OG not hited

[TheFrenchDude]

Hi. I recently brewed some strong ales and did not reach the OG.

It was an extract recipe.

What did I do wrong?

Thanks for help.

 

[Dutch_Food_Geek]

Two options... Either not enough extract or too much water...

But to give a real answer we need some more data... What was the recipe? What did you do? Was there anything different this brewday? Did you hit you o.g. Before?

 

[TheFrenchDude]

http://www.ontariobeerkegs.com/v/vspfiles/assets/images/3gal%20-%20belgian%20tripel.pdf

There is the recipe from my lbs

It's not my first attempt with those recipes. I did hit OG on the third previous beer from them.
I didn't notice anything different on this brewing day except maybe the time the water took to boil (shorter)

 

[evchenko]

Your water volumes could be off, your scales could be dodgy, you could have a lower boil off rate than you expected, etc etc.

 

[TheFrenchDude]

Your water volumes could be off, your scales could be dodgy, you could have a lower boil off rate than you expected, etc etc.

OMG! too much possibilities!!! :fro:

 

[theseeker4]

OMG! too much possibilities!!! :fro:

What was your volume when the boil was over, and was it the same that the recipe called for? Did you have the correct amount of extract? How confident are you that those numbers are accurate?

 

[myelo]

How did you measure OG? What result did you get?

This looks like a pre-packaged kit so assuming the kit maker didn't make a mistake, about the only way to be substantially off on your OG is to not measure your water volume correctly.

A different boil off rate could make a small difference.

Adding water after boiling the wort is a common source of OG measurement error because or poor mixing or the wort and water. But this recipe looks like a full volume boil.

Check your hydrometer?

 

[boydster]

Did you do a partial boil by any chance? I see the recipe is for a full boil, but I'm just curious because adding top-up water after the boil is easily the most common reason for an off OG reading in an extract recipe. In that case, it's just a false reading - those sugars are there, but they weren't mixed evenly throughout the wort.

If you did a full boil instead of a partial, double check whether you really ended up with 3.25 gallons of wort - if you have more than that, your extract is more diluted and you'll get a lower gravity reading.

If you've got the correct volume, think back about whether you really got all the extract or if there was some that you couldn't get out of the can. Also, 1 lb of corn sugar is listed in the recipe - did you remember to add it, or is it possible it was forgotten?

If you're sure all that is in order, calibrate your hydrometer - make sure it reads 1.000 in 60 degree distilled water.