Trying to Hit OG

Quick question...

In my first crack at Homebrew, everything went pretty well for the most part. In the bottles now.

However, the extract recipe I used listed OG at 1.056, yet mine came on at 1.050. I'm guessing it may have been an error in reading hydrometer but not sure.

Is there a way, if my OG is off, to do something about it, either with the current batch or subsequent batches? How do you go about making sure you are hitting the OG?

Maybe not a big problem....more curious than anything else.

Thanks!

Ballardinho said:

Quick question...

In my first crack at Homebrew, everything went pretty well for the most part. In the bottles now.

However, the extract recipe I used listed OG at 1.056, yet mine came on at 1.050. I'm guessing it may have been an error in reading hydrometer but not sure.

Is there a way, if my OG is off, to do something about it, either with the current batch or subsequent batches? How do you go about making sure you are hitting the OG?

Maybe not a big problem....more curious than anything else.

Thanks!

Click to expand...

Maybe you used a little too much water? In any event, you're awfully close so I wouldn't lose sleep over it. Also, did you adjust your hydrometer reading for temperature?

Nope...didn't make temperature adjustments in first go round.

Are you using extract or all grain?

If you were using extract, the OG was lower because you either added to much water post boil or you didn't boil off as much water as the recipe said. If you are doing all grain, then you got a lesser efficiency than the recipe calculated.

Ballardinho said:

Nope...didn't make temperature adjustments in first go round.

Click to expand...

That could easily be the whole difference. Do you have a sense of how warm it was when you checked?

Don't sweat it.....it's only your first batch. Two years from now you'll forget what a hydrometer even is

+1 on don't worry, RDWHAH.

You could have a different final volume than the recipe indicated.

You could have measured at a temp other than that which the hydrometer is calibrated for.

You could have had water that stratified when you tested it, and the sample you took wasn't from a thoroughly mixed, homogenous batch.

With extract, sugars don't disappear, so if the volume is right, you pretty much have to hit OG. I stopped measuring OG several batches in, FG is more important- so you know the batch is done.

But if I don't measure OG, how do I calculate ABV?

I also did my first batch about a week and a half ago and my OG is less than the estimate. Ironically, I put in 0.25 gallons less water than the recipe called for and didn't fail to put in any of the extract, but my OG was 0.004 below the estimated starting gravity. I can only assume it was possibly because steeping the grains up to 170F took longer than I assumed it would.

Then again, it is only an estimate.