First Brew OG question

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johnthebrewer

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Ok, so I pitched my first brew at 545. I think I might have screwed up in one little area. My beer should be fine but I might be building without a tape measure. I took my OG before I pitched the yeast and it was 1.071 which was really high since it was supposed to be 1.040 (It's a midwest supplies Irish red ale ingredient with specialty grains steeped for 30 min at 160 F, 6lbs Gold LME, 1oz Cascade hops (6.9% Alpha Acids) boiled for an hour with 1oz Fuggle Hops (4.5% Alpha Acids) added for 3 min at the end.) I checked and rechecked the OG but it was always showing 1.071 so I just sayed oh well and pitched the yeast (rehydrated Muntons dried brewing yeast). I got it all sealed up and airlocked when I realized why my OG was so high. I had taken that initial sample from the brew pot before I added it to the 1.5 gallons of water in my primary.

So...My question is, do I go down, pop the top off my primary and take a new sample for OG or do I just go by what the recipe says it should be and figure I'm close? What are your thoughts?
 
I would pop the lid and check it myself... but that is because I like numbers and accuracy. If you followed the recipe, it will be fine, so why do it? Depends on how accurate you want your notes to be!
 
according to my calculations, if you had 3.5 gallons when you took the reading and now you have 5 gallons, it would be at 1.050.

you should take a reading if you want to know the OG. it looks like it will be different than what the recipe states. just do it before fermentation begins and make sure that sucker is sanitary :)
 
"make sure that sucker is sanitary"

I have heard that so many times!
 
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