Low OG on Double IPA

[thatguy314]

If you're doing a partial boil with extract, I think leaving all that sludge at the bottom may be what's making your gravities so inconsistent. With a full-boil, you can leave some sludge at the bottom and it won't affect you're OG. With partial mash, you're leaving some very sugar-rich runnings at the bottom. One Quart out of a 2 gallon boil is like 3/4 of a gallon of a 6 gallon recipe (my usual size), and that's assuming it's homogenous (which isn't always true).

Perhaps consider putting everything in the kettle into the carboy and diluting to an appropriate volume. Then wait for all the break/hop sludge to settle (couple hours maybe) then rack to a second carboy before pitching the yeast. If you have good sanitary practice, there shouldn't be a serious risk of contamination (though I wouldn't if you worry about your sanitation).

Of course the best option would be to go to a full boil. You can get a 7-8 gallon pot for ~50 bucks for a stamped stainless steel kettle. Less for aluminum. It's basically the cost of one batch of beer (or ~12 of the extra pounds of DME that you're putting into your beers already)

You may also wish to consider switching to 5.5 gallon or 6 gallon recipes, so that you can still end up with 5 gallons after leaving sludge behind at each step.

[Sent From My iPhone]

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-

Exactly, there's no way you can be that far off using extract.

[McLovin]

Thanks for all the help guys. I'm happy to report I have started fermentation. When I left for work this morning I was starting to see a few bubbles forming on the surface of the wort and when I got home I had a nice layer of foam and the air lock was bubbling happily.

[McLovin]

Well, I pulled the beer out of the carboy today and put it in the keg to carbonate. FG-1.020, which is slightly higher than the kit called for, but I'm good with that (they said 1.018). It's clear, smells good and hoppy and tastes pretty good too. Can't wait to try it in a few days. Thanks again for the help.

[MrBisco]

Well, I pulled the beer out of the carboy today and put it in the keg to carbonate. FG-1.020, which is slightly higher than the kit called for, but I'm good with that (they said 1.018). It's clear, smells good and hoppy and tastes pretty good too. Can't wait to try it in a few days. Thanks again for the help.

Did that beer finish at 1.020 after starting at 1.053? If so, it will probably be cloyingly sweet.

In the future, don't be afraid to take a sample after primary fermentation has slowed down significantly (bubbling once or twice a minute). That will give you a good idea of where you're at. If you are still four or five points off where you want to be, you might want to rouse the yeast cake back into the beer to help resuspend some yeast, encouraging a bit more activity.

Really, with a double IPA, you want it to finish really dry. My last DIPA started at 1.072 and finished at 1.013, and it was fantastic. When doing a mostly-extract brew, though, I always drop back on my extract and add some corn sugar, keeping my OG the same but increasing my fermentability. It's pretty tough to ferment extract out past 75-77%, even with really efficient yeast in ideal conditions. Corn sugar is 100% fermentable, and will really help you knock off those last few points to dry it out appropriately.

[MrBisco]

Well, I pulled the beer out of the carboy today and put it in the keg to carbonate. FG-1.020, which is slightly higher than the kit called for, but I'm good with that (they said 1.018). It's clear, smells good and hoppy and tastes pretty good too. Can't wait to try it in a few days. Thanks again for the help.

Did that beer finish at 1.020 after starting at 1.053? If so, it will probably be cloyingly sweet.

In the future, don't be afraid to take a sample after primary fermentation has slowed down significantly (bubbling once or twice a minute). That will give you a good idea of where you're at. If you are still four or five points off where you want to be, you might want to rouse the yeast cake back into the beer to help resuspend some yeast, encouraging a bit more activity.

Really, with a double IPA, you want it to finish really dry. My last DIPA started at 1.072 and finished at 1.013, and it was fantastic. When doing a mostly-extract brew, though, I always drop back on my extract and add some corn sugar, keeping my OG the same but increasing my fermentability. It's pretty tough to ferment extract out past 75-77%, even with really efficient yeast in ideal conditions. Corn sugar is 100% fermentable, and will really help you knock off those last few points to dry it out appropriately.