Original Gravity Question

[Jkali860]

Hey Everyone,

I am a 1 gallon extract brewer for now (will move up to 5 gallons when I have my own space to brew), and I just brewed an IIPA yesterday. My measured original gravity should have been 1.085 and I missed the mark slightly but 1.083. But I ended up coming out with only about .8th of a gallon of wort, so I a little curious where I went wrong. I was going to top off to 1 gallon, but I didn't want to take my OG down anymore than is was.

Here is the recipe,


OG:1.085
FG: 1.021
ABV: 8.41%
IBU: 121.05
SRM: 7.85
Fermentables
Amount Fermentable PPG °L Bill %
1.375 lb Liquid Malt Extract - Light 35 4 53.7%
1 lb Liquid Malt Extract - Pilsen 35 2 39%
2.38 lb Total

Steeping Grains
Amount Fermentable PPG °L Bill %
3 oz American - Caramel / Crystal 20L 35 20 7.3%

Hops
Amount Variety Type AA Time IBU
4 g Warrior Pellet 16 Boil 60 min 40.31
4 g Citra Pellet Boil 45 min 25.44
7 g Citra Pellet Boil 10 min 17.58
7 g Amarillo Pellet 8.6 Boil 10 min 13.75
7 g Motueka Pellet 7 Boil 10 min 11.19
7 g mosiac Pellet 8 Boil 10 min 12.79

3 g Citra Pellet Boil 0 min
3 g mosiac Pellet 11 Boil 0 min
3 g Amarillo Pellet 8.6 Boil 0 min
3 g Motueka Pellet 7 Boil 0 min

My pre-boil volume was 1.5 gallons, which I entered in. Even with this, I still should have gotten a higher OG and been able to top off to 1 gallon and still hit 1.085 correct? Where have I gone wrong??

Cheers and thanks for your help in advance!

 

[ong]

Are you sure everything was mixed well, and you didn't just grab a sample from the top, while denser extract still hung out near the bottom? And that you let your sample cool to room temperature (assuming a hydrometer sample)? It's hard to miss your mark with an extract batch if the recipe is correct.

 

[Thetonymartin]

What he said...^^
Also, are your volume measurements correct, and did you correct your hydrometer readings for wort temperature?

 

[frazier]

Also, if you are fermenting in a 1 gallon jug, you're going to need that headspace.

 

[wbarber69]

Plus at that high an ABV. It isn't going to matter. Just top off to a gallon and pretend you didn't miss the mark. You'll still be drinking highly alcoholic beer.

 

[Jkali860]

Thanks for the advice so far, I actually took it off the top, but the temp was around 65-70 degrees. It's happily fermenting away right now, is there anything I can do to top it off, or have I already missed the opportunity?

 

[Thetonymartin]

Thanks for the advice so far, I actually took it off the top, but the temp was around 65-70 degrees. It's happily fermenting away right now, is there anything I can do to top it off, or have I already missed the opportunity?

Let it be now, and chalk it up as a learning experience. There are good calculators here to figure stuff out. http://www.brewersfriend.com/dilution-and-boiloff-gravity-calculator/

 

[wbarber69]

let it be now, and chalk it up as a learning experience. There are good calculators here to figure stuff out. http://www.brewersfriend.com/dilution-and-boiloff-gravity-calculator/

+1

 

[ballsy]

When it comes to full extract batches, u should never get caught up in OG reading. I take it out of habit, but always top off to my standard volume no matter what. I'm sure it will turn out great either way!

 

[Thetonymartin]

When it comes to full extract batches, u should never get caught up in OG reading. I take it out of habit, but always top off to my standard volume no matter what. I'm sure it will turn out great either way!

Yep. And it will still be beer!
Cheers.

 

[mamies]

I think the alcohol will be more like 9% as well since you are missing .2 of a gallon.

 

[Trox]

Also check your hydrometer and make sure it isn't reading .02 below. You can check it with normal tap water and make sure it reads 1.000.

 

[ballsy]

Also check your hydrometer and make sure it isn't reading .02 below. You can check it with normal tap water and make sure it reads 1.000.

Actually, tap water is not supposed to be 1.000. You have to use distilled water. I bought a cheap 89 cent bottle of it and used that to calibrate.

 

[Orthobrewsky]

Actually, tap water is not supposed to be 1.000. You have to use distilled water. I bought a cheap 89 cent bottle of it and used that to calibrate.

Just out of curiosity, how much higher does your tap water read compared to distilled water?

 

[wbarber69]

My tap water is dead on 1.000 I have two hydrometers and two refractometers and they all read the same.

 

[Orthobrewsky]

http://hypertextbook.com/facts/2007/AllenMa.shtml

There's a chart there which shows typical tap water corresponding to at least 4 decimal places (one more than brewers typically keep track of) with distilled. Some folks on the forum talk about such things as getting condensation off their pot lids to calibrate refractometers, so I wonder if anyone has actually found a noticeable difference between distilled and their own tap water. If there was a detectable difference, it would seem to make more sense to use our brewing water for calibration so that we'd be measuring the actual amount of extract added anyway.

 

[wbarber69]

^ what he said.

 

[ballsy]

http://hypertextbook.com/facts/2007/AllenMa.shtml

There's a chart there which shows typical tap water corresponding to at least 4 decimal places (one more than brewers typically keep track of) with distilled. Some folks on the forum talk about such things as getting condensation off their pot lids to calibrate refractometers, so I wonder if anyone has actually found a noticeable difference between distilled and their own tap water. If there was a detectable difference, it would seem to make more sense to use our brewing water for calibration so that we'd be measuring the actual amount of extract added anyway.

Hmmm, interesting! I wonder what the composition of that tap water was...I know tap water varies immensely depending on region? I'm going to test my tap water tonight. I calibrated my hydrometer with distilled (room temp) and it was 1.000 on money so will see what difference is with room temp tap water.