I just finished brewing my 3rd extract kit, the 1st kit I didn’t have a hydrometer and my second was right on the OG. For this kit the recipe specified a OG of 1.050. I got an OG of 1.036 at 61 degrees. The only deviation I made from the directions is that I misread and put 2.5 gallons of water in the pot to initially boil then steep the grains. After the steeping the recipe called to add another gallon so I only added 1/2 gallon to make up for the extra half gallon I started with. Another thing I did different was to boil without a lid, Both my other kits I used the lid half on in order to reach boiling temps faster since I’m using the gas stove in the kitchen because its still too cold to use my burner outside. This time I left the lid off and it took quite a while to get it to boil. Would any of these variables cause the low OG? is there anything I should or could do to fix it? Will it still turn out ok? I’m more worried about taste than ABV.
First off leave the lid on while reaching boil. No harm there. You do want it off, or at least half way off, during your 60 minute boil to allow for DME and other unwantables to escape as vapors.
Secondly the amount you start with doesn’t matter. It’s what you end with that matters. Do you have your fermenters marked at 5 gallons so you know what to top off to? If not you should do that then you don’t even need to measure, just add water to that level.
If you are at your five gallons your low gravity could be attributed to poor mixing of the wort and top off water yielding a lower gravity reading. If not mixed properly the lighter water can stratify a bit on top leaving a lot of the sugary wort below. If this is the case you could be at 1.050 with a false reading.
If you are really at 1.036 it will still be beer. Just low alcohol beer which isn’t the worst thing in the world.
I do have my carboy marked at 5 gallons, this particular recipe said to top it off to 5 and 1/4 gallons, so I filled it to the line and added another 32 ounces. I was thinking today that I may not have mixed it well after topping it off, I shook it for about two minutes but it didn't seem like it was doing much mixing because the carboy was so full. If this was the case and I didn't mix it well enough, will it all settle out during fermentation? On the bright side, in 8 hrs it was bubbling away like a champ.
You don’t boil off any sugar so if you hit your ending volumes with extract you should hit your gravity targets. Probably not mixing well is the problem but everything will mix up and ferment in the next week or so. Another thing you should try is to make sure your hydrometer is reading correctly. In room temp water it should read right around 1.000.
[quote=“RobnCO”]Thanks again, I’ll test the hydrometer but I’m pretty sure you are right about me not mixing it well enough.
Rob[/quote]
Yep, I agree… I’ve made the same mistake, stood there and scratched my head for a few seconds, and it dawned on me that I probably didn’t mix it well enough before taking the hydrometer reading. Mixed her up, took the reading, and I’ll be damned. The OG came up to right where it should have been :oops:
