OG too low - can I raise?

[robertandrews]

My original gravity is 1.025. This is low, right?
Looks like I can only achieve about 1.97%?

This is "English IPA", all grain, from a book, but my brewing kettles are too small for the amount of grain in the recipe (pale malt & crystal malt). So I reduced the grain amount (and water).

Is there anything I can do to up the potency right now? It's just had the yeast thrown on top. 17 litres total as of now.

Thanks.

 

[GuldTuborg]

You can boil some extract with a bit of water and add it. You only need to get it hot enough to sanitize, then cool and mix in.

How much you add depends upon how much water you mix with, and what you want your eventual OG to be. Speaking of which, what do you want it to be?

 

[robertandrews]

PS I have some "Beer Enhancer" power - it's spray dried malt plus dextrose. Could I add any of this now? Mixed with water at same temp as fermenter contents?

@GuldTuborg I'd rather about 4.X% - so I'd rather about 1.040...

 

[GuldTuborg]

That's a lot to raise it. That much could well screw with your bitterness profile.

What was your recipe, as you brewed it?

 

[robertandrews]

Total 1.8kg grain (mostly pale malt, some crystal malt).
Steeped in 14 litres of water at about 160f for 1hr 15mins.
Boiled for total 1hr 25mins.
Hops: 47g Challenger at start, 47g Golding with 15mins to go (mistake: should have been just half, with remaining half at turn-off).
Protoflog tablets x 2.
Cooled in fermenter in ice bath to around 75f, topped up to 18 litres with same temperature.
Pack of ale yeast pitched.

 

[GuldTuborg]

Oh wow. That's a crazy low amount of grain. So if you add 1l water, to get 19l total, you'd want roughly 1kg DME to get up around (actually just a little over) the 1.040 mark. That's a rough approximation, but it should work.

Given you used more hops than you mean to, I wouldn't worry about that. Figure 1kg of DME into 1-2L water, and you'll be fine anywhere in that range.

 

[robertandrews]

Umm, I just added:
- 250g "beer enhancer" in 500ml water
- 250g "beer enhancer" in 500ml water
- 350g "beer enhancer" in 750ml water
= 850g "beer enhancer" in 1.75l water

Any good?

Learning.
When could I take a reading I could regard as my OG, or has that bird flown?

 

[HonestAbe]

If you have pitched the yeast I think you are out of luck for an actual OG but you could calculate it based on the OG of the enhancer that you added.

ie: (OG x volume) + (OG of enhancer x volume) / 2 = calculated OG.

 

[HonestAbe]

Also when you add top off water make sure it is mixed well with the wort before taking a gravity reading or it will give you an inaccurate reading... Learned this the hard way, thought I missed my mark by near 30 gravity points.

 

[robertandrews]

HonestAbe,
Thanks - but confusing
Let's try...
So...
(OG 1.025 x which volume - original of 18 litres?) + (OG of enhancer, did not take) / 2 = calculated OG.

Oh well. If all sugar is converted, I guess I'll call it 2.5%-3%.

 

[GuldTuborg]

Any good?

Depends. What's the ppg of the "enhancer?" Does it give any sign of its sugar content?

And Abe above is correct. The best you can do now is calculate your OG. Thankfully, with extract, that's a pretty reliable process.

 

[robertandrews]

Depends. What's the ppg of the "enhancer?" Does it give any sign of its sugar content?

And Abe above is correct. The best you can do now is calculate your OG. Thankfully, with extract, that's a pretty reliable process.

PPG? Pounds per gallon? No idea. Pack just says 1Kg Beer Enhancer Kit, ingredients spray dried malt and dextrose, direct 1:1 replacement for sugar addition.

 

[GuldTuborg]

Right. I slipped and forgot we were dealing with metric. I'm not gonna lie...I hate everything metric. But, I have many faults.

Anyway, ppg stands for points per gallon. It tells you how many gravity points you get when dissolving a known quantity of something in a gallon of water.

DME is generally around 40-42, of memory serves, and table sugar around 45. You can guess your enhancer is somewhere in the middle. So if you added roughly 2L water and 1kg of the enhancer, you added around 85 gravity points into nearly 20L water, so 85/5=17. That's 17 gravity points. So 1.025 + .017 = 1.042, which is your calculated OG after all additions. Seem good to you?

 

[kh54s10]

If fermentation has not started take a new OG measurement. Even if it has recently started it will be close.

Since you topped up I would not be confident with the first measurement, it is often difficult to get a good mix so you get either a false high or low reading, so all your additions will just be a guess.

At this point just RDWHAHB and wait for your beer to finish.

 

[robertandrews]

GuldTuborg,
That would be a victory if accurate, I think!
This sounds like a formula/principle I should learn.

Thanks all.


Sent from my iPad using Home Brew

 

[HonestAbe]

Robert you are correct with my vague answer. (Wort gravity x wort volume including top off water) + (enhancer gravity x enhancer liquid volume) / 2 = OG

Like kh54s10 said, if you pitched within the last few hours (pending on yeast an lag time) than taking a gravity reading will be relatively accurate if the top off water was mixed well.

At this point though, kick back... Have a beer... And revel in the fact you'll have some more beer in 3 to 6 weeks.