Much higher tham expected ABV

[durbo]

I brewed an extract imperial stout today, aiming for OG of about 1.071, ABV of about 8.1%. My method was steep the specialty malts in 2.5 gallons of water, add DME and bring to the boil, add hops, boil for 60 min, cool and add 2.7 gallons of water and pitch yeast. I ended up with an OG of 1.098. I'm fine with it being highly alcoholic, and my thinking is more than expected has boiled off, but is there something else at play here? The difference between OG's is huge!

 

[GrogNerd]

with extract brews, as long as you hit your volumes, you can be sure that you hit your OG.

sometimes you get differing gravities at different layers within your vessel and maybe you just took from a wort-heavy layer. stratification happens. don't worry about it

if you're light on volume and want to hit the OG you are aiming for, add some water to make up the difference, then pitch your yeast

 

[sptaylor70]

It looks like you only had provision for 5.2 gallons of water in your wort - Was it your intent to wind up with that volume? If, for example, you calculated for a 5.5 gallon batch, and wound up with only 4 gallons, then that would take you from 1071 to 1098. So if you boiled off a little over a gallon (which always happens when I brew), then you'd be left with a higher gravity wort.

Also, your steeping grains might be contributing more than you thought they would.

 

[GrogNerd]

It looks like you only had provision for 5.2 gallons of water in your wort - Was it your intent to wind up with that volume? If, for example, you calculated for a 5.5 gallon batch, and wound up with only 4 gallons, then that would take you from 1071 to 1098. So if you boiled off a little over a gallon (which always happens when I brew), then you'd be left with a higher gravity wort.

Also, your steeping grains might be contributing more than you thought they would.

I didn't even think of this, I'm still on my first cup o'joe

solution remains the same... add water

 

[durbo]

Yeah it could have been a wort heavy reading. I took it from the spigot to reduce the chance of contamination. And I probably didn't use enough extra water to allow for as much boil off.

So it's the next day about 12 hours after I've pitched yeast, is it too late to add some water?

At least I know it's still going to taste ridiculous. I would just like to know how heavy it will be when I'm drinking it haha