OG much higher than anticipated. Help!

[Malibrew13]

So lately me and my brother have both gotten really into homebrewing and today i made a Imperial Blonde Ale. 5 gallon batch. 2.5 gal boil. I followed the directions to the T and used two 2.5 gallon distilled waters from the store so i know my water was right. i did i slow boil, so i didnt lose much volume. The OG was intended to be somewhere around 1075 and it came out at 1100. should i be worried? this is supposed to be a "big blonde" coming out at around 7 or 8% abv. i also tried the hyrometer reading sample, and it was super sweet. the nut brown ale i made last was good even at the sample. i'm hoping i didnt totally botch this batch. any help?

oh and fyi, i have my fermenting temps down to 65 degrees in our newly built keezer while we're waiting on batches.

 

[GilSwillBasementBrews]

well if it stops around 1.015 you will have around an 11.5ABV. You can either add water to dilute the wort down till your gravity equals the estimated OG if you just pitched and haven't had actively vigorous fermentation. or just let it ride and see where it stops at. What yeast did you use? you might hit the ABV limit for the yeast if it was a low attenuating yeast. But as you said it was an Imperial Blond Ale I would presume that the yeast will be able to handle the ABV levels. I would probably just let it ride and see where it stops. As for the sample it will taste sweet now as the yeast haven't converted any of the sugars to alcohol yet. If your FG sample tastes sweet then I would start looking for possible solutions. For now I would just go with it.

 

[erikpete18]

Was this an extract, or all grain batch? Assuming this was an extract batch, you can just assume that your OG is correct. Its always tough when diluting in the fermenter to get the water mixed in with the wort, so more than likely what happened is that you took your gravity sample from lower in the fermenter where the wort had settled. Its possible that you boiled off more than you expected, although a good volume measurement of your batch should give you some peace of mind.

 

[Malibrew13]

I think u guys are probably right. Ive been reading its hard to take a good reading after adding water to the wort. Im gonna just let it ride and see how it works out. Thanks guys

 

[Yooper]

If you used a total of 5 gallons of water, that would explain why your OG is so low. What I mean is that grains will absorb some of the water, and then about a gallon will boil off in an hour. So, you may have lost about 1.25-1.5 gallons out of that 5 gallons.

Do you have your carboy marked to the five gallon line? That's the best way to see how much liquid you end up with, and then just top up with water to the 5 gallon line.

I start with 9 gallons of water for a 5.5 gallon batch, just as an example. I use more grain, since I don't use extract, so I lose a gallon of water right there, but I also boil off nearly 2 gallons per hour.

 

[Malibrew13]

Just an update, i didnt overboil as sone have been implying. And the 1100 og im thinking came from taking a reading right after adding the last 2.5 gallons to the wort. My fg came to around 1013-1015 which is right where it was meant to be if not a little low. And to any other newbs out there... The blowoff tube was still bubbling once every 19 seconds or so... But once taking a reading it seems to be done. The test sample tasted great, and im currently cold crashing at 34f for the next few days till i keg.

 

[Malibrew13]

Oh and just to throw it out there, this blonde is meant to be around 8% and took 8 days in a temperature controlled freezer at an average of 68f to ferment