Significantly high OG

[edsrockin]

Okay, I am relatively new to brewing as I did my third batch Saturday night. They have each been Brewer's Best kits so far. The first was an English Brown Ale (which was rather tasty), the second an European Bock (still in bottling process), and the third an India Pale Ale.

These are all partial boil, extract kits. I am not afraid to experiment and did so on the first batch without noticeable effects. This parlayed into my IPA.

Good IPAs tend to have a strong citrusy flavor and I figured I would enhance that by adding a 15 oz. bottle of lime juice to the boil water (3 gallons total) used to steep the grains. I also zested a lemon and cut up the remaining rind to put in the grain bag for a little more flavor.

I did everything else as directed. When I took my OG it was 1.080 for a 5 gallon (US) batch. The kit suggested that it should range between 1.061 and 1.065.

I know there are natural sugars in the lime juice, but am shocked there would be enough to impact the OG *that* much. It is fermenting very nicely (I used a WhiteLabs CAlifornia Ale yeast) with about 4 bubbles per second in the airlock. I have used this yeast before and that was my experience and partially why I chose to use it again.

Soooo .... I am curious ... do I have much to be concerned with since the gravity is so high? I will keep an eye on the yeast to make sure it doesn't exhaust itself too early, but any other recommendations or things I should be looking for?

Another question I have. I would like to dry hop this batch. On another thread I just read on this forum it suggested 4 oz. for a 1.080 OG. I was thinking about using Citra hops. Again, any ideas or suggestions?

Thanks, all.

 

[Yooper]

Lime juice, huh? Sounds awful, to be honest. Citrusy character comes from the hops, not from lime juice in the boil. Fermented lime juice makes me think of spoiled orange juice (fermented OJ) and sounds awful.

Anyway, you didn't get all those extra gravity points from the lime juice. I bet the wort wasn't mixed up all that well, since it's really hard to get a partial boil/water mixture mixed up perfectly. I would just consider the OG the OG that the kit suggested.

 

[ongreystreet]

Hopefully the lime/citrus you added will go away with the boil, probably should add with hops during secondary, and then it should only be done with some experienced advice or some taste testing.

 

[edsrockin]

thanks yooper. i wanted a bittering effect, but not THAT way. LOL your comment makes good sense. i can't wait until i am setup to do a full boil. appreciate the help and advice.

thanks ongreystreet. i was thinking adding it in early would leave a subtle hint rather than an overwhelming taste. if you actually put it in secondary ... what would be best way to get it mixed in evenly throughout the batch? and i do intend to add hops to the secondary, but will be almost a week, i guess before am at that point. it is still vigorously fermenting. love that calif. ale yeast! ;j