OGs Consistently Too High

[abidoos]

I usually brew simply from kits. It had gone well but recently I have hit a snag. It seems that my OGs are consistently too high, and therefore the FG is too high. tThis leads to a sweet overly carboinated beer. This has occurred with various styles and with kits from various companies.
I am meticulous about the process and clean and measure everything very carefully. I must be doing something systematically incorrectly. Does anyone have any ideas about this?
I tend to try and scrub every drop of malt I can out of the container. Can that do it? I am at 5 gallons exactly. Can hop residue, orange peel, etc, when transferred from the pot to the fermenter do this?

 

[phendog]

How much higher??

When I did kits, I found the projected OG in the instructions to be pretty close, if not spot on. How are you taking your reading - Hydrometer??

Also, if you are putting 5 gallons of liquid into your fermenter, you are probably pulling only 4 1/2 out due to troub. Your can try adding 1/2gal more during the boil or topping off in the fermenter, but I would go with the former.

 

[Ashevillain]

The OG shouldn't have a huge impact on the FG unless were talking about a really high gravity beer style. The FG really comes down to mash temps(how many unfermentable sugars due to higher mash temps) and fermentation conditions. Extract tends to have fairly standard levels of fermentables. I'd start using online calculators for your ingredients/exact water volumes to get more accurate ideas of the estimated OGs. I wouldn't trust the sheet they give you too much. Also if you haven't yet, I would look into:

-using more yeast
-yeast starter
-proper aeration
-temperature control

There are cheap/free and easy ways to cover all those bases.

You can adjust the volumes post boil as well which will adjust your OG, but best practice will be to figure out how to get close to your intended numbers without having to do post boil/mash adjustments.

 

[theowlman16]

Why would a missed OG target create overcarbination?

 

[abidoos]

I am presuming too much sugar (high FG) + priming sugar would lead to overcarbonation.

 

[RM-MN]

I usually brew simply from kits. It had gone well but recently I have hit a snag. It seems that my OGs are consistently too high, and therefore the FG is too high. tThis leads to a sweet overly carboinated beer. This has occurred with various styles and with kits from various companies.
I am meticulous about the process and clean and measure everything very carefully. I must be doing something systematically incorrectly. Does anyone have any ideas about this?
I tend to try and scrub every drop of malt I can out of the container. Can that do it? I am at 5 gallons exactly. Can hop residue, orange peel, etc, when transferred from the pot to the fermenter do this?

Are you following kit instruction to the letter?

If so, stop. Many kits would have your ferment your beer for a week and yeast don't follow calendar schedules well. Leave the beer until the FG is where it should be and your beer won't overcarbonate. Take a hydrometer sample at the end of the second week, then another 2 or 3 days later. They should match perfectly. If not, wait a few days and sample again.

If the kit contains a bag of priming sugar and the instructions call for you to dump it all in, think again. Weigh the priming sugar and use a priming calculator like this one.

http://www.tastybrew.com/calculators/priming.html

Your overcarbonation is caused by one of the two possibilities, fermentation not complete or too much priming sugar.

 

[theowlman16]

Yes. High final gravity does not translate to overcarbonation.

 

[TheMadKing]

Add water until it's correct... More beer /= bad.. and as others have said, high FG is a product of one of two things: high unfermentable sugar or your yeast isn't done. Only the second one would result in overcarbonation. Let it sit in primary longer.

 

[Ashevillain]

Unless im pitching some healthy yeast starters my batches take at least 2 weeks to ferment, often 3-4. Theres no problem with this, it will let the beer clean itself up even more in terms of FG, diacetyl, etc.

 

[chickypad]

I assume these are extract kits? It should be very hard to miss your gravity by much unless your volumes are off. Can we have some examples of numbers - what exact kits, OG, and FG's? How are you measuring your volumes? Timeline? As other said overcarbonation likely means it wasn't done fermenting, i.e. you're trying to bottle before you're at FG.

 

[MindenMan]

With all the trub from the kettle going into your fermenter (it sounds like that is what you have occurring) your fermenter shows 5 gallons but if the trub was strained/filtered out you may only have 4.5 gallons as was suggested above. In the future strain out the trub before the wort gets into the fermenter, that way you can accurately know how much wort you actually have.
Let me ask you a question, when your last batch was done fermenting what was the volume of trub at the bottom of your fermenter?

 

[Honda88]

There is only one way you aren't hitting the right OG. You aren't at 5 gallons when you are taking your readings. How are you measuring gallons when you filled the rest up with water? I have never brewed a kit that wasn't close to the range at the 5 gallon mark. They are typically very accurate.

 

[TheMadKing]

There is only one way you aren't hitting the right OG. You aren't at 5 gallons when you are taking your readings.

This is not accurate. There are 2 ways, better than expected mash efficiency can also cause a high OG.

 

[Honda88]

Sorry I was under the impression this was an extract kit. If its all grain then yea I suppose you could go over the kits expected...in that case you should be happy you are achieving a greater efficiency than what the kit states it should do.

 

[abidoos]

I just started an Allagash White clone. The OG is supposed to be 1.049. Mine came out to 1.056-1.058. This kit was from a local brewshop. Another kit was from BSG, a Scottish Ale. The OG was supposed to be 1.060. Mine came to about 1.068. I use a standard hydrometer, the kind that floats in the tube of wort. I calibrated it against distilled water and it is accurate. I get vigorous fermentation, often leaving it in the primary but the FG also comes out high, even after checking it several times over the course of the fermentation. It starts high and seems to get stuck. I move it to the secondary but the FG doesn't move much there either. The Allagash is still fermenting. I added a yeast starter.

After the boil, I move the wort to the fermenter. I try to eliminate most of the trub. I then bring the volume to 5 gallons and then cool it with a wort chiller to about 68-70 degrees. I agitate it, and even swirl it and then take an OG.

I have been steeping the grains in the water as I raise the temperature. Some instructions say to steep the grains once the temp. gets to 155-160. Could the extra steeping I have been doing raise the OG?

 

[Honda88]

Its possible that the extra steeping could account for it. Are you sure you are at 5 gallons? Being a quarter gallon off could cause a higher OG as you are essentially thinning the sugar mixture by adding water. If you are sure you actually have 5 gallons then it must be the steeping that is causing this rise.

 

[RM-MN]

I just started an Allagash White clone. The OG is supposed to be 1.049. Mine came out to 1.056-1.058. This kit was from a local brewshop. Another kit was from BSG, a Scottish Ale. The OG was supposed to be 1.060. Mine came to about 1.068. I use a standard hydrometer, the kind that floats in the tube of wort. I calibrated it against distilled water and it is accurate. I get vigorous fermentation, often leaving it in the primary but the FG also comes out high, even after checking it several times over the course of the fermentation. It starts high and seems to get stuck. I move it to the secondary but the FG doesn't move much there either. The Allagash is still fermenting. I added a yeast starter.

After the boil, I move the wort to the fermenter. I try to eliminate most of the trub. I then bring the volume to 5 gallons and then cool it with a wort chiller to about 68-70 degrees. I agitate it, and even swirl it and then take an OG.

I have been steeping the grains in the water as I raise the temperature. Some instructions say to steep the grains once the temp. gets to 155-160. Could the extra steeping I have been doing raise the OG?

This isn't helping your beer to fully ferment. If it isn't attenuated completely and you move it away from the bulk of the yeast it can stall. Secondary isn't necessary for most beers and may do more harm than good.

Temperature of the fermentation can be part of the cause too. If you keep the beer too cool the yeast quit working early. I try to start my beers at the low end of the yeast's preferred range but let the beer warm to room temp after 5 to 7 days and remain there for another 5 to 15 days to encourage the most attenuation I can get.

The extra steeping won't cause the increase in OG unless the steeping grains also contain a base malt which could convert starches in the grains to more sugar,

While steeping can be done in a range of temperature from probably 100 at the low end all the way to boiling with similar extraction of flavor and color, practicing keeping the temp between 150 and 160 will set you up for going to all grain if you choose.

Since you are getting a kit from the LHBS, take a sample in to them and have them check the OG and maybe the FG too. You then eliminate the possibility of a hydrometer that isn't reading correctly.

 

[chickypad]

Did we ever see any FG's? Are we talking a few points high from the estimated recipe or like 20 pts too high?

Like already mentioned if your volumes are correct with an extract kit you can't really off by too much. Since you are topping off with water before your OG measurement it's likely to be an error due to inadequate mixing. "Swirling" probably won't do it, you should stir the crap out of it (it needs to be oxygenated after cooling anyway).

 

[GPP33]

I'd bet $$$$ the OP is simply not using enough water. Less water means everything is more concentrated, thus a higher OG, a higher FG and a higher ratio of priming sugar to beer volume (assuming the kit comes with a bag that's just dumped in). Dilution is the solution!

I then bring the volume to 5 gallons and then cool it with a wort chiller to about 68-70 degrees.

Try getting 5 gal AFTER it cools, not before.

Accuratly measuring volume is one of the trickiest things we face. this is why getting to know our equipment is so important. Consistency is key, from there we can make nominal adjustments. It sounds like your result is fairly consistent, now you just need to learn how to account for your system intricacies.

 

[Honda88]

There actually are fermentable sugars that come from specialty grains.. its just not very much. Remember that a hydrometer doesn't measure just fermentable sugars...its measuring the density of a liquid. With that said I would still bet that your water volume is just lower than you think it is.

 

[kh54s10]

I suspect the OG measurements are off because the top up water is not fully mixed. This is common with top up.

OP give us some OG and FG numbers that you are getting.

For the FG. How long have these beers fermented? At what temperature was the sample taken?

If you have a kit, use all the ingredients, and end up with the right volume into the fermenter the OG should be very close to what the instructions say.

Are you using a bucket with volume markings on it. If so check this. They are often off, sometimes a LOT.

If you get good fermentation your FG should be within range even if your OG was a little higher.

I wonder if you are just getting the dreaded "extract twang".