OG Problems

[dstrouse]

I have been coming in under my target OG consistently, and I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong. In my most recent brew session, I used Brewtoad, and based on the ingredients, and usage times I put in, it estimated that my OG should be 1.085, but I came out with only 1.064.

Fermentables were: 1lb crystal 10L, .5lb Caramel Medium 30L, and .5lb Cara Munich all steeped in the brew pot, until temp reached 155 then held there for 20min.

9lbs of plain light LME at the start of boil

1lbs wildflower honey at flame out.

Im still new to home brewing so Im sure there is something I'm not getting here, but I've also had some kits come in low on the OG too. Any advice would be much appreciated .

 

[tgolanos]

Are you adding top-off water? If so, it's probably not mixing fully with your wort before you're taking the OG readings. This is a known issue with using extract.

If you're adding top-off water and ending up with the correct volume in your fermenter, your OG is probably very close to your estimate.

 

[dstrouse]

Oh sorry I meant to put that in there too, I am not adding water, I do a full wort boil.

 

[BlueHouseBrewhaus]

Have you confirmed your boil off rate. You may not be boiling off as much as Brewtoad thinks you are. Also, double check all your volumes and he sure they're correct in Brewtoad. Finally, your grains are actually not "fermentable" since there is no base grain present to convert them.

I've never used Brewtoad so I don't know how it is set up. If you have it set for partial mash, it may be assuming your grains are fermentable and giving you an artificially high OG estimate. Either add a couple of pounds of 2-row to your grains to convert them or change the settings to "extract".

 

[dstrouse]

It was entered as an extract brew, and the grains were set to steep, but it was increasing the OG with the each grain I added. But I wasn't aware that I needed the 2 row to get sugars out of the grain, does that apply to the body characteristics from the grains as well?
Sounds like I will have to go to a partial mash, thank you for the help.

 

[tgolanos]

It was entered as an extract brew, and the grains were set to steep, but it was increasing the OG with the each grain I added. But I wasn't aware that I needed the 2 row to get sugars out of the grain, does that apply to the body characteristics from the grains as well?
Sounds like I will have to go to a partial mash, thank you for the help.

I just ran your recipe through Brewer's Friend, set to Partial Mash with the efficiency set to 0% to account for the steeping grains. Assuming your batch is only 5 gallons, I ended up with a predicted OG of 1.063.

Check your Brewtoad settings. Something in there isn't right.

 

[dstrouse]

Yeah I'm not sure what I've got wrong in there, but I checked out the brewersfriend recipe builder and I think I'll use that for my next batch.
It's good to know that the problem isn't with my brewing process, I guess. I appreciate you taking the time to help me out and responding to my question.

 

[kh54s10]

Low OG is often due to a bad crush of the grains. Make sure all the grains are at least cracked. The other thing to look at is that you are getting the volume that you have indicated in the recipe builder. If you have it set to get 5 gallons and you are ending up with 5.5 or 6 your OG will be low.

BTW steeping grains do not need 2 row. They are mostly for taste and color. The extract is most of your fermentables.

 

[RM-MN]

It was entered as an extract brew, and the grains were set to steep, but it was increasing the OG with the each grain I added. But I wasn't aware that I needed the 2 row to get sugars out of the grain, does that apply to the body characteristics from the grains as well?
Sounds like I will have to go to a partial mash, thank you for the help.

You don't need 2 row to get the sugars out of the caramel malts as their starch is already converted in the process of making caramel malts. If you did have 2 row it might convert a tiny amount of starch the caramel malts contain as the process isn't 100% perfect.