Missed My OG

[JRGSPE73]

Hey guys, I just racked my second batch to primary (Red Ale). I just wanted to see if you guys think my logic is correct as to why I missed my OG. According to my recipe, the target was 1.054, and I came up about .01 short of that (reading was 1.040 at 78 degrees, temp adjusted comes out to about 1.042-1.043). I think there are probably three things that could have contributed here (And don't bust my chops here Walker, the hydrometer reading isn't making me worry, I know my beer should turn out fine...I'm more curious than anything, just to get a better understanding of what contributes to the OG) :

1) I used Muntons Extra Light liquid malt, instead of the Muntons Light that the recipe called for. (Not by choice...I gave the guy at my LHBS the recipe and he gave me extra light instead of light...didn't realize till I got home)

2) The recipe called for 2 lbs, 2 oz. of Light DME; my LHBS sells pre-packaged DME in 1 lb. increments, so I figured 2 one lb. bags would be sufficient. (I know it's only 2 oz. difference, but I figured this might have contributed at least a tiny bit.)

3) I took the sample for my hydrometer reading pretty much right off the top of the wort after racking to primary (used a turkey baster to extract it, the tip of which just barely made it into the wort).

Also, a quick question on DME. This is my first time using it, so I was just wondering if it is normal for the DME to sit on top of the wort and sort of clump together like some weird snot-looking conglomerate? I stirred the wort up and it seemed to dissolve pretty quickly, so I'm guessing this is normal, but again, just more curious than anything.

Just a noob looking to see if I'm getting a better understanding of this ridiculously addicting and obsessive hobby

-Josh

 

[Chairman Cheyco]

Well, first of all posting the entire recipe will help us troubleshoot a little better in the future, but I think I can see a couple things to go on in your post for now. Between light and extra light extracts, I would say that would only be worth a couple of points, as well as the 2oz short. If the wort was not fully stirred, you can get some pretty wonky readings, so make sure that's all well and good in the future. The one thing that really stuck out to me was wether or not the recipe called for LME or DME (or both) and if that had anything to do with your OG problem. Using one in place of the other can't be done without compensating for the differing densities.

And don't worry about Walker, he's moslty harmless. Mostly... He wasn't even royalty when I met him.

 

[JRGSPE73]

Here's the recipe in its original context:

(5 gallons /19 L, extract with grains)
OG=1.054 FG = 1.012
IBU = 32–35 SRM= 13 ABV = 5.5%

Ingredients
3.3 lbs. (1.5 kg) Muntons Light unhopped liquid malt extract
2.0 lbs. 2 oz. (0.96 kg) Muntons Light unhopped dried malt extract
1.5 lbs. (0.68 kg) crystal malt (10 °L)
1.4 lbs. (0.64 kg) Munich malt (20 °L)
1.0 oz. (28 g) black patent malt
9.3 AAU Goldings hops (60 mins)
(1.75 oz./50 g of 5.3% alpha acids)
3.25 AAU Cascade hops (5 mins),
(0.5 oz./14 g of 6.5% alpha acids)
1 tsp (5 ml.) Irish moss (boil 60 mins)
White Labs WLP007 (Dry English Ale)
or Wyeast 1335 (British Ale II) yeast
O.75 cup of corn sugar (for priming)

Step by Step
Steep the crushed malts in 1.5 gallons (5.7 L) of water at 158 °F (70 °C) for 30 minutes. Remove grains from wort, rinse with 0.5 gallon (~2 L) of water under 170 °F (77 °C) if desired and add water to brewpot to make around 3 gallons (11 L) of wort total. Add the malt syrup and dry malt powder and bring to a boil.

Add the Golding bittering hops and Irish moss and boil for 60 minutes. Add the Cascade hops for the last
5 minutes of the boil.

My only changes were:
1) The LME and DME variations, as listed in my original post.
2) My hops were a bit stronger (11.2 AAU Kent Goldings for bittering, 3.55 AAU Cascade for finishing).
3) I used 3/4 tsp. Irish Moss for the last 30 min. of the boil
4) I pitched with Wyeast 1275 (Thames Valley) at about 80*F (Not that this would impact OG, since I took the reading before pitching).

Aside from that, I was pretty much spot on with the recipe, and I think I mixed the wort sufficiently. I even came up a little short on the water (I use distilled water, and bought 6 gallons...lost a little more to evaporation than expected, ended up with about 5.25 gal in the primary instead of the 5.5 called for in the recipe...but if anything that would have increased the OG, right?)

Feel free to share your thoughts/comments.

-Josh

 

[cweston]

The gravity contibution of the LME should be essentially the same for x-light and light LME.

Using 2 ozs less DME for a 5.25 gal batch should leave you about 1 gravity point short on OG (i.e. 1.053 instead of 1.054).

If your hydrometer is accurate, I think the only explanation is that your sample was flawed because the wort was not sufficiently mixed when you pulled the sample, and you got the part with less sugars in it.

This will correct itself, because the fermentation process itself mixes the wort.

I think this is the most common cause of inaccurate hydrometer readings. I know I have had this happen before, but the beer still turned out exactly like it was supposed to. The SG of LME and DME is well known...there's really nothing that can cause you to mis by more than a couple points if you use extracts and follow a recipe correctly.

 

[mysterio]

You said your recipe called for 5.25 gallons but the one you posted says 5 gallons... Wouldn't that give a lower OG? Any chance any of your measurements weren't in US gallons?

 

[JRGSPE73]

You said your recipe called for 5.25 gallons but the one you posted says 5 gallons... Wouldn't that give a lower OG? Any chance any of your measurements weren't in US gallons?

Oh, sorry, thats part of the recipe that I accidentally cut out when posting to this thread. The procedure in the recipe says to top off the primary up to 5.5 gal. This threw me off a bit as well, because I know at the top of the recipe it says 5 gal, but I figured I'd be better off following the step-by-step procedue. Besides, who am I to argue with making a slightly a larger quantity of beer?

Anyway, I checked my primary this morning before leaving for work, and I was already getting pretty good activity only about 7 hours after pitching the yeast (getting a bubble every 3-4 seconds). So, it appears all is well, i just might have a slightly lower ABV than the 5.5% target, but I'm alright with that...guess that means I'll just have to drink more :rockin:

Thanks for all your help guys.

-Josh

 

[david_42]

A typical 5 gallon recipe requires 5.5 gallons in the primary as you will lose some volume in the trub. 99% of the time an extract OG is off, it's either too much/too little water or not enough stirring. Some people don't stir enough because they are worried about oxidation. The cooled wort is the one exception to protecting your brew from O2, mix well and get as much oxygen in the wort as possible before pitching. This makes for better yeast growth.

 

[El Pistolero]

Ingredients
3.3 lbs. (1.5 kg) Muntons Light unhopped liquid malt extract
2.0 lbs. 2 oz. (0.96 kg) Muntons Light unhopped dried malt extract
1.5 lbs. (0.68 kg) crystal malt (10 °L)
1.4 lbs. (0.64 kg) Munich malt (20 °L)
1.0 oz. (28 g) black patent malt

According to Beer Recipator, this grain bill (with just 2 lbs dme) would have given you 1.046 for a 5.5 gallon batch or 1.048 for 5.25 gallons. As David said, you probably measured with a diluted sample...in the future if you are doing a partial boil you should stir well after topping off before taking your sample, if you're concerned about the accuracy of your hydrometer reading.

 

[JRGSPE73]

A typical 5 gallon recipe requires 5.5 gallons in the primary as you will lose some volume in the trub. 99% of the time an extract OG is off, it's either too much/too little water or not enough stirring. Some people don't stir enough because they are worried about oxidation. The cooled wort is the one exception to protecting your brew from O2, mix well and get as much oxygen in the wort as possible before pitching. This makes for better yeast growth.

I'm beginning to think that this was the source of my lower OG reading...when I racked from my kettle to primary, I poured from the kettle through a funnel into the carboy (I using steeping bags for my grains and hops, so the trub in the wort was minimal, and my funnel has a screen to filter out the trub while racking). I then topped off with water, trying to splash as much as possible in the process. I then took a racking cane and stirred things up as best as I could, but since my sample came right off the top of the wort, I think that might be the best explanation for the lower OG. Does anyone have a good method of stirring the wort after its been racked to the carboy? The only equipment I have that fits through the top of the carboy easily is the racking cane, and thats not exactly spectacular to use for stirring.

-Josh

 

[El Pistolero]

Does anyone have a good method of stirring the wort after its been racked to the carboy? The only equipment I have that fits through the top of the carboy easily is the racking cane, and thats not exactly spectacular to use for stirring.

One of those long plastic spoons...the top end is a paddle that's made for stirring inside carboys.

 

[JRGSPE73]

Awesome, I'll have to see about picking one up at my LHBS.

Thanks for being so willing to help out a noob who's probably worrying too much about the little things. Maybe tonight I'll go home and RDWHAHB.