This evening I’ve been brewing Patersbier. Taking the original gravity reading and accounting for temperature it looks like my OG is only about 1.039 instead of 1.047.
I haven’t pitched the yeast yet.
How bad is this problem and is there any way to correct this? If the only problem is lower ABV I’m okay with that.
Thank you for any advice.
Bill
was this an extract beer? did you top off the volume with water? if so, sometimes its not mixed well enough and you can get a false reading. if not, it will be lower abv which will also affect the flavor a little. but nothing is wrong with that, it will just be different. it will still be beer and i’m sure it will still be good
Agreed with Scoggin, if it is extract and you have correct volumes (5 gallons) then you probably have a bad mix and your OG is 1.047 pitch and you will get a great mix from the fermentation.
If it is an all grain then you missed a little and would have to look at things like crush and boil times and boil volumes. If ABV is not a concern go ahead and pitch, you will more than likely end up with great beer.
Yes, it’s an NB extract kit. I thought that I had mixed the additional water well but just sloshing the carboy around, who knows.
I suspect I may have added a bit too much water but not a lot.
As long as it’s beer when it’s done, how bad can it be?
Anyway, thanks for the advice.
Bill
One thing I noticed in one of my beers with a lower gravity reading was my boiling process. One of my beers were off also and I noticed that it wasn’t a heavy rolling boil. It was a very low boil that I believe now caused a lower gravity. I now make sure that my boil is a good rolling boil. Another thing I dont add all of the dme in the becoming of the boil. I save 3 lbs of dme and add in the last 20 mins. or so of the boil. If you thing you added to much water make sure you pre-measure your bucket or carboy with water and mark it with tape. Even though your bucket may be pre-measured from the factory it can still ne off…
