Is the Calculator Weak?
Moderator: jeff
Is the Calculator Weak?
Hi Brewers - I recently created my first custom all extract recipe on beertools.com - The batch was balanced on paper, but ended up weak and watery after brewing. Is the recipe calculator a little on the weak side? Should I pile on a bit more malt than the calculator suggests? Lemme know whacha got...
How close were the numbers?
When you measured your original gravity and final gravity, how close were those numbers to the ones the calculator gave? If they were pretty close then there may be a few other factors that may have thinned out your brew. If they weren
Hey is that your pale ale recipe?
If that is your recipe, I noticed that you have put a couple ingredients in that require mashing. If these malts are not mashed then you
its mine
that recipe was mine - its a spin off of the weak one. I decided to add some good grains to beef up the fermentables. And the grains will be mashed for sure (around 150-155 F I suppose).
The weak recipe only had a 1/2 lb of crystal 40L and 7 lbs of DME, but it did land numbers in the middle of all the ranges. My hydrometer readings were close - a couple points low for the OG and a couple points high for the FG. The only place I know that the batch got diluted was in siphoning from the pot to the primary fermenter - I left about 1/4 gallon to leave the trub behind. I don't think that small amount would make a signif difference, but who knows
Anyway - I will tweek that pale recipe and try things on the higher side. Also, I'm shooting for a 6.5 gallon recipe to make 6 gallons. I will let you know what happens with it in a week or two.
The weak recipe only had a 1/2 lb of crystal 40L and 7 lbs of DME, but it did land numbers in the middle of all the ranges. My hydrometer readings were close - a couple points low for the OG and a couple points high for the FG. The only place I know that the batch got diluted was in siphoning from the pot to the primary fermenter - I left about 1/4 gallon to leave the trub behind. I don't think that small amount would make a signif difference, but who knows
Anyway - I will tweek that pale recipe and try things on the higher side. Also, I'm shooting for a 6.5 gallon recipe to make 6 gallons. I will let you know what happens with it in a week or two.