trick to get big OGs and big beers?

[OdinsBrew]

I just made a Pliny the Elder clone. It's only my second batch ever. Thought everything went okay but I ended up with an OG of 1.049, when the recipe's is 1.074.

What might I have done wrong?

I ended up with 4+ gallons of wort so I added 1 gallon water to make the 5glns. I used a 32 quart pot to boil and guess I lost water as either the hops absorbed a lot and maybe steam off. I steeped my grains in 1 gallon (which is probably twice as much as needed I learned) and rinsed them for the wort. Maybe my temps were high on the grains? It may have hit 160, but not much higher and stayed around 152 most of the time. I did screw up on my hop times and added my 45 minute hops at 75 minutes.

I'm bummed! I wanted a strong brew. Anything I can do at this point, so I don't end up with a low alcohol content? Does fermentation continue to happen in the secondary or is that only taste and aroma? The recipe calls for dry hopping, with lots of hops. (mmm.... hops....)

I've also been learning about yeast starters. Is it a completely irrelevant idea to put in extra yeast after it's been in the primary and bubbling nicely for a few days? I here all the hops can slow or stop yeast from working. I want to get as much fermented as possible.

Here's the recipe I used. I did the extract version.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/imperial-ipa-recipe-13758/index2.html#post129699

 

[jds]

This space for rent.

(actually, I just want to beat Revvy)

OK, now I can edit in my information.

For starters, don't worry too much about your low OG reading. Most new brewers don't realize how hard it is to get the top-off water and wort mixed well, and end up drawing a gravity sample from the top, where the water is "floating" on top of a dense layer of wort. The yeast will mix everything up as it ferments. If you got all the extract into the kettle, and finished with somewhere around the right volume, you have all the sugars that should be in the recipe.

Since you were steeping the grains (to get flavor and color), the temperature and volume aren't as critical. The extra 30 minutes on your 45 minute hops addition will add some bitterness, but I wouldn;t worry about it much, especially given that it's an IPA.

As for yeast starters, I personally use one for every beer that uses liquid yeast. Big beers (1.060 and up) need even bigger starters. However, if your beer is fermenting strongly, I wouldn't go changing anything now.

Above all, RDWHAHB.

 

[McGarnigle]

So this was mini-mash, with 1 lb two-row and 6.15 lbs DME? And what about the pound of corn sugar? If only the DME was used, that would be closer to 1.049 than 1.070. Maybe you got nothing from the two-row and forgot the corn sugar. It's also possible you didn't mix the wort and got a bad reading.

The problem is those hops are too much for a smaller beer (and adding them too early won't help). Dry hopping with lots won't help either (although that's not an issue of bitterness).

 

[Yooper]

With only 6 pounds of DME, there is no way to get 1.074. With 6 pounds of DME and 1 pound corn sugar, you could expect 1.062. Why you had less than 1.062, though, I have no idea. It actually isn't possible to put six pounds of DME in 5 gallons with the corn sugar and get something so low. (Or did you maybe use 6 pounds of liquid extract? That might explain it).

Anyway, the beer is now going to be way too bitter. You need more malt to balance it. I'd boil up 3 pounds of DME in as little water as possible, cool it and add it gently (without splashing or stirring) to the fermenter.

As far as yeast goes, there isn't any reason to add yeast after fermentation has started. The yeast are already working, so more yeast isn't going to help. I never heard of hops stopping fermentation before?

 

[Brewsmith]

You diluted the wort when you added the water. You should have just kept it at the volume you had. A big hop schedule will soak up a ton of wort. Without the water you were at about 1.061

 

[OdinsBrew]

I bet my hydrometer test was just bad, from the sound of it. Good to know about wort being heavier than water, though I hope to never have to add water to my wort again. (which blows because I bought my 32 qt to make this my second batch, and the hops sucked up the water!)

Interestingly, you guys who estimated an OG from are right on. My brother just did a batch too, and he got 1.062.

I just boiled the rest of the DME I had on hand in minimal water and added that to the primary. It's looking good! I'll adjust a bit with the dry hopping knowing now that the extra time my 45 minute hops were in, will lead to more bitterness. But super hoppy and bitter is the goal. Pliny is off the IBU scales. I may even start a video blog of my wife trying beers that I like. She usually makes a face that looks like she bit a lemon.

I heard about hops inhibiting yeast on a podcast about starter. Look up "brew strong" podcast.

Thanks for all the advice!