What The Bloody Hell Happened?

[Dave86]

I used the long weekend to brew a simple extract pale ale using a shedload of NZ hops and somehow ended up with a very different wort than planned :blink:

6kg pale DME and 228g of hops should have given me a 50L of 1.045 wort at ~23 IBU. Some how my OG ended up at 1.072 <_< My only guess is that the bags of DME, which should have contained 3kg DME each, contained substantially more!

The main problem is that this beer only comes in at 18 IBU, so now I need to fix it!

If I make a weak, bitter brew to cut this one, I figure I should still end up with a (hopefully) drinkable pale ale.

Diluted to 80L, this beer would give 11 IBU and OG 1.043. I basically want to add about another 15 IBU and minimal gravity points.

As I see it, I need to brew 32L of beer at minimal gravity with 35 IBU. I was thinking of using a coopers IPA kit to do this. I figure it giving just about the right amount of bitterness for this volume.

Anyone see any problems with this?

Cheers in advance

 

[mwd]

Did you weigh the DME ?

Not mixed properly denser at the bottom ?

 

[Ross]

Are you sure your OG is 1072? It's easy to get a bit of poorly mixed DME in the tap. Try flushing out & measuring again, or get a sample from the top of the fermenter. It's unlikely you wouldn't have spotted the difference in size of pack & what were you charged for, 3kg or 5kg packs, again unlikely the store would have wrongly packed?

cheers Ross

Edit: Spelling

 

[Dave86]

I didn't weight the DME, there was supposed to be 3kg in each bag, probably should have. It should have been thoroughly dissolved I did a 35L boil with all the DME and topped it up afterward. It also had to chill overnight in the fermenting fridge to pitching temp, so the dilution should've been complete. (took two hydro readings to double check!)

Edit: Just thought to check my hydrometer, it still shows tap water as 1.000

 

[Ross]

I'd still be siphoning out a sample from the top & checking that before trying to adjust. Otherwise dilution will work fine.

cheers Ross

 

[Dave86]

Bit late for that, got a healthy 1272 krausen munching away on it

I think I'll just have a taste in a weeks time and go from there.

Cheers fellas

 

[Scruffy]

hey, what's wrong with 1070?

 

[Ross]

Bit late for that, got a healthy 1272 krausen munching away on it

I think I'll just have a taste in a weeks time and go from there.

Cheers fellas

Run a fair sample out the tap into a sanitary vessel & pour back in the top, then recheck your gravity from the tap, I'm guessing it wont indicate the high OG you got originally - If it it does, then taste & possible blending is the answer - i just did exactly the same to rescue a beer that was too low in alc & extemely bitter, now have 2 kegs that are drinking beautifully.

cheers Ross

 

[Weizguy]

it would be good if U could borrow a refractometer.

Then, when the beer is done, you could measure the f.g. with your hydrometer and take a refractometer reading.

Anyone here who has a copy of Beersmith can use those readings to confirm alc % and O.G., believe it or not...

Hope this helps.

Les out

*edit - spelling*

 

[Dave86]

Ok, took another hydro sample, sitting at about 1.042, with a decent amount of co2 already in the beer. I did forget to mention I pitched my starter yesterday morning before work, so its had a good 36 hours to chew through that. 30 points sound about right for that time?

Edit: Quick taste is promising to be nicely bittered, even if the gravity is high! Smells amazing too, over 200g of southern cross, d saaz, nelson sauvin and b saaz in the last 15 minutes :icon_drool2:

 

[Ross]

highly unlikely it's dropped 30 points from a pitching 36 hours ago, gravity wouldn't have even stated to drop for at least 24 hours. Looks like you'll have to rely on taste when it's finished to be sure - It's never too late to brew another batch to blend, or you could just dilute & add a little Isohop as required - good luck

cheers Ross

 

[Dave86]

Cheers Ross

Thats the exact sort of info I needed, if its unlikely to have dropped that far in 36 hours and going off the taste, I'd say I'm right on track to what I was after in the first place.

Thanks again

Dave

 

[Leigh]

Had this happen to me once...thought I'd brewed a 9% beer, but it didn't knock the sox off LOL

Dissolving is not the issue, it's a mixing thing...what I did (and it sounds like you as well) is when I diluted the initial wort that had been boiled, I didn't pay enough attention to mixing the wort with the water...so you get concentrated wort at the bottom of the fermenter and dilute wort at the top.

I have learnt the lesson and now stir like crazy after every 5 L water addition to ensure a thourough mix!