Low OG on Double IPA

[McLovin]

So there I was this morning, all excited to try my first double IPA...dry hopping and all, it's gonna be great! I have my extract kit in hand and start my boil off with 4 gallons of Chicago Heights tap water (CL-0.6, pH-7.4, ALK-108). I have had some problems with low OG in the past, but I started experimenting with my last batch by adding an extra pound of DME to the boil and that seemed to bring my gravity up to an acceptable level.

Well, after steeping and boiling for an hour, with 5 different additions of hops throughout. My OG is is only at 1.053 and the recipe calls for it to be 1.070-1.074. I added the 9.3 pounds of LME, plus the extra pound of DME. At the end of my boil, I had a considerable amount of sludge in the bottom of the pot, so I wasn't able to get all the wort out of the pot, nothing new there....but I did seem to have to add a lot of extra tap water to bring myself back up to that five gallon mark (somewhere around 2 gallons). The recipe that came with the extract kit says you can start with as little as 1.5 to 2 gallons of water and I started with double that.

This has been a consistent problem for me and I'm trying to figure out where I am making the mistake. The last batch was a Irish Red Ale that called for an OG of 1.042-1.046 and I was at 1.044 the FG was to be 1.010-1.012 and I finished at 1.016. the problem with that batch though, was that it was very cloudy from the get go and never cleared up. After kegging and carbonation, it was still cloudy and had a very astringent/acrid taste. Perhaps it got infected?

If anyone has any ideas on what I can do, or if you need more information about what I've been doing up to this point so you can help me out, please let me know. This is only my 8th batch this year and I've been brewing for about 2 years. I'm still learning and want to get this figured out so I can produce some great beer.

Thanks in advance,
Chris

[Evan B]

Mayhaps try a new hydrometer and compare the readings?

[McLovin]

I did purchase a new hydrometer a while ago, thinking that may have been my problem all along. I have the regular glass style with the gravity, balling and ABV readings and a weight on the bottom. Both of the ones I have seem to read about the same, although I didn't actually use both of them this morning, just the newer one. Thanks.

[brewinhard]

Not all is lost. As a quick fix for this beer you could always boil up some corn sugar (say 1#) in a little water, cool it, and add it to the fermenter. That should at least get you up into the low 1060's. Sugar in a double IPA is definitely acceptable as you are not looking for a super malty beer in this style. If you don't mind spending some more money, you could also buy another pound of light DME and boil that up and add it to the fermenter as well. With those two additions you should be closer to 1070 than before. Depending how much room (headspace) there is in the fermenter, then I probably wouldn't add both additoins at the same time for fear of a huge fermentation mess. I would probably add the pound of DME first, then as fermentation slows, add the pound of corn sugar. You are definitely going to have to be cautious with how much water you dissolve the sugars in b/c you don't want to dilute the beer too much as well. Good luck...fix this beer first, then next brewday, try again! You will nail one pretty soon. Don't give up, and keep on brewin.....!!

[BDawg]

It is very hard to fuck up the actual gravity on an extract batch (as opposed to all-grain). What is happening is that you aren't stirring very well after you add the top-up water, and then when you pull your sample to measure the gravity, you are only getting the diluted top half of the wort (wort will stratify heavy on the bottom, light on the top unless you stir it).

Stir the shit out of it next time before you measure. This is a common newbie mistake. Don't worry, you have plenty of goodies in there.

HTH-

[alan_marks]

I have a couple of questions based on what you reported:

1.) Was this a kit IIPA or a recipe that you were following?

2.) How did you check your math for the estimated FG? Promash, brewing spreadsheet / logbook, or kit instructions?

The reason I ask these questions are that I'm not understanding how you were forecasting your final gravity based on how you described your brew session. If you added additional water to achieve your volume then by definition the FG will be lowered.

[McLovin]

First, thanks for the tips.

This was a kit I ordered from Midwest Brew Supply. The only addition I made that wasn't in the kit was the extra pound of DME. The instructions call for the brewer to start with a minimum of 1.5-2 gallons of water for the boil, then to top off to the 5 gallon mark once transferred to the fermenter. The brewing instructions with the kit include approximate OG and FG.

Chris

[McLovin]

As if things couldn't get rougher for me.....while checking the carboy this morning, I found that fermentation still hadn't started and it looks like some of the sanitizer leaked out of the air lock and into the wort. I pulled the air lock and replaced it with another one. I can't see where the leak may have originated from in the one I pulled, but safe to say, it's going in the trash just to be safe. I'm at about 69F on the temp. This has happened to me in the past and I've just moved the carboy into the kitchen for a day and things pick up. It's in the entrance of my crawl space (I live in the mid-west) and the temp holds pretty even there. Am I better off just letting it be and wait it out or should I move it or did leaking sanitizer totally screw me up??