Didn't hit OG

Extract/Partial Mash Brewing
1

I brewed my first batch in 20 years. Kids moved out of the house, have some time (not really), but made time today. Wow, I miss that brew smell! Did it in the garage, mmmmm, mmmmm.

Anyways, used the Mosaic kit. First issue I had was I need a thermometer for steeping the grains. Water got above 170 for a bit. Not too concerned about that. Everything else seemed to go ok. When I racked it into the carboy, took the OG reading it was 1.062. The instructions say it should be 1.070.

Still figuring all this stuff out. Am I right in saying the beer will be a lower abv when finished? Taste will still be good I’m guessing?

Could it be I added too much water?

One thing I’m a little confused about is taking the temperature of the wort to pitch the yeast. Right now, I only have a 5 gallon pot, so I only boiled 3 gallons of wort. I put 2 gallons of water in the carboy, racked the wort in when it was about 80 degrees. The water was in the garage, so it was chilled, about 45 degrees or so. I hope to upgrade to a bigger pot real soon, but in the meantime, any suggestions on the temperature thing? Are the stick on thermometers accurate? If so, do you wait until the wort cools to the right temp to pitch the yeast?

2

Your OG should be as stated with an extract kit, unless you didn’t get some of the fermentables in there. Probably not mixed well enough with the top off water, and your OG is fine. As for whento pitch yeast, I usually cool the wort to 65-70, add cold water (45-50) until it reaches 5gl at around 58-60 then I pitch. I try to get the wort to my preferred ferm temp when I pitch.

3

DrGonzo,
thanks for the reply. When you say you like to get your wort to the fermenting temp, how are you reading the temp? Stick on thermometer on the carboy?

4

Stick on thermometers are pretty accurate. That’s what I use. And yes, pitch the yeast when the wort is at or up to a couple degrees below fermentation temperature - not above.

5

I use a food grade termopen (sanitized of course). I also have a temp strip on each of my carboys to monitor the temp as it ferments because active fermentation will produce some heat. I’ve heard that it can increase temp up to 5 degrees.