Low OG Pre-Boil

[Hawkeye Brewing]

So I am doing a ESB and currently have 7.1 gallons pre-boil volume with a target fermenter volume of 5.5 gallons. My target OG pre-boil was 1.061 and it came out at 1.038. Do I let it go or add DME?

 

[Hawkbox]

That sounds incredibly low. You may want to double check your readings.

 

[philjohnwilliams]

Yes, if you are 20+ points low then there is something very wrong. If this was an all grain batch, did you crush the grain yourself?

 

[J A]

My target OG pre-boil was 1.061 and it came out at 1.038

That big a difference is usually a mistake somewhere in the fermentables. I had a custom fermentable entered wrong once and it was counting as not needing to be mashed. That meant that the calculator assumed it was 100% no matter what the efficiency said, made for a very, very low OG.

 

[Nosybear]

Double check your gravity reading too.

 

[zised]

Make sure you are taking pre boil SG at room temp. If you are taking at mash temps you are looking at up to 10-20 points difference.

If i need to bump SG i do so after the boil. you can always boil a small amount of water and corn sugar or DME and add it

Assuming you had a recipe double check your efficiencies. Start low like 50% and then use the brew day to calculate actually efficiencies and then update your recipes as you improve.