Brewing Master

Question:

Another problem could be how well you have the wort mixed in with the cold tap water in the carboy.  If you don’t get a good mix then your gravity could be off by decades depending on where you picked up the sample.  Give the carboy a good healthy shake before taking the reading to insure that you have a nice even mix.                                                         -Bob

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I brewed a stout today which consisted of 13 lbs of malt extract.  The

recipe said that the initial specific gravity should be between 1.070-1.080.  Unfortunately,

mine came up to 1.045.  I have lately been having a lot of problems getting that higher specific gravity with other batches of beer. If anyone could help me with the problem or have any suggestions/tips to help my brewing technique, I would greatly appreciate it.  Thanks in advance. Roland

First: are you using syrups or dry? The yield of 13 lbs of DME in 10 gal H2O is expected to be about 1.060. The yield of an equivalent weight of syrup is only about 1.051. (I’m assuming you’re brewing a 10 gallon batch as 13 lbs in 5 gal would yield over 100 points!) If you are using syrups, 1.045 is not unreasonable due to the variability in the water content of liquid extracts; but the yield of the recipe is unrealistic. Second, a ‘tip list’: o Remove the boiling water from the heat before adding extracts. This   prevents loss of SG through caramelization and burning to the pot. o Add DME from a container other than a plastic bag. Steam will rather   quickly cause your extract to stick to the bag. In fact, adding it from   a bowl in which it has been mixed with cool water is ideal. Be sure you   haven’t left any clumps. o If adding DME dry, pour it in slowly and gently so that you don’t   clump. o Regardless of the form of your extract, stir it off the bottom before   returning to the heat (GENTLY! Vigorous stirring will aerate your wort.   Not a good thing at this stage!) COntinue stirring until a vigorous   boil is reached. This prevents burning and caramelization of the   sugars. o Subject all recipes to a ‘reasonableness check’ before worrying about   the SG. I use ~46 pts*lbs/gallons for DME, ~40 pts*lbs/gallons for LME.   Calculate your expected gravitybefore brewing. o Take a sample prior to chilling, cool it, and measure the SG. If it’s   less than you want, add more extract (using the above relationship) and   continue the boil. Hope it helps! — Pat Babcock                 | "Drink all you want – I’ll brew more!" President, Brew-Master      |   and Chief Taste-Tester      | "Let a good beer be the exclamation point Drinkur Purdee pico Brewery |  at the end of your day as every sentence SYSOP on The HomeBrew University – Motor City Campus BBS (313)397-9758

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If you live in Denver area please read on… We have several older(3 to 8 months old) Wyeast smak-packs that have become to old to sell at our shop. Rather than throwing them away, we would like to give them to brewers in the denver area. These yeasts have been under refridgeration since new. Older Wyeast will take several days to a week to raise, but I have used them in the past with good results. Here is what we have… Lagers – Pilsen, American, Danish, Kolsh, Bavarian, Czeh. Pils and Munich Others – London ESB, Belgain Abby, Brett. Bruxellensis, Belgain White beer. If you are interested, come to Rocky Mountain Homebrew                                 7292 N. Federal Blvd.                                 Westminster, CO — Rocky Mountain HOMEBREW http://www2.csn.org/~vsabbe/rmh_beer_page.html

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: Did you adjust for temperature?  When they say 1.070-1.080, they probably : mean at 60F which is what the hydrometer is calibrated to.  If you took : a measurement at 80 or so, it would have the effect of lowering the : reading somewhat. Yes, but at 80F the correction would only be .002.  For a 20 point error he’d have to have taken the reading at something like 150F or more.

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Bob is dead on, the wort was not mixed up when you pulled a sample of the watery upper layer of wort.  Swirl well before pulling sample

Response:

I brewed a stout today which consisted of 13 lbs of malt extract.  The recipe said that the initial specific gravity should be between 1.070-1.080.  Unfortunately, mine came up to 1.045.  I have lately been having a lot of problems getting that higher specific gravity with other batches of beer. If anyone could help me with the problem or have any suggestions/tips to help my brewing technique, I would greatly appreciate it.  Thanks in advance. Roland

Response:

I brewed a stout today which consisted of 13 lbs of malt extract.  The recipe said that the initial specific gravity should be between 1.070-1.080.  Unfortunately, mine came up to 1.045.  I have lately been having a lot of problems getting that higher specific gravity with other batches of beer.

Suspect your hydrometer. Do a simple test. Fill the test jar with tap water. The hydrometer should read 1.000 or very close to that. If you want to test at the other end dissolve one pound of table sugar in enough water to make up one gallon (or a half pound in a half gallon, etc). Cool a small part of this and check its gravity. It should be close to 1.046. AJ

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| I brewed a stout today which consisted of 13 lbs of malt extract.  The recipe said that the | initial specific gravity should be between 1.070-1.080.  Unfortunately, mine came up to 1.045.  I | have lately been having a lot of problems getting that higher specific gravity with other | batches of beer. Did you adjust for temperature?  When they say 1.070-1.080, they probably mean at 60F which is what the hydrometer is calibrated to.  If you took a measurement at 80 or so, it would have the effect of lowering the reading somewhat. — IBM Microelectronics Burlington, VT                          Phone: (802) 769-7104 (tie 446)

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: I brewed a stout today which consisted of 13 lbs of malt extract.  The recipe said that the : initial specific gravity should be between 1.070-1.080.  Unfortunately, mine came up to 1.045.  I : have lately been having a lot of problems getting that higher specific gravity with other : batches of beer. What temprature are you taking the reading at.  My hydrometer is calibrated for about 68 degrees F.  My local mentor says that at tempratures higher than that the hydrometer will read lower.  The higher the temprature, the lower the reading. — Carl Stevens                           _                Long EZ N223MM

Response:

I brewed a stout today which consisted of 13 lbs of malt extract. The recipe said that the initial specific gravity should be between 1.070-1.080.  Unfortunately, mine came up to 1.045.  I have lately been having a lot of problems getting that higher specific gravity with other batches of beer.

I have to assume your brew length is correct for the recipe, IOW, you’re not adding too much water.  If you are adding too much water, stop it! Suspect your hydrometer.  Try making the same measurements with a friend’s hydrometer, and get a new one if yours is bad.  That 13lbs of extract had to go somewhere, and I bet it didn’t boil away!

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