like horseshoes and hand grenades. You either hit or you don't.

If I have a target and I miss it, I generally don't do anything, because it's usually just a couple points or so. I just make the beer....er, the yeast make the beer, I make the wort. I might adjust the process next time depending on why I think I missed the target.

*********

I'm in the process of converting to electric brewing, using a RIMS setup for my mash tun. There are losses to hoses, deadspace in the mash tun, trub left behind, lower boiloff rate, and I'm still dialing things in. My efficiencies have been lower than I am used to having, still figuring that out.

In the final analysis, I want to hit my numbers exactly; I'll accept a .001 variance as perhaps measurement error, but I won't have my process down until I can reproduce the numbers the recipe suggests.

 

[kh54s10]

To really "nail" a recipe -.002 +/-. For consumption it depends on the starting gravity. If a really big beer it might be .050, for a small beer, for instance 1.040 a .050 would mean there is nothing to ferment.

 

[CascadesBrewer]

My vote...somewhere around 10% off will have very little impact on the beer. At that point it is good to evaluate your process and tweak your numbers to tune in future batches.

I just f*ed up an IPA by adding an extra 4 lbs of 2 row (cuz I cannot count I guess) and my 1.068 beer came in a 1.082. I rolled with it and just added more dry hops. The beer is a little off on the hop/malt balance for what I was looking for but it is a fine drinkable beer that people seem to enjoy. I think if I had ran to the store for some fresh Citra hops instead of using some older ones I had on hand, it might have been one of the better IPAs I have made...well 2x IPA. (it is the beer in my current profile picture)

 

[RM-MN]

I just f*ed up an IPA by adding an extra 4 lbs of 2 row (cuz I cannot count I guess) and my 1.068 beer came in a 1.082. I rolled with it and just added more dry hops. The beer is a little off on the hop/malt balance for what I was looking for but it is a fine drinkable beer that people seem to enjoy. I think if I had ran to the store for some fresh

I'd drink that. I might not drink as much as normal though or I might end up on the floor.

 

[Lefou]

Mash efficiency and pre-boil gravity are my two main concerns.
I prefer typical worts to be in the 1.045-1.055 range, so +/- 5 gravity points of 1.050 is the goal.

If that all grain goal of 70% minimum efficiency isn't reached and the pre-boil mash gravity is off by .010, I get bent out of shape and start looking for solutions.

 

[Blazinlow86]

The OG I'm referring to is the desired target OG. For example, If I was shooting for 1.060 and I hit 1.056. Is it good enough? Or would you say that target was missed?

Personally I wouldn't worry about that specific example. If it was 1.050 I would adjust with some DME. I generally only correct if my preboil is off though as I find as long as that's proper the og always is. I'm using a electronic setup though so the boil is very consistent therefore I always end up with the correct volume.cheers

 

[Horseflesh]

Missing by 4 points isn’t something I’d worry about on brew day, but I’d see if I could figure out how to improve it next time.

And if you didn’t even bother to do that... no one would ever know but you.




And us.