Took My Specific Gravity Reading Before Dilution

A common issue among commencement extract and partial mash homebrewers is that they undershoot their beer recipe's anticipated original gravity. The original gravity is too depression. This can happen for a number of reasons when beer brewing, but largely because many homebrew kits call for topping off with water to get v gallons of wort, without taking into business relationship how the brew day went. (What if yous spilled some wort or didn't get all the extract out of the can?) This can throw off alcohol content, mouthfeel, IBUs – in short, turning the beer into something it wasn't supposed to be. That'south not to say that information technology won't be completely drinkable – it may well be. But some of us, for better or worse, are perfectionists.
The best time for excerpt brewers to correct for gravity is right afterward the boil. Take a hydrometer reading before pitching the beer yeast to get your bearings. Plug your numbers into a dilution reckoner to see if topping upwardly to five gallons will get you to your target OG. If you recall you'll end up with the original gravity as well low, read the tips below:

1. Double-bank check your OG (original gravity) reading. Did you take the reading at the calibrated temperature for your hydrometer (usually 60˚F or 68˚F)? If non, did you right for temperature using a hydrometer temperature correction figurer? Taking a reading out of the temperature range or declining to right for temperature can throw off your reading past several points.

2. Decide how yous desire to move forward. You lot have a few options here. Do you lot want to just go with what you've got? Do you lot desire a full five gallon batch of beer? If y'all top off the wort to a full 5 gallons, you'll have a lower booze beer than what you expected. If you lot just top off with enough water to hit your target original gravity, y'all'll terminate up with less beer, but at least have the right original gravity and alcohol content. Alternatively, yous can mix in more fermentables in order to meet both your original gravity and your target batch book.

3. To striking your target volume, top off to five gallons. Yous'll accept a slightly weaker beer than intended, just this might exist a worthwhile sacrifice for the sake of more than beer. Trust me, I understand.

4. To striking your target original gravity, top off to less than v gallons. Utilize a dilution calculator to effigy out how much water to add and then that y'all can hit your target gravity. You lot can also do the math by manus pretty easily. For instance, if your three gallons of wort is ane.060 and your intended gravity is 1.040, plug in the numbers and solve for the volume of water (A2):

A1*B1 + A2*B2 = (A1+A2)*(target gravity)

(3 gallons at threescore gravity points) + (A2 gallons at 0 gravity points [water]) = (3 + A2) gallons at 40 gravity points

A2 = 1.5 gallons

5. To hitting your target volume and your target gravity, you can mix in more fermentables. Some may consider this the ultimate way to go when the original gravity is too depression. Using the blending formula higher up, yous tin can effigy out how much additional fermentable ingredients you demand. Mix upwardly a small batch (about one-half to ane gallon) of concentrated wort using DME (dried malt extract), sugar, honey, or molasses. Your fermentable ingredient will depend on your beer recipe and what you have on paw. DME will be the about beer-like, while excessive sugars may cause your beer to over benumb. Dark DME or molasses may alter the color of your beer, so choose wisely. If you can, boil plenty hops in the mini batch to maintain your level of IBUs.

Let's work through an instance.

My target OG was 1.052. Instead, I concluded upwardly with 4.5 gallons at 1.044. This is a much lower than expected original gravity. My measured IBUs (after dilution with water) was thirty. Starting time allow's figure out how much additional fermentable I need in a half-gallon mini-batch to hitting my target OG:

(4.v gallons * 44) + (0.5 gallons * X) = v gallons * 52

X = 124

To get a gravity of 1.124, my half-gallon batch needs nearly 1.48 lbs. of DME, ane.35 lbs. of cane sugar, or one.48 lbs. of honey. (A beer recipe figurer tin can help you figure this out.)

About .3 ounces of a five% alpha acrid hop boiled for thirty minutes will yield well-nigh xxx IBUs in the mini-batch. You lot don't necessarily have to add hops to the mini-batch, but information technology volition go on you from diluting the bitterness of your beer.

Certain, it gets a little complicated. Most of the time when your original gravity is as well low, you may just desire to roll with whatever gravity you become. Here's some tips for striking your original gravity. But in the event that you need to make some adjustments, learning how to execute the above procedures is crucial for dealing with a lower than expected original gravity.
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David Ackley is a beer author, brewer, and self-described "craft beer crusader." He holds a General Certificate in Brewing from the Institute of Brewing and Distilling and is founder and editor of the Local Beer Blog.

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Source: https://blog.homebrewing.org/wort-lower-than-expected-original-gravity/

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