Didn't hit gravity for DIPA. 1.063. Should I add sugar?

You could do it, and yes there are online calculators out there that could provide you with the amount of sugar you would need, but honestly I wouldn't do it. I would finish the beer, dry hop if you were planning to do so, and see what you get. You might be pretty happy with it without adding a lot of sugar just to meet a gravity target.

I don't know for sure, but I suspect it would take enough sugar that you would lose body and possibly negatively affect the malt flavor.

 

I agree with the above post. Leave it alone and call it an IPA. Adding sugar at this point has more potential risk than reward.

 

I agree. Leave it alone.

BTW, adding sugar won't dry out the beer. It will lower the FG slightly, but you won't have less residual sugars in the beer (which is what dry really means). Having said that, it would be drier than an all malt beer of similar equivalent OG. (Total OG, including the contribution of the sugar addition.)

 

Did you follow your intended hopping schedule, in spite of the reduced OG? If so, I understand the sentiments of the posters above, but it may end up being way too bitter. That said, straight sugar is extremely fermentable and may not give you the needed balance either, and can cause some off-flavors and fermentation issues if it's accounting for too much of your fermentables. You might consider adding malt extract to bump up the OG to avoid some of these issues.

 

Just because all these guys and myself wouldn't personally add sugar, doesn't mean you can't do it. If you want 7.5% alcohol, a pound of cane sugar will get you there. I'd boil it for 10 minutes in a quart of water, cool and add it in there. Go for it, if that's what you want. Nothing wrong with jacking up your alcohol if that's what you wanted. The sugar is 100% fermentable, so your final gravity will end up the same as it would have been without the sugar, but with an extra percent ABV.

 

It's 100% fermentable from a real attenuation standpoint. From an apparent attenuation standpoint, it measures as if it's about 122% fermentable. (Which I why I mentioned that it will actually lower the FG.)

 

If you post your original recipe, you could get more informed opinions.

 

You may be right. I've never heard the specific number of 122% before, but I believe it, based on what I know about physical science (B.S. Chemical Engineering, yadda yadda).

 

I'll be the one to say "just do it". I routinely add sugar to IIPAs . . . usually it's planned, but occasionally I miss my mark just as you did. As mentioned: boil, cool, and dump in your fermenter before the yeast go dormant (ideally after high krausen) and treat sanitation as if your beer's life depended on it. I'm comfortable adding sugar in the 5-10% fermentable range. Some brewers-of-the-cloth will double this.

You're probably going to end up with a lower FG than anticipated, but that's not a disaster for a strong IPA. I would use a robust DH schedule to partially mask this error.

Assuming you're using software for your recipe, you should be taking careful notes of all your parameters. Your efficiency is off a bit which you really want to work into your next brew. Of course you are somewhat hostage to how your supplier crushes the grain . . . but such is the joy of brewing.

 

Was this a kit? What temp did you take your gravity reading at?

 

I would probably leave it alone but you could add some sugar. I would use cane sugar nothing wrong with that.

Some odd numbers and assertions being thrown around here.

 

I use more hops in my pale ales. Never used sugar but if you already used sugar and then add more sugar seems like that could kill the body. I would let that beer ride.

 

Did you run that recipe through any type of software to confirm the data is right?

My 2 cents is just round numbers up. I always do increments of .25 with hops. Also, for any hoppy beer at a minimum I do .75 ozs per gallon and usually 1 oz per gallon. If brewing a dipa and want it hoppy seems like you should have 5 - 6 ozs. That recipe doesn't even have 4 ozs.

Sorry to slam the recipe but why are you dry hopping 1 day apart? And 2 days, 3 days? Does that mean 2 days from when fermentation begins or let the hops sit for 2 days?

 

A solid amount for dry hopping is .75 ounces per gallon. For IPAs I tend to use 1 ounce per gallon. Since I keg I do 3 ounces at the end fermentation then add two more ounces in the keg and let sit for 2 days before dropping the temp. If I were to bottle I would just do a full 5 ounces at the very last of fermentation and let sit for 5 - 7 days.

I ran the data though the software I use brewchiper, thanks to @VikeMan, and the OG reads 1.069 with 5 gallons into the fermenter. If you have more wort than the gravity would be lower. So, you're not really that far off.

The numbers might vary but the Ibus are damn high. I am not used to adding so many hops that early in the boil so that is On target for the style. I prefer more hops but later in the boil, but that's a personal preference.