First time brewer -- OG is not high enough

My OG (store-bought kit) is supposed to be 1.069, but I'm only getting 1.55. What have I done wrong, and what can I do to repair my evident error? It's a Pale Ale.

If you used the right amount of water, your OG is probably actually pretty close to where the recipe says it should be. Did you top up with water? If so, your wort was likely not mixed thoroughly enough when you drew the hydrometer sample. There's nothing to worry about if that's the case, as fermentation will mix it up fully.

PedroTheLion said:

My OG (store-bought kit) is supposed to be 1.069, but I'm only getting 1.55. What have I done wrong, and what can I do to repair my evident error? It's a Pale Ale.

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it's usually pretty hard to miss your og on a kit by that much. which kit did you get? what was the temp of your wort when you took the reading?

The recipe called for about 5 gallons, and I've got about 5 gallons in the glass carboy. I did top up with water, but I shook it around pretty vigorously before taking a sample. The actual reading I had was 1.052, but the temperature was about 80 degrees at the time, so I added .003, as specified on the hydrometer. I hope this is OK... I'm nervous about how it will turn out.

Speaking of sampling, does anyone have any tips about how best to take a sample out of the glass carboy for hydrometer testing? I'm sure there's an easy solution, but I don't know it yet.

Thanks for the reply.

I got the Desert Pale Ale kit from Homebrew USA.

Get a wine thief or a large turkey baster. Just make sure to sanitize anything that will touch, or even come close to touching, your beer.

PedroTheLion said:

I did top up with water, but I shook it around pretty vigorously before taking a sample.

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No matter how much you shook it, it wasn't enough. Take another gravity reading in 12 hours if you are still concerned, but it really is close to impossible to miss your OG on a proper volume of and extract kit.

OK. I hope you're right. I do feel a bit like a dolt for buying the extract kit -- like a fake, really. But one must crawl before he walks.

It's OK if I remove the stopper in 12 hours, then?

PedroTheLion said:

OK. I hope you're right. I do feel a bit like a dolt for buying the extract kit -- like a fake, really. But one must crawl before he walks.

It's OK if I remove the stopper in 12 hours, then?

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Hardly. I brew extract kits regularly and get great results, just like I do with my schmancy recirculation mash system. People feel the need to do all grain way too quickly.

Take a hydrometer reading if you feel like it; just be normally careful about your sanitation.

Thanks for the advice.

RE: Sanitation -- The few folks I've spoken with regarding my first brewing adventure all have stressed sanitation. I've got all new equipment, and I washed it all with the cleaning solution provided with the brewing kit. Is there anything else I need to do going forward?

Further, has anyone had an experience in which a batch has been contaminated? Is it a certain bacteria that we must be wary of, here?

Malfet is right, extract kits with partial boil / top off are notoriously difficult to measure OG. I don't even bother measuring OG on an extract anymore because there are no "efficiency" issues. If you get all the ingredients in and the volume correct, then your OG is correct. And you can make just as good of a beer from an extract as AG. As far as quality goes, there are more important aspects than extract vs AG - like ferm temp control and water quality.

Good to know.

I mean, it's possible that I have a bit too much water in there, but no more than maybe 1/4 gallon. I have an unmarked glass carboy and I eyeballed it. Probably a bad move.

PedroTheLion said:

Thanks for the advice.

RE: Sanitation -- The few folks I've spoken with regarding my first brewing adventure all have stressed sanitation. I've got all new equipment, and I washed it all with the cleaning solution provided with the brewing kit. Is there anything else I need to do going forward?

Further, has anyone had an experience in which a batch has been contaminated? Is it a certain bacteria that we must be wary of, here?

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Lactobacillus is a common unwanted infection in wort (although ironically some beers use Lactobacillus on purpose). Sometimes mold is a problem. I'm not sure what sanitizer came in your kit, but in my experience there are usually simpler and more convenient sanitizers available. Starsan is an awesome no-rinse sanitizer. Put some in a spray-bottle and it can make sanitizing pretty easy.

This stuff? http://www.fermentationtrap.com/2004b.html

I have yet to clean/sanitize bottles. I have 48 new bottles (unused) and about 10 that I just finished and must clean. Can I just throw them in the dishwasher with some StarSan?

With your other equipment, do you just wash/rinse everything with regular detergent and then spray with StarSan?

Thank you -- I appreciate all of the advice. Once I get this down... I can start asking intelligent questions.

PedroTheLion said:

This stuff? http://www.fermentationtrap.com/2004b.html

I have yet to clean/sanitize bottles. I have 48 new bottles (unused) and about 10 that I just finished and must clean. Can I just throw them in the dishwasher with some StarSan?

With your other equipment, do you just wash/rinse everything with regular detergent and then spray with StarSan?

Thank you -- I appreciate all of the advice. Once I get this down... I can start asking intelligent questions.

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you'll find lots of different advice on this. I've found it easiest to use a jet bottle washer (that attatches to your sink) and spray the bottles right after use with really hot water. I don't use soap, and forget the dishwasher. store them upside down as to not get them dusty. just before bottling use a vinator filled with starsan than throw em on a bottling tree

as far as other equipment just a good scrub with some oxyfree and rinse the heck out of it. sanitize just before use

PedroTheLion said:

My OG (store-bought kit) is supposed to be 1.069, but I'm only getting 1.55. What have I done wrong, and what can I do to repair my evident error? It's a Pale Ale.

Click to expand...

OG's are taken/computed with a wort temperature of 60 F.

PedroTheLion said:

This stuff? http://www.fermentationtrap.com/2004b.html

I have yet to clean/sanitize bottles. I have 48 new bottles (unused) and about 10 that I just finished and must clean. Can I just throw them in the dishwasher with some StarSan?

With your other equipment, do you just wash/rinse everything with regular detergent and then spray with StarSan?

Thank you -- I appreciate all of the advice. Once I get this down... I can start asking intelligent questions.

Click to expand...

Ya, that's the stuff. I've never seen it used in a dishwasher. You can use your dishwasher alone for sanitizing if it has a high heat sanitizing cycle - also don't use detergent or rinse-aid. I do this and it works fine. Some people object to this, I think largely because it wastes alot of water, and because of the time it takes to run it takes some ahead-of-time planning. The hands on time is less IMO. Otherwise you can just do what I think most people do - like what superjunior mentioned.

With a spray bottle, you can use less star-san because you just have to coat the surface.

Don`t get hung up on OG and FG. Kits will be very close as Malfet says. Focus more on the process. Sanitation and fermentation temp are important to start. Once you get that stuff down then start adding more things to watch and consider like gravity, starters, differant types of yeast and so on.

As to kits, there is NOTHING wrong with kit beer as long as you sanitize well, control fermentation temp and pitch a healthy amount of yeast, one of my favorite beers is the true brew porter, it is a kit with liquid extract and you steep the specialty grains, it is easy and quick to make and IMO comes out great.

Look into starsan for sanitation. IMO it is the best, others have different opinions. Mix it per the instructions with distilled water and put it in a clean bucket, will last for months.

VB

+1 on all the folks who have said there is nothing wrong with extract kits. I have been brewing for quite a while and I do kits, along with all grain. I enjoy both and get good results either way.