To fix or not to fix....

The problem with dark DME is that nobody knows what's in it. I would probably leave well enough alone.

Not knowing your recipe and process, I dunno. But you could enter them in BrewCipher and get a prediction, based on your grain bill, mash temp, mash length, and yeast strain.

 

I've never added DME post boil but you've got a pretty big spread. My experience with 002 is to expect medium attenuation only, which will work in your favor here.

My calculator with my efficiency predicted 1.064 . . . my OG hit 1.068. Using the same grain bill published by Stone my FG hit the exact mark: 1.018. My mash temp was 154, fermented with 1056 at 65°. IMO 1.018 isn't too high, I thought it tasted great, exactly to style. I entered in a BJCP competition and both judges rated it as a medium-light body. A real shame both judges got it wrong . The only change I did to their recipe was to add 5 oz of peated malt (vice 4) because secretly I've always wanted to be a fireman. BTW, this brew favors faster drinking . . . don't dawdle too long with the beans . . .

 

Check your thermometer calibration. I had an issue with mine that was absolutely destroying my efficiency (and certainly not helping the finished product).

 

how far off was it, and which direction?

Ironically, despite having FOUR thermometers now, the cheep one that came as part of the turkey fryer kit is still the one I use most often, and it does a bang-up job.

 

It was about 15 degrees high. It was the cheap one I bought from Northern Brewer when I started. Upon discovery of said discrepancy I bought a ThermaWorks. Not the ThermaPen, the $20 one. We've been very happy together.

 

wow, 15 degrees is huge. this illustrates both the need for more than one thermometer, and the fact that sometimes a cheep thermometer is equally as useful as an expensive one.

I have the turkey fryer thermometer, which works great and gets used most often because of how it clips to the side of the pot, which makes it most useful. I have two stainless screw-in keg type thermometers which I got cheep because I think they were mis-marked (19$ each, I've seen them for as much as $40). And a small electronic thermometer. The thing is they all match temperatures pretty close (within a degree or so), which allows me considerable confidence. It's worth it for all (esp. noobs) to have more than one thermometer, to check them for calibration* periodically, and to make sure they offer similar readings to each other. If you only have one thermometer you could have a serious problem if your batteries die or if you lose it. Actually I found the turkey fryer** thermometer when the batteries died on my electronic one. I was amazed that it worked so well, and even more amazed it's worked that well for several years now and has maintained its accuracy too.

*easy calibration, check what temperature boiling water shows, and (if it goes to freezing) check what temperature a glass of ice water shows. Should be 212F/100C boiling and 32F/0C freezing. I suppose not every thermometer has a calibration mechanism, but good ones should have some sort of adjustment screw. Obviously if yours shows 218F boiling and 38F freezing, you adjust it down. If yours doesn't show freezing, that's not the end of the world (my turkey fryer one doesn't show that low). What matters most is that it's close at around mashing temperatures (and that it matches your other thermometers). Boiling is boiling, you don't need a thermometer for that. Mashing is important because the range of proper temps is pretty narrow. Yeast pitching is important, but not as much as mashing (however, you wouldn't want your thermometer 10 degrees high at 70F, obviously).

**note on turkey fryers - I got mine for $50 the day after thanksgiving at home depot. I highly recommend them. However, they aren't perfect. Always turn on the gas first, then the regulator, then turn the regulator off, then the gas. Don't kill the fire by turning off the gas at the bottle or the regulator might get stuck. Turkey fryer regulators are made cheaply and are not especially reliable (they can be replaced tho). Ironically, my new turkey fryer blew the regulator within a few weeks, but a friend found an old turkey fryer in the woods that had been there forever, and that one still works like a champ. There's also no guarantee your thermometer will work as well as the one I got, so don't assume it will. Always check it. Also, boil some water with the lid on in your pot when you first get it, or if you for some reason scrub the shit out of it cleaning it (you gotta season your pots). Finally, the one thing I don't recommend you do with a turkey fryer is FRY TURKEYS.

 

I have a cheap (10 bucks) old fashioned lab quality thermometer that I periodically use to confirm the mash temperature that my digital thermometer is reading. The old fashioned red alcohol thermometers are not quick reading but they are accurate. So far my digital thermometer has been reading within plus/minus 1 degree from the lab thermometer.

What is the old carpentry saying: measure twice and cut once.

Cheers!

 

Yeah, I since re-calibrated it against the ThermoWorks one and have it on backup. Not an experience I'd want to relive.

 

A saying that every carpenter has learned the hard way at least once. Usually when they cut the last 12' 2x8 a quarter inch short while the grumpy homeowner is watching intently and the nearest lumber yard is 75 miles away...