Missed OG

[Hops4life]

Ok so i'm not TOO concerned but freaking out just a little bit..

But I brewed a wheat IPA last night, and it all seemed to go fine. I do partial/mini-mash, so i steeped my grains for about 20 minutes or so until i got up around 170 degrees. Pulled off the heat added 5 lbs LME, back on to boil for 60 min. Had a bittering addition at 60 min, then hops at 15-10-5 with some orange/coriander in along with the 5 min. By the end of the boil I probably had about 3 gallons of wert. Topped up with cold water and proceeded to toss in the chiller to get down to pitching temp.

Ok so first concern - using my new refractometer I got a reading which looks very low based on what I was shooting for. OG per beercalculus was to be 1.056. Based on the reading I took I got around 1.047. I THOUGHT everything was fine, could it be a mistake taking the reading or did I somehow just undershoot the OG?

Also I pitched the yeast a little warm, it is safbrew 06. It was late, had to get to bed, and THOUGHT it was down cool enough but it probably got pitched in the high range of the 70s. Woke up this AM (about 6 hours after pitching) and it was bubbling away in the airlock. So while the yeast most obviously is active i'm worried the temp may be high i could get some off flavors? I moved it to a colder room and wrapped the fermentation bucket with a cold wet towel and put a fan on hoping to get the temp down near 70...

Anyone see anything that should be of concern? Or maybe with the OG being lower i'll just get a "weak" beer?

Thanks all.

 

[dcott]

You mentioned doing a partial/mini mash. What were the grains, and how much of them were you were mini-mashing?

It sounds to me like you didn't rest them at conversion temps long enough to get full conversion (if that was the goal). If you only did 20 minutes, and you were raising to 170, I doubt you spent much time in the 140-160 range to fully utilize the enzymes needed to convert the starches. Ideally, for a mini-mash, you would have some base and specialty steep at a set temp until conversion is complete (which can take awhile if there was any wheat in there, since wheat does not have enough enzymatic power to self convert).

According to Beer Alchemy, 5# of Light LME would put your OG at 1.036, so you definitely got something out of your grains, just maybe not the full amount expected.

Also, I'm not super familiar with refractometers, but did you make sure that your new refractometer was calibrated before you used it? Also, does it self correct for temperature? if not, did you adjust in your measurements? Finally, did you confirm with a hydrometer that this was, in fact, your OG? Just trying to eliminate the variables.

As for the yeast, if you did high 70s, you're probably fine. Sounds like you're taking the proper steps to cool it down, so I wouldn't be too worried.

 

[dcott]

Oh, also, did you fully mix your water and wort post boil prior to taking your measurement? This could affect it as well.

 

[Hops4life]

You may be correct on the grains....

I used 1.5 lbs wheat, 1 lb of 2 row, and a pound of flaked oats. You're probably right I doubt I stayed in the 14-160 range long enough, that is likely my problem.

Refractometer does self correct and I thought I had calibrated it with h20 first but since it was the first use I figured it was user error.

I thought I had mixed the water/wert well enough but perhaps that did lower things as well.

As I said not overly concerned but thanks for all the great input.

 

[Pappers_]

I don't use a refractometer, so can't say from personal experience, but there seem to be significant numbers of people who post here about not using it correctly (or don't correct for temps or whatever you need to do to get an accurate reading). So, maybe check your refractometer reading against an hydrometer reading and just make sure you're reading/using your refractometer correctly. If nothing else, it will eliminate one possiblity.

 

[dcott]

Definitely no need to be overly concerned. You'll still end up with beer, and it'll be delicious!!

It definitely sounds like a grain/mashing issue. Since the 2-row is really the only thing providing enzymes for conversion, and it was only 29% of your mini mash, you really need to let it sit at a set conversion temp for at least 30 minutes (although an hour wouldn't hurt). My advice for the future would be to let it rest around 152 for 45 minutes to an hour. Other options include upping the amount of 2-row, using 6-row (higher in enzymatic action: I always use some when making wheat beers), or use some diastatic enzyme to speed up conversion.

Either way, sounds like it'll be a tasty brew!

 

[h22lude]

If this was a true mini mash recipe then you probably didn't get enough sugars from the mini mash. Mini mash is very similar to AG brewing. The biggest difference is instead of getting all your sugars from the AG mash, with mini mash you are getting some from the grains and some for the extract. With a mini mash you need to hold the grains at a certain temp usually in the 150 range for at least 45 minutes. This will give enough time for sugar extraction. If your kit was really a mini mash, 20 minutes at 170* might not have been long enough to extract those sugars from the grain so your OG would be lower than estimated. Also 170* would be a little too high for a mash...that is actually a little too high for steeping grains as well.

If your kit was steeping grains then 20 minutes would be ok but like I said 170* would be a little too high. You would want it to be around 160* for 20 to 30 minutes. Steeping grains is for flavor, aroma and color so that wouldn't have been the reason for the low OG.

When using extract, your gravity readings are usually right on with the estimates. If you had a mini mash kit then most likely you didn't get enough sugars from the mash.

Another reason could be your refractometer wasn't calibrated correctly. You should use distilled water to make sure it is reading 1.000. You also need to make sure you have the ATC version. If you don't then you need to make sure the wort you are testing is around 70*...I think 68* is what most should be at. That could throw off your readings too. ATC version will correct for the temp.


EDIT: wow I missed a lot of posts when I was writing mine lol With 2 row you definitely had a mini mash. 2 row is a base grain used in AG and mini mash recipes. So my thinking is you just didn't get enough conversion.

With the refractometer, make sure you use distilled water. If it is at 1.000 you are fine. You can check it against a hydro reading for a double check.

If you shook the bucket to aerate and then took the reading, you are fine. If you poured the wort onto the water or the other way around and didn't shake it enough, your reading could be off from that

 

[Hops4life]

Thanks guys. I should have checked with Hydrometer but I have an aversion to using one (which is why i got the refractometer) so I didn't bother.

I think Dcott hit it on the head i just rushed the base grains time, and didn't allow enough time for the conversion.

In any case hopefully it turns out well, slightly concerned that the higher pitch temp will give me some of the banana flavors from the yeast, but who knows maybe those will pair well with the Warrior/Centennial/Summit flavors that are already in there.

Cheers guys and thanks again for the feedback, guess I need to bone up on brewing 101 some more. ha ha.

 

[Hops4life]

Wow you guys are good today!

I definately think it's just a combination of things, and the steeping of the grains probably the biggest culpret. I had the grains in the water as it heated, but it was probably in the steeping range for maybe only 10-15 min instead of closer to 30 that it probably should have been.

Oh well something to get better at for the next brew!!

Hey H22 have you ever been to cambridge house up in CT?? Or maybe more pointed have you been up there possibly recently?

 

[h22lude]

I like to pitch around 70 and then bring my ales down to low 60s when fermenting. Pitching close to 80 and fermenting at 70 isn't terrible. You might get a slight hint of off flavors, if any. Maybe lower the temp a little during fermentation. Leave it in for a week or two extra so the yeast can clean up as much as possible

Hey H22 have you ever been to cambridge house up in CT?? Or maybe more pointed have you been up there possibly recently?

No I have never been...but quickly looking at the site I would love to try it. I always love going to new brew pubs especially since RI only has 2 and 1 of them isn't that great.

 

[Hops4life]

Yeah I realized i pitched too warm, but yeasties didn't seem to mind given the activity ~ 6 hours later was pretty strong. I'm trying to get it down under 70 as best I can without going to too much trouble. I'll see what it is at later today w/ the towel fan if that keeps it low enough great if not i'll try and set up a water/ice bath.

Reason I asked about there is a very good friend of mine was their head brewer for the last maybe ~2 years or so. He just recently left to take a job as a rep for one of the distributors. He's the one i lean on for recipe advice he worked on this one with me a bit. I'm originally a VT'er so I have quite a few ties up in New England still.

 

[h22lude]

Yeah I realized i pitched too warm, but yeasties didn't seem to mind given the activity ~ 6 hours later was pretty strong. I'm trying to get it down under 70 as best I can without going to too much trouble. I'll see what it is at later today w/ the towel fan if that keeps it low enough great if not i'll try and set up a water/ice bath.

Reason I asked about there is a very good friend of mine was their head brewer for the last maybe ~2 years or so. He just recently left to take a job as a rep for one of the distributors. He's the one i lean on for recipe advice he worked on this one with me a bit. I'm originally a VT'er so I have quite a few ties up in New England still.

I found the wet towel and fan trick not to work well for me...though a ton of people use it with great success. I randomly found a beach cooler in my basement that I forgot about. Put some water and ice in it and my beer is now in the low 60s. Just need to make sure you keep putting new ice in. I forgot and it went up to 66.

I actually don't go to CT that often. I usually stay around RI and occasionally go up to MA. I will definitely need to check out this place.

Edit: Just checked out the address...it is 2 hours from me. Still want to check it out but it might not be soon lol

 

[dcott]

Oh well something to get better at for the next brew!!

This is definitely the right attitude. For me, this is one of the parts I enjoy: tweaking my approach and learning how different things affect the final outcome. At the end of the day, I've only had one batch that I actually had to dump due to a really bad acetobacter infection, otherwise, everything has turned out to be beer. Some have been great, some have been just ok, but all have been a ton of fun.

 

[Hops4life]

Well knock on wood so far I haven't had to dump anything... I'm slightly worried about this since the wheat is a little out of my comfort zone but I wanted to do something different than I have been doing. I did a green chili Pale ale about 2 months ago that ended up getting given away at a festival, really wish I had saved back some of it turned out great.

Hey H i'll ask my buddy if he does anything near you, I know he was just doing a tasting somewhere in CT/MA area but not sure exactly where he was at or what his new "territory" is. As for the towel that was just a quick fix this AM before I left, going to try and run home at lunch in a bit and if it's not down low enough it's right next to a bathtub, so water bath it will be! I have heard/found that freezing some of the plastic milk jugs and just rotating them can work pretty good.

 

[h22lude]

Plastic jugs or liter soda bottles work perfectly. Not an exact science but it will keep your beer fermenting at a lower temp which is all you need.

Yeah send me a PM if he does stuff around me. I always like hearing about beer stuff going on around me. There usually isn't much going on. A beerfest twice a year and brewery tours. I just recently went to a fundraiser at Twin River casino. All the door money went to a charity. They had all local breweries and distributors giving out samples. It was like a mini beerfest...really nice.

 

[Hops4life]

I'll check in with him and see what/where they've got anything going on. I know he's judged some home brew stuff in RI in the last year or so, but now that he's no longer a "brewer" I don't really know what he's got schedule wise for tastings and stuff. If I hear of anything down your way I'll pass it along for sure.

 

[Hops4life]

Update... I checked at lunch was down to around 74-75 degrees.. decided to ditch the towel and grabbed a large container I have that I knew fit the fermentation bucket. Put it in filled it up about 2/3 of the way up the bucket with water and dropped a couple of ice packs in to cool it down further. Don't want to crash it but want it lower than it's at. Probably spend the next 2 weeks rotating ice packs..