target original gravity questions

[Rodan]

hey guys, ( i kinda posted a similar question in AG section),

My first AG beer was brewed yesterday and although the beer is happily fermenting , i have a question about hitting original specific gravity.

For this weizen recipe, the OG was suppost to be 1.055. After cooling (and before yeast pitch) my original gravity of the wort was 1.040.

Now, i know that original gravity is ... nothing to fret about BUT i think that 15 point below target is a little low. If my OG was 1.050 i wouldent even care!

I did a pretty well done step mashing (following Kaisers exact advice), and legnthened my predicted "fly" sparge time to 1 hour and 20 mins.

Regardless, is it wise to add more fermentable sugars is any form? Dry malt extract? Straight sugars like dextrose? Do a small mash with a pound of wheat or barley?

Or should i just calm down and leave it be?

Recipe was 70% wheat and 30% pale two row in the form of 5 1/8 pound wheat and 2 2/5 pound barley for a 5 gallon batch.

Thanks a bunch!

 

[cweston]

If you already pitched than I don't really think there's anything you can do now, is there?

I take a SG reading after the sparge and before the boil, and then calculate SG for the final volume. I figure at that point, if it is radically below target SG, you can add some DME, or boil it down to a smaller final volume.

With 70% wheat you're pretty-much always going to get pretty poor efficiency, I think.

 

[Rodan]

thats a good idea that i didnt think about...

When you say DME, what do you mean? dex?

I have heard a lot of people say that such high wheat percentage usually results in a problem of extraction. Now i know! Hopefully i can learn to increase my efficiency when i sparge and such. If not i guess ill just use extra grain in the mash.

 

[Baron von BeeGee]

DME == dry malt extract. Any kind of malt extract is going to be better for bolstering poor efficiency than sugar for most recipes. More flavor and body, plus you're trying to compensate for a lack of sugars derived from a mash, which is what extract is.

 

[Baron von BeeGee]

Ps: Go Canes!!

 

[david_42]

DME = Dry Malt Extract

Did you use wheat malt or flaked wheat? The former would give you better efficiency since it provides its own enzymes. It is also a good idea to use some rice hulls with wheat to make sparging easier.

There are some wheat/barley extracts out there, which you could add to your wort if you do it soon.

 

[Spyderturbo]

Ps: Go Canes!!

Excellent game last night, especially in HD. :rockin:

Too bad after the Canes won, I decided that I was going to get drunk and stay up until 3am, so I'm paying for it now.

 

[Baron von BeeGee]

Excellent game last night, especially in HD. :rockin:

Too bad after the Canes won, I decided that I was going to get drunk and stay up until 3am, so I'm paying for it now.

I bruised some ribs and pulled my groin playing in a soccer tournament Sunday, so it's probably a good thing I decided to stay home and not go to the parking lot party at the RBC Center with my buds! I'm well rested for both Mexico/Portugal and Ecuador/Germany today.