Really high OG. WTF?!

[marjen]

So I finished up brewing a couple hours ago. I did a 5 gallon extract brew that was supposed to have any OG of 1.068. I took the reading and it was 1.096?! How is that possible. As an FYI I started with 6 gallons in the boil and ended up just under 4 into the fermenter. Is that why? I have already pitched the yeast. Is there anything I can do to fix? Thanks.

 

[Stillraining]

So you started with about 7.5 lbs DME?

If you were able to get almost zero equipmewnt loss meaning you ended up with just under 4 gallons from the 6 with an sg of 1.o68.....then after the boil 100% of that went into your fermenter then you should have 1.102 OG now . your boil off would have increased your SG by approximately .034

You just brewed your first Wee Heavy or Barly wine.......congrats!

Better pitch another pack of yeast!! I would hydrate it first too.

 

[marjen]

 

[marjen]

Per the recipe:

Malts & Grains
6.6 lb Muntons Light DME
1 lb Briess Bavarian Wheat DME
4 oz Briess Carapis Malt
4 oz British crystal 15L

Hops
0.25 oz Columbus Hops @ 60
min
0.75 oz Columbus Hops @ 10 min
1 tsp irish moss @ 10 min
1oz Columbus, 1 oz galaxy & 1 oz Citra at hop stand @ 180° for 30’

 

[spittybug]

....wait... someone complaining about too much potential alcohol?

And yes, you can add some purified (ie no bugs) water to dilute things if you somehow feel you must.

 

[mbobhat]

That still seems high to me, I always thought it was around 40 points per gallon per pound so if you took all that and then divided by 4 gallons you would be in the 1.07 ish range yes? Did you add more than the recipe called for?

 

[marjen]

So I could add RO wTer? Even though I pitched yeast a couple hours ago?

 

[spittybug]

If you want lower alcohol and more volume, add RO water. Just make damned sure it and the vessels that contain it, are clean. It will dilute not only the alcohol but the 'intensity' of the maltiness or hoppiness of your beer as well. I don't think you should do it, but it is doable. Live and learn. You may love it the way it is.

 

[AZCoolerBrewer]

So usually when I put my hydrometer in my cylinder I can see the rim of the cylinder near the wort level. I am wondering if your hydrometer was floating when you took your reading? I plugged in your recipe values and got 1.080. You would have had to have boiled it down to 3.32 gallons to get the value you measured. DME is fairly consistent, so you can count on what kind of numbers it will put up. Something went wrong in your measurement or how much stuff i.e. water or ingredient measurement. Put your hydrometer in water and see what it reads. It should read pretty close to 1.000. If you have any DME left you could make a very accurate solution and use the online calculator on Brewers Friend to see if your hydrometer is reading correctly.

I got 1.6 ounces of DME + 12.8 ounces of water = 1.042 gravity

 

[marjen]

OK so i added .75 GA water to the carboy since I was on the low side anyway at just under 4 gallons. Man I burned off a lot. Next time I will start with 6.5 gallons instead of 6. I am wondering if it was due to the gunk in the bottom of the tube I did the reading in now that I think about it. It had a couple inches of sludge. Maybe that propped up the hydrometer?

All my weights were double and triple checked so I am very certain I did not add more or less extract than called for. I was very careful with that.

 

[marjen]

Here is the recipe plugged into brewers friend.

 

[AZCoolerBrewer]

Floaties won't affect your reading, but if things start to get muddy on the bottom then it could definitely make a difference. If I was you and you want to add water, I would add it based on an OG of around 1.083 to bring it down to the OG you want, but why? I would leave it be.

 

[Vammy]

Hmmmm...others can chime in, but I'm not sure I've ever taken a reading with "gunk in the tube"...but otherwise, it looks like you should have had 5 gal in the fermentor, so with a 4 gal post boil, you should add a gallon +/-...enough to hit OG

Just my thoughts.

 

[marjen]

but otherwise, it looks like you should have had 5 gal in the fermentor, so with a 4 gal post boil, you should add a gallon +/-...enough to hit OG

I added .75 gallons + the starter. So that should get me back on track I think. Added it a couple hours post pitch, but hope its ok.

 

[Stillraining]

So usually when I put my hydrometer in my cylinder I can see the rim of the cylinder near the wort level. I am wondering if your hydrometer was floating when you took your reading? I plugged in your recipe values and got 1.080. You would have had to have boiled it down to 3.32 gallons to get the value you measured. DME is fairly consistent, so you can count on what kind of numbers it will put up. Something went wrong in your measurement or how much stuff i.e. water or ingredient measurement. Put your hydrometer in water and see what it reads. It should read pretty close to 1.000. If you have any DME left you could make a very accurate solution and use the online calculator on Brewers Friend to see if your hydrometer is reading correctly.

I got similar linear results posted earlier using a guesstimated 7.5 lb DME bill before he posted his recipe. Looks like I was close.

Carry on.