AG#4 What went wrong?

[johnnie]

Did my 4th A.g. yesterday, Camerons Strongarm from The Wheeler book. Brewlength 23L, Expected O.G. 1040. But it went a bit wrong. Stopped sparging at 0990, but only collected 19.5L. I was just about to add the hops to the boil and thought that there would be too much. I don't have any brewing software so I decided to use the hops required for a 19L brewlength instead, and I cut the boil down to 60 mins. Probably completely wrong but i'm still new to a.g. Took a reading before pitching the yeast 17L, 1052.

So what I want to know is -

What went wrong with my sparge?, (I used the tin foil ang jug method if that helps) and why was my O.G. higher than the expected O.G.

Should the F.G. still be 1007?

Was I right to reduce the amount of hops and the boil time?

Cheers
J

 

[thejesmonddingo]

Basically nothing went wrong until you started the boil.You probably sparged a bit slowly,so your wort was more concentrated than you expected.If you'd checked the SG before starting the boil,you could have diluted the wort to the appropriate OG and adjusted the hops and boil accordingly.You've probably ended up underhopped,aggravated by the reduced boil,but you'll still have a nice pint when you're done,it's all a learning curve.
Ian

 

[johnnie]

Thanks. I did sparge a bit slower this time. How would I dilute the wort?

 

[thejesmonddingo]

Try this one http://www.brewheads.com/newvolume.php
Ian