Hello all! Just finished brewing my first 1 gallon small batch of Irish Red Ale. I noticed on the website that on the 5 gallon recipe kit the OG was 1044. Mine was 1067 (this is only my 2nd batch to brew and first with taking a reading) and I’m wondering if that means i screwed up something? Thanks for the input!
Was this an all grain recipe or an extract recipe? An extract recipe will always hit the OG of the recipe unless all the fermentables were not used or the volume in the fermentor is incorrect. Less than the recipe volume would result in a higher SG. Not using all the fermentables would result in a lower SG. It can also be a measurement error.
Some more information would help. Was a hydrometer or refractometer used for the SG?
Did you follow the instructions. Could be to less water. And you had a bigger boil of. But you know go with it. Take after. Active fermenting a reading with your hydrometer or refrectometer. See what is going on. Could be as well. You took a wrong og reading. Or your. Hydro or refracto meter not calibrated. Right. But the more you do brew. The more. You become familiar on how to adjust your brew and you be searching to the holy grail of beer brewing. Any way. Have fun and brew lots
Thank y’all for the insight. It was an extract recipe and my boil might have gone a little too long (had a hard time getting to a rolling boil with my stove) I also could have some issue with the hydrometer I used just not being familiar with it yet. I also looked back at the website and that OG of 1044 was for a 5 gallon recipe, on the small batch kit it doesn’t list an OG. I’m gonna go with it and learn!!
Do you have one gallon in the fermentor? Depending upon when you pitched the yeast it may not be too late to top off with boiled, cooled (to fermentor temperature), and aerated water.
You do not need to apply so much heat to the boil kettle to create mini volcanoes to have a boil. Excess heat will just cause the extract to become darker in the finished wort. Boiling is by temperature. 212°F is boiling at seal level. Boil temperature is 1°F less for every 500 feet above sea level. My boil temperature at approximately 1485 feet is 209.5°F.
When you go to 5 gallon recipes we can talk about late extract addition to keep the wort a lighter color.
Now comes the patience part of brewing a good beer. It’s easy though. The yeast are doing all the work now. They just need the right temperature and time to finish the job.
Welcome to the forum.
Here is a link to John Palmer’s previous “How To Brew” edition on using a hydrometer. New edition will be a very good investment.
http://howtobrew.com/book/appendices/appendix-a/using-hydrometers
Thanks, yea it’s in the fermenter and I have it hovering between 60 and 63 degrees. The sit and wait game has begun! Thanks for the link I will get to reading!
What temp was the wort when you took your post boil reading? There is a temp correction factor involved. If you did not account for that you may have actually hit your target.
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Refractometer readings need to be corrected to account for the alcohol in fermenting beer.
Here’s a link to why and how to correct your readings: Expert Knowledge Base
You might check to confirm that the fermentables supplied matched the recipe. I once made an Irish red extract from a kit that was way high on OG. I later realized that NB sent me too much extract and I didn’t notice. It was still a good beer.
