rhinostylee

Recipes 

I bought my brewkit for my dry Irish stout at a brew supply store that assembles your kit for you from bulk quantities of ingredients. I don't have information on what the specific is supposed to be before I bottle. My recipe says that it should start at 1.044. My measurement in the primary immediately after adding the wort was 1.033.

Do any of you have any links to information regarding SG measurements for different styles of beers?

Thanks

__________________
On-deck: Maybe an IPA
Primary: Bleach Water
Secondary #1: American Brown Ale
Bottled/Conditioning: Irish Dry Stout
Bottled/Drinking: Store Bought Beer

SuperBrew

Recipes 

Did you adjust for temperature when you read your reading? If not you can go to this site http://www.leebrewery.com/********.htm which will do conversions for you.
You also could get a homebrew recipe calculator for use on your computer. The one located here http://bradyshomebrew.com/mojocart/dispproduct.cfm?prod_id=945 contains style guidlines for comparing your brews to different styles. I've never brewed a stout with a initial sg reading below 1.040, but that doesn't mean you did anything wrong. I'm sure it will be good either way so just relax and have a homebrew!

__________________
"Beer is living proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy." Benjamin Franklin

Bottled: Cottage Coffee Stout
Bottled: SuperBrew's Redheaded Stepchild
Bottled: Gingerbread Ale
Drinking: Most anything
Thinking of: Apricot IPA

El Pistolero

Recipes 

The Beer Recipator will give you target OGs and SGs for any style, as will ProMash, BeerSmith, or any of the other software tools.

__________________
[/I] Up Next - Hobgoblin
After That - Czech Pilsner
Primary - Humboldt Hop Rod (4/24)
Primary - NOT Wheat AG SNCA (5/5)
Secondary -
Conditioning - SNCA Clone (3/3),

rhinostylee

Recipes 

Thanks, those links are awesome.

I think think perhaps the reason my SG was on the low side may have had something to do with my sample. I took my sample after topping up my brew . . . it probably wasn’t a good representative sample . . . probably a bit on the thin side.

Do you stir you brew once you top it up? My instructions didn’t tell me to, and I was kind of drunk and paranoid of contamination at that point, so I topped it up, took the SG and sealed it up. Should I have stirred it up?

__________________
On-deck: Maybe an IPA
Primary: Bleach Water
Secondary #1: American Brown Ale
Bottled/Conditioning: Irish Dry Stout
Bottled/Drinking: Store Bought Beer

El Pistolero

Recipes 

After topping off, you need to stir at least a little to make sure it's well mixed before you take your OG reading. Most probably stir the hell out of it at this point, or take other measures to oxygenate the wort as much as possible prior to pitching the yeast.

__________________
[/I] Up Next - Hobgoblin
After That - Czech Pilsner
Primary - Humboldt Hop Rod (4/24)
Primary - NOT Wheat AG SNCA (5/5)
Secondary -
Conditioning - SNCA Clone (3/3),

DesertBrew

Recipes 

Actually that's the best/only time to check gravity is after a top off to get your real SG. The stirring like El P mentioned is the important part along with hydro adjust for temp.