Strangely High OG/FG - Milk Stout

[Cam]

Hi All,

I recently brewed my first Milk Stout with extract and steeped grains. The brew went well and see below for my fermentables. I know this will only give you a rough idea of amounts.


Measuring the OG I had to triple check cause it was so high, but then I thought this must be ok due to the lactose bumping that up.


I measured my FG on Thursday and got the below.


And again last night before bottling.


Putting these numbers through an online calculator I'm getting an ABV of 12% which is nearly double what I wanted. Am I missing something here? The beer does taste really nice if anything a bit on the sweet side but its balanced out with the spices I used.

Any advice/thoughts would be greatly appreciated as Im still trying to learn as much as I can, this is my 5th brew.

Cheers,
Cameron

[Jocky]

My guess is that you haven't liquored back (added water) at the end of the boil?

The reason I say this is that the recipe above says that you have a pre-boil gravity of 10 litres, but a post boil gravity of 19 litres?

So I presume that you steeped your grains and then added malt extract into 10 litres of water, boiled it, and then put the lot in a fermenter? Really after boiling you should have topped up to 19 litres total to hit your predicted SG.

Can you run through exactly what you did, and how much lactose you added ?

[Cam]

Hey Jocky, Thanks for the reply.

I boiled exactly as you suggested above and added 500g Lactose @10mins I think and I top up after the boil with water to 19L. I got 33x500ml bottles with maybe 3 or more left in the fermetor as I didnt want to pick up any sludge.

I did add 3 tbsp of vanilla paste and a load of dried coconut flakes(both at boil and dry nut? haha), but I would be surprised if that would make such a difference?

[IPA]

Hey Jocky, Thanks for the reply.

I boiled exactly as you suggested above and added 500g Lactose @10mins I think and I top up after the boil with water to 19L. I got 33x500ml bottles with maybe 3 or more left in the fermetor as I didnt want to pick up any sludge.

I did add 3 tbsp of vanilla paste and a load of dried coconut flakes(both at boil and dry nut? haha), but I would be surprised if that would make such a difference?

The lactose addition will give you a higher FG because it is not fermentable.

[Cam]

The lactose addition will give you a higher FG because it is not fermentable.

Hi, thanks. I knew that would be the case it was more the fact that from the fermentables i ended up with double the amount. I can understand a shift in the gravitates with the added lactose but thought I would still get roughly 6% beer just sweeter?

[Jocky]

I'm presuming that you steeped the grains, and didn't mash them?

By my numbers, even with 500g of lactose you should have ended up with a OG of 1.053 ish.

So either you've added masses more malt extract or lactose (and we're talking 5 kg EXTRA of lactose or malt extract here to get you up above 1.100)...
... or your hydrometer isn't reading right.


Did you measure both hydrometer samples in cooled wort/beer (about 20c)?
Or have you ever put your hydrometer in wort at high temperatures (65c+)?

[Cam]

Yes, steeped them about 67deg for 30mins.

Who knows then! I definitively cooled the wart down in a cold water bath, added to the fermetor and then topped up to 19L. I then took my reading. I even tasted it straight after testing to see what it was like. Maybe my steep was 200% efficient haha.

Just checked my BrewUk order and this was it

American Heavy Toast Oak Chips (100g)
Lactose Sugar 500g lactose x1
Cara Munich Type III Malt ® (crushed) 500g x2
Muntons Foil Pack Spraymalt Dark (DME) 500grm x5
White Labs WLP004 - Irish Ale Yeast x1
Roasted Barley Crushed x1kg

Im leading towards something maybe being wrong with the hydrometer so I'll put my in just water tonight and see what it comes out at, guessing close to zero? I did notice last night that the test tube seems to be at a bit of an angle, maybe it got stuck on the wall? The beer certainly didn't taste strongly of alcohol like I would imaging a 12% monster would.

[Cam]

Just thinking and maybe I made a MASSIVE NOOB mistake and didnt fill the test tube with enough wart so it bottomed out?

[Jocky]

That would do it, although your FG still seems rather high.

Whenever you take a reading, give the hydrometer a spin (to knock off any particles or CO2) and let it bob up and down freely until it settles.

To check the calibration:
Put it in water - it should read 1.000 at 20c. You're not using distilled water so it might be a tiny bit over 1.000 but really don't get worried about a couple of points either way.
Also you can try dissolving 50g of sugar in 500ml of water - that should read at about 1.036. Again roughly speaking.

[Cam]

Legend. Thanks for the help.

Here are the hydrometer photos.




Well it's already in the bottles so see what it turns out like. Always fun to experiment. Made up the labels for them, hope it tastes as good as it looks. Decided to go with what the estimated abv was.

[OldConkerwood]

Interesting Post, and to top it off I see you used chalk marker pens for your bottles-Great idea.
I recently did a post on how folks label their beer. just tried the pens, looks good.
Barnie.

[Cam]

Interesting Post, and to top it off I see you used chalk marker pens for your bottles-Great idea.
I recently did a post on how folks label their beer. just tried the pens, looks good.
Barnie.

Yeah, was chuffed when that idea came to me. What makes it even better, I just chuck the empties in the dishwasher and they come out crystal clean no messing about with picking off labels etc. Those pens I bought in Tesco. Cant mind the brand but they are REALLY good. Had another set before and they were terrible and I think 3x the price of the Tesco ones. Now I just need to work on steadying my hand haha. Cheers, Cam

[OldConkerwood]

"Now I just need to work on steadying my hand haha."

Know what ya sayin its pretty difficult to hold a marker and write on a bottle.
time for one of those flexible stencils from Rymans
Barnie.

[OldConkerwood]

"Now I just need to work on steadying my hand haha."

Know what ya sayin its pretty difficult to hold a marker and write on a bottle.
time for one of those flexible stencils from Rymans
Barnie.