What the hell happened?!?!

[Pivot]

Okay so I was brewing a beer with a projected gravity of 1.092. It was almost all extracts with some steeping grains and I used beercalculus.com to calculate how much extract I would need for this gravity. I added the entire amount of extract to the beer, and for some reason my gravity only came out to 1.052!! How could that possibly have happened?! How could I be off thisssssssss much with extract?

 

[mixmasterob]

Getting the wrong gravity when using extract is physically impossible. Chances are your sample wasn't sufficiently mixed. You should be in good shape.

 

[demonrichie]

whered you take the reading from? if its not totally mixed some spots may be lower

 

[northernlad]

How much extract did you use? LME or DME?
Answer this you will before help you can have.

 

[demonrichie]

How much extract did you use? LME or DME?
Answer this you will before help you can have.

i think lme is 'watered down' a bit so you have to adjust for it. it could be the changing factor but either way itll still be beer

 

[Pivot]

In extract alone I had about 4.5 kg, which according to beercalculus.com should have brought me to 1.072. I had another pound or so of cane sugar on top of that and 750g in steeping grain

 

[northernlad]

i think lme is 'watered down' a bit so you have to adjust for it. it could be the changing factor but either way itll still be beer

I know the difference between the two.

 

[Pivot]

oh and it was 4.5 kgs of LME

 

[demonrichie]

I know the difference between the two.

i was expanding on your point for pivot. also it sounds like he calculated it out right so it probably was a mixing issue.

 

[Pivot]

Its fermented now out to 1.016, which means there is no way now for me to determine how much actual sugar was in solution at the beginning, but does this FG sound like it was at 1.092, or 1.052 when it started? either way im sure it will be alright, and you guys are probsbly right that its a mixing issue, but it just blew me away when i took that initial reading

 

[demonrichie]

did you pitch before posting op?

 

[Pivot]

haha yeah, this was about a week ago this happened, and I kept meaning to ask you guys what yyou thought happened but I never got around to it until I remembered about it.

 

[demonrichie]

it could be either a strong fermentation could have brought it to 1.012 from either og.

 

[bfeucht]

I'd say go for the couple beers test. If you can have a couple pints and not slur it was 1.054 if you slur you had a 1.092

Sounds like a simple idea.

 

[demonrichie]

I'd say go for the couple beers test. If you can have a couple pints and not slur it was 1.054 if you slur you had a 1.092

Sounds like a simple idea.

very scientific lol. id be happy to volunteer as guinea pig

 

[Pivot]

haha this is exactly what im going to do when its ready. Although my test will be more like, I will drink 3 litres of it, and if im slurring I know its 1.052, if Im falling over then its 1.092.
its good to because either way I HAVE to leave the beer in the primary for about 3 months because im going away. so if its actually 1.092, then it will have lots of time to condition and improve. if its 1.052 then 3 months cant really hurt

 

[Mooseknuckle2000]

yeah, it sounds like a mixing issue to me. Where are you going that you'll be away for 3 months? I hope you can bring some homebrew with you. Oh, and btw Pivot, your avatar is awesome!

 

[Pivot]

yeah, it sounds like a mixing issue to me. Where are you going that you'll be away for 3 months? I hope you can bring some homebrew with you. Oh, and btw Pivot, your avatar is awesome!

I go to school in Fredericton, New Brunswick, but I come from and live in Toronto, Ontario. I just finished up school for the year until september so Im heading back home. Figured Id brew up a few beer and just let them age while Im gone.

And when i go back home Im going to be teaching my older brother to homebrew too so its not a problem haha. I should still have homebrew!, just have to wait a few weeks to start before we start pumping it out.

And yes Im quite fond of my avatar as well hahaha

 

[Mooseknuckle2000]

lol, God bless the universities! I'm thinking I need to teach my brother how to homebrew too. Then he might not mooch mine as much (not likely though). Hope your brew turns out, and here's to your avatar cheers!

 

[david_42]

5 or 6 gal? Imperial or standard? For a 5 gal US batch, your OG would have been 1.080. For 6 gal. Imperial 1.053.

 

[Pivot]

It was 5 US gallons