Missed Target OG any ideas?

[USMChueston0311]

Hey guys,

I brew on a 3 20 gallon EHERMS system. Blichmann g2 kettles, blichmann HERMS coil, blichmann boil-coils, full gravity EBC-330 controller, 2 riptide pumps. I ferment in 2 Spike CF15, with glycol cooling and heating blanket setup from Spike.

My normal efficiency is around 85-86.

Took this recipe, https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/213249/hibernation-ale

doubled it, and then converted it to 85% efficiency. Pre-boil was 16 gallons @ 1.063, and I hit 1.068 with 14.75-15 gallons post boil after 60 minutes, so i boiled a bit longer and got it close to 1.076. Im not sure if the hydrometer calculator was off or my reading was off (been brewing for 8 years or more) normally don't misread hydrometer. I did insulate my kettles with flex insulation, and turned down from 100 power, when normally I leave it at 100 power the whole brew, so I may have weakened it to the point that my OG was super low after the initial 60. When i boiled again for another 30-40 minutes I left it at 100% power. However I did accidentally melt my hydrometer tube and deform it a bit. I checked the OG against my tilt with hydrometer and had the same reading, so I doubt that is the issue.

Recipe calls for a 65 minute boil, and 1.083 OG

Any ideas here? Recipe off etc? I calculated my recipe and efficiency with the 16 gallons i got pre-boil @ 1.065 and it was 86%.


That being said, the beer I am copying is very sweet and malty, and I used a 5L starter, with about a straight .75 L yeast cake of creamy white goodness, oxygenated with bottled oxy and its fermenting away super hard. I don't want it to come out too dry on the back end, should I just let it ride and stop where it stops, or try and stop it prematurely at a certain gravity, to get the sweetness I am looking for.

Using Wyeast british ale 1335, which can tend to finish dry, high attenuation. Especially with the over 1 trillion cells I pitched.

If you do recommend that I end it early, how should one achieve this to avoid esters and off flavors from dumping the yeast prematurely?

 

[FatDragon]

You doubled a recipe that calls for 5.5 gallons in the fermenter and finished with roughly 14 gallons, right? Your gravity points are all there (and to spare), they're just diluted with more water than the 11 gallons your double recipe should have called for. For what it's worth, I don't think most homebrewers have a high enough boil-off rate to go from 7.5 to 5.5 gallons in 65 minutes like the recipe suggests. For a malty old ale, a longer boil to reach the target volume and OG wouldn't hurt at all.

For the latter question, I'm not sure how you intend to stop fermentation if it's not finished. I'd just let it go as low as it wants to go. If it ends up too dry, you could consider adding lactose at packaging.

 

[USMChueston0311]

I imputed recipe in brewers friends app, and cranked it up to 12 finished gallons. Started with 16 preboil and ended up with just under 12 into fermenter.

Exactly my thoughts on the second part. My partner wants to stop it early, and I’m the one saying run it’s course. It’s a tasty beer still either way, just trying to understand where we went wrong.

 

[FatDragon]

You've got a wrong measurement somewhere, then. 16 gallons at 1.063 boils down to 12 gallons at 1.084.

 

[Vale71]

However I did accidentally melt my hydrometer tube and deform it a bit.

How did that happen?

 

[USMChueston0311]

That’s my guess. I don’t think my boil was strong enough. All my other brews always hit targets except for boil off. I live at 8k feet and have felt since day one with new system and controller I’m not getting full power. Using the EBC-330, on a 40 amp circuit but my chord is 25’ long. Owner of high gravity claims it should have any power issues, but my PID also doesn’t fire pump one to circulate mash likenit snsupposed to either.

My boiloffs are NEVER what BeerSmith claims, or what I had when I was using gas. It’s usually 1.5 gallons after 1 hour on a 14-16 gallon boil. I always hit my fermenter volume targets though, so it’s weird, IDK.

 

[Vale71]

BeerSmith cannot predict your hourly boil-off rate, you have to enter it into the equipment profile. If the standard value doesn't match your equipment then the volume calculations will always be off.
Your boil-off seems OK if your element has around 4000 Watt power. Altitude above sea level has negligible influence on boil-off rate, only on temperature.

 

[kevin58]

My boiloffs are NEVER what BeerSmith claims, or what I had when I was using gas. It’s usually 1.5 gallons after 1 hour on a 14-16 gallon boil. I always hit my fermenter volume targets though, so it’s weird, IDK.

Beersmith calculates volumes based on your measurements. You cannot just select a stock equipment profile from the list supplied and expect that profile... made by some other brewer somewhere... to match yours. Use the closest equipment profile as the foundation for building your own profile. Take measurements to figure out all of your losses... deadspace, trub loss, what's left behind in the hoses... the pumps... the chiller, and calculate your own boil off. Once you customize your profile to your exact measurements the software will work the way you want it. Until then you will continue to play guessing games.

 

[walker111]

If you read my post earlier in the week I went through something similar. Got 1.055 and OG called for 1.065. I think mine was a boil off issue. I have only been using the refractometer for my past 4 brews and always use the hydrometer and the end to cross reference.
Next time I brew a similar beer I am going to boil for 15 minutes before I start timing. Essentially a 75 min boil. I am also going to collect 1 gallon less from my mash tun going into the kettle and see how this goes along with the refractometer readings along the way.

 

[USMChueston0311]

Let me re phrase, my boil off is never what kal or others with similar systems claim. I enter everything into BeerSmith, and hit my fermenter volumes every time. Sorry for the confusion. Been home sick today. A little out of it. I believe the boil coils are 5500 watts as well.

I’ve been using a custom BeerSmith profile for this system and the last two when I was doing extracts, and all grain fly sparging in my cooler setups. I mis wrote what I was meaning. Kal and others get at least 3-4 gallons of boiloff in an hour or so, and I do not with the same system. Meaning I think I’m not getting full power to my boil coil, or something else is amiss.

 

[Vale71]

Ok makes much more sense now. If your coils are supposed to output 5550 watts then yes, you're not getting full power or you have huge losses somewhere. Contrary to common belief altitude (even extreme ones like in your case) hardly make any difference. If you're at a remote location, perhapse you're not getting the voltage you should at your outlet? I don't live in a remote location and I should expect to have 240V at the outlet as that's supposed to be the standard all over Europe, in reality I get 225V tops, which means I get 7% less power than what the heating element specs say I should get. Maybe in your case it's more extreme and seriously affecting your output?

 

[Soulshine2]

How did that happen?

my guess is hes using the plastic storage tube as a test jar. but the temps high enough to warp are too high to test ...needs to be 60*F

 

[USMChueston0311]

I’m gonna have the outlet tested with my meter when I get home today. I’m not remote, but my building is older. It’s the outlet I run my stove on, I swap cables, and have to use a 25’ chord to reach across living room to my setup.

And taking gravity readings in the hydrometer tube when the wort was too hot lol. Stupid mistake I’m sure everyone has made st least once. Like a pre boil OG when it’s finally done sparging and full and the elements been on the whole time and wort is around 180.

I’ve done it twice in the 10 years I’ve been brewing lol.