What recipe changes reduce the estimated OG?

[jonnymorris]

I'm using Beer Smith to design an American Amber Ale but am a little confused by the estimated OG. I don't want a 7% beer so would like to keep the post boil OG in the region of 1.050... do I just reduce the amount of malt in the recipe to bring the OG down and if so, is there not a risk I'll hit 0.990 whilst sparging (and therefore have to stop sparging) before I've collected sufficient wort?

 

[pittsy]

in beersmith it will say % by each grain that you have already listed in recipe , just knock of grains while trying to maintain same % for each grain . also make sure you have youe've dead space and water loss etc and the same/similar equipment on your profile as your using , i find beersmith to be spot on once you've learnt your equipment and if your still out the adjust your efficiency , mine is set at 72% .

 

[jonnymorris]

Thanks Pittsy, I'll give it a go.

 

[calumscott]

Even easier...

Just double click on the OG slider bar and it'll bring up a little dialogue. Type your desired OG into the box and click OK.

Beersmith does the rest. :thumb:

 

[pittsy]

Even easier...

Just double click on the OG slider bar and it'll bring up a little dialogue. Type your desired OG into the box and click OK.

Beersmith does the rest. :thumb:

i did not know that

 

[calumscott]

Even easier...

Just double click on the OG slider bar and it'll bring up a little dialogue. Type your desired OG into the box and click OK.

Beersmith does the rest. :thumb:

i did not know that

I am the eternal tinkerer... :lol:

 

[Springer]

Me neither, thanks Calum.
Beersmith just does it for me, even if I don't know all the advantages. :lol:
S

 

[jonnymorris]

I understand that less malt means lower SG but does it not also mean less volume, i.e. start sparging at 1040 vs 1050 but still stopping at 1008?

On a similar vein, if you batch sparge, I understand you'd get a lower SG using the same volume of liquor with less malt but how do you know you're not getting too low an SG and thereby risking tannin extraction?

 

[pittsy]

I understand that less malt means lower SG but does it not also mean less volume, i.e. start sparging at 1040 vs 1050 but still stopping at 1008?

On a similar vein, if you batch sparge, I understand you'd get a lower SG using the same volume of liquor with less malt but how do you know you're not getting too low an SG and thereby risking tannin extraction?

if you batch sparge then just do amounts of water that beersmith says and you'll be fine ( i batch sparge) otherwise its all normal , if i had a brew of sg of 1030 i would have less grains and just sparge as i would of done if it was 1070

 

[jonnymorris]

Thanks. I think I'm going to give batch sparging a go and quit worrying about tannins.

Cheers.