What do I need to change to stop getting OGs way too high?

[linusstick]

It just started with my last two beers. Didn't do anything different. I did a simple IPA as my 7th batch. Small 1.5 gallon beer.
3 lb 5 oz US two row
1 lb golden promise
2.7 oz crystal 60
.27 oz centennial 60 min
.27 centennial 30 min
1.08oz dry hop
California v yeast
Mashed in with 2.5 gallons. Hit target mash temp. Mashed for 1.5 hours. Hit target pre boil gravity of 1.045. I think my problem was the boil. I boiled more vigorous and continuous than the rest of the beers I've done. Ended up with only a gallon going into the fermenter and 1.13 OG. I added about a quarter gallon bottled spring water to get to 1.25 gallons and 1.089 OG. Still .019 higher than target but hopefully that will help. Is my thinking right? Change my boil off rate in my equipment profile AND when I get an OG too high, adding spring water to bring it down to target?

 

[brandonlovesbeer]

You probably need a bigger yeast starter

 

[linusstick]

You probably need a bigger yeast starter

For a 1.5 gallon beer?

 

[BigCrazyAl]

Im not even sure I'm asking the right question but your recipe says 1.5 gallon batch but you fermented 1.25 gallons. Would the extra .25 gallon or a little less bring you to the correct volume and OG?

Alternatively going forward, I'd fire up the brew pot with just water and crank the boil. Let it run an hour or so and then measure the boil off. That will help with efficiencies in recipe design.

 

[jd1984]

Agree with the post above. Had you added the other .25 gal you were expecting to have, you would've been much closer to your target OG.

Are you using Beersmith or another such program? Change your boiloff rate to 1.5 gal/hr and your recipe should get you near your target. You might also have to adjust your efficiency at some point to really dial it in.

 

[dyqik]

Don't boil so hard.

You don't need to boil off more than 10% of your volume in your boil time, and boiling off much more is likely harmful to your beer. Note, it's not the visual appearance of the boil that matters for DMS precursor removal, but the amount of volume that is boiled off. The vigor of the boil may affect you hop utilization though.

If you are doing a 1.5 gal into fermenter batch, you should not need to boil off much more than a quart in an hour.

 

[mongoose33]

And if you boil off too much, just add a bottle of water or two to bring it up to whatever volume you need.

 

[Biscuits]

I am curious...do you guys get different boil-off rates depending on how vigorous you boil? I get the same whether I simmer or have a hard rolling boil...

At any rate, I don't think your boil vigor is the issue, you just need to compensate for what you boil off and not try and control the boil itself. I you're boiling of 1.25 gallons an hour, I would be inclined to tell you to double check your measurements because even with an 11 gal. kettle most people only boil off 1-1.2 gal/hr...if you're using a smaller kettle, I doubt you're boiing off that much....boil-off rate is a function of kettle height/width.

Second, I am also questioning your SG measurements. Going from a preboil SG of 1.045 with 2.5G and ending up with 1.13 at 1G of wort doesn't seem to add up to me. Maybe someone with the ability can do the math and debunk me though.

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

The basic question you ask is correct. Adjust your boil-off rate and if your volume comes out low per the recipe, add water to compensate. You may want to adjust brewhouse efficiency in your software as well based on running more batches through to get it dialed-in more effectively.

I do agree with the other folks that your boil-off rate might be too high. To go from 1.045 to 1.130 would take boiling off well above half your volume. That's massive. I wouldn't boil so vigorously.

I'm also confused by the number. If you started with 2.5 gal of wort at 1.045 (which is not likely for BIAB as you'll lose some of that 2.5 gal mash water in the grain, unless you did a sparge-out), boiling down to 1.0 gal should only get you 1.125. I.e. 45 points divided by 0.4 (the boil difference was 2.5x volume) is 125 points.

Then adding 0.25 gal to 1 gal wort at 1.130 should get you 1.104. Adding 0.5 gal should get you to 1.086 or so.

So I think you might have boiled down to BELOW 1 gal into the fermenter...

 

[linusstick]

Agree with the post above. Had you added the other .25 gal you were expecting to have, you would've been much closer to your target OG.

Are you using Beersmith or another such program? Change your boiloff rate to 1.5 gal/hr and your recipe should get you near your target. You might also have to adjust your efficiency at some point to really dial it in.

Yeah I didn't add the other .25 gallons at the time because I wasn't sure if that was the right solution given the fact that the water wasn't boiled (it was an unopened bottle of spring water though). My first couple beers I wasn't even boiling off a full gallon but it was dry out and my boil was very light. I was thinking because it was very humid out and my boil was rolling and vigorous it caused me to boil off a lot more than usual. Yes I am using Beersmith and I just changed my boil off rate to 1 gallon from the .75 that was in there. My efficiency was set at 65% which is where I was hitting before this batch.

 

[MindenMan]

It is always okay to add water to bring your OG back down to where it should be, otherwise your FG will likely be too high also and give you a too-sweet beer when you are done.

 

[dyqik]

And don't worry about infection from bottled water, or even tap water if it's chlorinated (but do dechlorinate before using).

 

[glugglug]

It all boils down to (no pun intended), you need more liquid. Keep in mind that this will change how the beer tastes, so you may need to adjust other things like grains.