Problem with hitting og on a experimental beer

Discussion in 'Homebrewing' started by angelmonster, Aug 6, 2016.

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  1. angelmonster

    angelmonster Initiate (0) Apr 3, 2008 Colorado

    Tried brewing a new beer yesterday, was shooting for a mix between Unibroue Ephemere, Wasatch apple ale, and a Dry hopped cider. Plugged in my ingredients on beertools.com and I was supposed to hit og of 1.040 and final abv of around 4%. My og after brewing yesterday was 1.031. This was my ingredient list

    3.15 lb pilsen lme
    1 lb kolsch malt
    1 lb white wheat
    .5lb flaked oats
    1 oz cascade hops
    White labs kolsch yeast

    Boiled 5 gallons of water and after sparging and boil off my final volume was around 4.5 gallons. Im gonna add 1 gallon of apple juice in secondary and dry hop, will that boost my abv? Should I add more yeast at secondary? Is there anything I can do to boost alcohol? Thanks
     
    #1 angelmonster, Aug 6, 2016
  2. wspscott

    wspscott Pooh-Bah (1,958) May 25, 2006 Kentucky
    Pooh-Bah

    I think we need more details of your process. What did you do with the grains? Steep them in 5 gallons? Add them to boiling water?

    The sugar in the apple juice will ferment out and increase the ABV, how much depends on the amount of sugar in the juice. You could add more juice or just plain sugar, but that is probably throwing money down the drain.

    Have you read howtobrew.com?
     
    #2 wspscott, Aug 7, 2016
  3. angelmonster

    angelmonster Initiate (0) Apr 3, 2008 Colorado

    Sorry, I threw that post together on my work break yesterday. Steeped grains in 5 gallons of water, took bout 45 minutes to reach boiling, pulled grain bag out just before boiling. Got a good krausen started, haven't bought Apple juice yet, will prolly get some unpasteurized tart apple juice. Haven't read howtobrew but have read the complete joy of homebrewing
     
    #3 angelmonster, Aug 7, 2016
  4. VikeMan

    VikeMan Grand Pooh-Bah (3,067) Jul 12, 2009 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah

    The grains you steeped should have been mashed, i.e. steeped under mash conditions. When they were below the mash temperature range, the enzymes from the base malts would not have been very active, and when they got above it, they started to denature, causing incomplete conversion. So your low OG isn't surprising. My advice would be to read up on "partial mash" or "mini mash."

    Also, even when doing a basic steep of specialty grains, you really shouldn't leave the grains in the wort once the temperature gets above 170F or so. It can cause extraction of tannins, producing astringency.
     
    #4 VikeMan, Aug 7, 2016
    PapaGoose03 and angelmonster like this.
  5. angelmonster

    angelmonster Initiate (0) Apr 3, 2008 Colorado

    Thanks, this was my first time attempting a partial mash
     
    #5 angelmonster, Aug 7, 2016
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