Struggling with OGs, FGs, and ABVs

[Craigerrr]

Brew, learn, repeat buddy!
After 8 years I still end up doing dumb shit!

 

[Minbari]

Could always stick it back on the boil.

Just realize that your FG will be 10 pts low too

 

[Donoroto]

Well.....did my last (for a while) extract brew today and again I ended up below my target OG. Here is where the problem lies. Higher than recipe expected boil off and then (I never learn....sorry Craigerrr) I topped to five gallons before measuring OG. Recipe from NB expected an OG of 1.044 and I ended up at 1.036. Not horrible but not right. Mid Dec will be my next brew and will be all grain BIAB.

I have not measured the OG before adding water and I believe therein lies my problem.

BTW I did a Gluten Free brew since I started this thread and that one hit the numbers. Double up on yeast when it stalled. Turned out great. Celiac Son enjoys it.

Yup, that’s a problem. I bet if you topped it less it’d be ok.
Indeed, it’ll still be ok.

 

[Dave Y]

Well.....did my last (for a while) extract brew today and again I ended up below my target OG. Here is where the problem lies. Higher than recipe expected boil off and then (I never learn....sorry Craigerrr) I topped to five gallons before measuring OG. Recipe from NB expected an OG of 1.044 and I ended up at 1.036. Not horrible but not right. Mid Dec will be my next brew and will be all grain BIAB.

I have not measured the OG before adding water and I believe therein lies my problem.

BTW I did a Gluten Free brew since I started this thread and that one hit the numbers. Double up on yeast when it stalled. Turned out great. Celiac Son enjoys it.

since you won't be brewing for a bit, now would be a great time to test your boil off rate! All you need is the kettle, water, heat and a timer. Once you get a boil off value, you can better calculate how much you need for the boil off so you better make your numbers. You need this for BIAB anyway.

once you cover all the variables, you can get more consistent numbers closer to the target.

 

[Brew Cat]

Doing extract there is only one reason your original gravity is off and that's your ending volume unless you didn't add all the extract. Your volume needs to be exact no guessing

 

[Mike at Bay]

Thanks all. I have all the grains for my next batch (Sierra Nevada PA Clone). Also, purchase some water additions and refractometer. I will be brewing in a bag with a recipe from BrewFather. Will let you know in early 2026 how all of this great advice ended up in a better beer.