How did I do it ?

[ReaseB]

I brewed last night and I am still trying to figure out how I managed to get a 1.072 O.G. reading from the ingredients I used. I mashed 1 lb. of Dingmans Aromatic & 1/2 lb. of crystal @ 152 degrees for 1 hour. To that I added 6 lbs. of M&F Light Dry Extract. I boiled 2.5 gallons for 1 hour and added it to 2.5 gallons of cold water. the temperature at the reading was 78 degrees. I used a couple of online recipe calculators and everything I have seen says that gravity should have been around the 1.060 I was shooting for.
This is problematic because now my hops are probably out of whack.

Anyone have any thoughts on this ?

[Thirsty Mallard]

Are you sure your hydrometer is calibrated correctly?

[ReaseB]

yes, it is. I checked it with two different hydrometers.

[Bugeater]

Sounds like you didn't get the wort and the top off water as thoroly mixed as you thought. It takes at least twice as much stirring as you think should be sufficient.

Wayne
Bugeater Brewing Company

[BrotherhoodBrew]

also if you boiled 2.5 gal and added 2.5 gal then you would be short of 5 gal due to evaporation loss. So I guess another question would be if you actually have 5 gal of wort

[ReaseB]

I posted this same question on the B3 forum and basically the consensus was that I should have boiled the entire 5 gallons rather than 2.5. Appearantly, even though the total fermenter volume was indeed 5 gallons, it was not completely blended. I had poured the hot wort into the fermenter containing 2.5 gallons of Cold water. Essentially, I got a "heavy" sample from the fermenter due to stratification. Also, I was informed that by boiling the entire wort, the overall beer would be better.

Thanks for the responses, I learned something new.

Rease

[Thirsty Mallard]

And isn't that what it is all about! Good luck in future brews!

[Speyedr]

ummmm....I thought it was all about getting drunk...