Beer Forum

I just brewed an IPA and my target gravity was 1.064 but it ended up being 1.040. Is this a done deal or can I brew a small batch and add it in to get more sugars in the fermenter. Fermentation kicked off instantly and went strong from Friday night right after I pitched, through the weekend.

Was it an AG or an extract batch?

If it was an extract batch, and you didn't mix your top off water very well, then you probably drew your hydrometer sample off the top, while the sugary goodness had already settled to the bottom. Unless you had a boilover from hell, you hit your gravity and all will be fine.

If it's an AG batch, then tell us more about your process -


water/grist ratio? pH? iodine test? sparge technique (batch/fly)? sparge volumes or
sparge duration?

etc.

HTH-

Hopefully you took gravity readings pre-boil and adjusted your hops/IBUsaccordingly. You may wind up with an overly bitter, out of balanced beer.

It was basically a partial mash with three pounds of 2row and a pound of crystal 40 and the rest was extract. I did a (almost) 60 min rest at around 150-160 and sparged with water right at 170. Bdawg you might be on to something... After I chilled the wort I racked it into the carboy, then pitched my starter onto that, and then topped it off with about 2 gallons of water. THEN, I took the sample for the hydrometer (mostly off of the top), then tossed in the dry hops, and then finally mixed it around to aerate the wort. (yes, I have a very low-tech setup right now) I never even thought about how well it was mixed when I took the reading. Of course it had nothing to do with the fact that I already had a couple New Belgium 1554s, three homebrews and working on the second Goose Island Bourbon Stout. Who knows... I may find an iPod still queued up to the Sunday Session at the bottom after I rack it again!