OG: How close is close enough for you?

[MrBJones]

You've finished brewing and your wort is in the fermenter. What's the most your measured OG can deviate from the estimated (according to the recipe, Beer Smith, etc) and you still feel like you've done a good job?

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

Three points. After that I messed something up

 

[Calaeb]

If I have beer in the fermenter i've done a good enough job lol. I'm not super concerned with og/sg as long as I make something that taste good.

 

[eric19312]

2 points. I'm kinda fussy. I check my preboil gravity, figure out how much water I need to evaporate, then adjust boil intensity to hit the post boil volume that will get me there.

 

[SGTSparty]

I like to stay within 1 or 2 points I feel like nailed it, withing 3 points its close enough. After that I still have beer but I'll dive deeper try to figure out where my variance came in. My first batches were WAY low due to LHBS crush not being accounted for. Once I dialed in my efficiency and adjusted my grain bill up I was within 1 point typically. Then I got a Mill recently and have been dialing in my numbers again (Jumped from 62% to 80%+). Honestly, as long as I can see where the variance is coming from and work on it next time I'm happy.

 

[pshankstar]

I'm ok within 5 points but if it's nothing whacky that I am making, I am usually within 2 points. But I also feel that as long as I have wort in the fermenter, I consider it a success!

 

[Homercidal]

Really it depends on the beer and it's purpose. If I'm just brewing for beer, then I'm not that picky. I can make adjustments as I go, if I take measurements, or just accept it for what it is.

If I am brewing for competition, or actually trying to be accurate and "Nail" that recipe, then a few points isn't a big deal.

 

[schatzke]

I have only been AG brewing for 15 months and I am always tweaking parts of my process. I am usually within 1-3 points but as much as 5 isn't something that concerns me especially when I am trying different methods.

 

[Steveruch]

It really depends on the beer. I'd be way less concerned with a 1.105 on a planned 1.110 barleywine than a 1.030 on a planned 1.035 mild.

 

[NorthwestBrewman2013]

I'm never concerned if I'm above what my OG would have been. All that means is a bigger beer. Most of my OG's are around 1050-1060 so a larger swing up in gravity doesn't mean much for the style. However, I'm usually pretty pissed if the gravity dips below 4 points of my OG estimate.

 

[ChelisHubby]

Hey I made beer regardless, but it is only natural after you have Dailed in your process to wonder and consider why your gravity is different.

 

[seatazzz]

Say I've got a beer that was OG 1.050...if it drops to at least 1.020, tastes good, and is stable, I'll say the heck with it and package. So as long as I'm within 5-7 points I consider it good. I've got a brown fermenting right now that's stuck at 1.028 (OG 1.055), I added some amylase yesterday. If that doesn't drop it any more I'm just going to keg it and be done. Tastes good even though it's only 4%.

 

[PADave]

I've got my system pretty dialed in, so I'm usually really close to my expected numbers. If I'm off by more than 3 points or so, I try to figure out why. Either way, I still made beer and don't get to stressed over it.

 

[oceanic_brew]

I would say 3-4 points on the lower gravity brews starts to worry me and then closer to ten points on the barleywines/quads/triplebocks

I'm consistently off with my post boil gravity volumes. I'm only talking sometimes I get 4.6 gallons and sometimes I get 5.3 sorta thing but I'm not too concerned with dialing something in unless I make a great brew then I'll pay a little closer attention.

One caveat to that is that I've found hop additions to a 4.5 gallon brew very different than a 5.5 of course so I usually try to dial that in a little better.

 

[shecallsmeblue]

Two points either way won't bother me too much, usually. But I really agree with this:

It really depends on the beer. I'd be way less concerned with a 1.105 on a planned 1.110 barleywine than a 1.030 on a planned 1.035 mild.

 

[brewbama]

+/- 5% is acceptable. Beyond that is not.

 

[Kharnynb]

a few points up or down is no biggie, missing a boil volume usually accounts for that, due to crappy stove.

FG i am more fussy, too dry or too sweet is worse for style and intentions.

 

[urg8rb8]

If I overshoot my OG, then I usually just add RO bottled water until I got my desired gravity.

 

[Lefou]

Flexibility is the key.
I can calculate but reality sometimes takes over, so I keep water and LME onhand to deal with any gravity problems. I'm still dealing with getting my mash efficiency dialed in right so I have to make adjustments on the fly.

Like today.
I missed my calculated mash gravity, so I hit the calculators to adjust. I usually measure within 5 points of calculated gravity, but the temps and air pressure are different from winter to spring, so the seasonal variance is showing. as long as I hit the minimums for my style, I'm cool. A lower ABV isn't going to bother me because I usually do low SRM beers 1.050 or below.