what can you do

Make grain beers with the absolute minimum of equipment. Discuss here.
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tickle

what can you do

Post by tickle » Tue Nov 29, 2016 11:55 am

hi just wondering what you can do if you miss the OG

Matt in Birdham
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Re: what can you do

Post by Matt in Birdham » Tue Nov 29, 2016 6:54 pm

Well you can raise it with DME, lower it with water (liquor back) or - my usual preference - just not worry about it. I suppose it depends to some extent on how far you missed it by.

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Kev888
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Re: what can you do

Post by Kev888 » Tue Nov 29, 2016 11:28 pm

Record it, in enough detail that you don't next time. Once you have amassed sufficient experience of how the particular system performs, then (barring mistakes) its rare to be much more than a couple of points out. People can get competitive about efficiency, but IMO unless efficiency is actually poor then consistency is a more useful goal in non-commercial brewing.

If you are over the expected OG you can liquor back, if you are slightly under it you can boil for longer to reduce (and concentrate) the wort a bit - delaying late hop additions accordingly. Both of those change the volume, in order to correct the OG. If you are under OG but don't want to reduce volume then add more fermentables (sugars, malt extract, syrup etc). Keep in mind that many fermentables (other than malt or malt extract) can also change the FG, since they may be more or less fermentable. They may also alter flavour, body and/or mouthfeel if in sufficient quantity.
Kev

BrannigansLove
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Re: what can you do

Post by BrannigansLove » Mon Dec 05, 2016 12:16 pm

Unless you're drastically out, I wouldn't worry about it. As Kev says, the important thing is learning how your system performs, so that you can get consistency (which in turn will help you hit your numbers).

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