SG too High?

I just made a batch of Cream Ale, using Jamil's recipe from Brewing classic Styles. The only thing diffrent from the printed recipe and what I did was substitute dry rice extract rather than the rice syrup that is called for. (not sure if I can publish the recipe here as i don't wanna mess up any copyright stuff. )

Anyway, the expected SG is 1.042-1.055, and I got 1.062. if this thing ferments down to 1.009 like the book says, its gonna be ~7%abv! Not exactly what I was expecting....

So any ideas what I did to get such a higher gravity?

One other question, should my hydrometer read ~1.000 in strait water? just want to make sure my hydrometer is not outta whack.

Yes, your hydrometer should read 1.0 at 60 degrees F water temperature. Something is wrong if it reads differently. I had a cheap one and the printed scale inside the tube slid down. I was getting some really interesting readings. That could be your problem.

John

Add .001 for every 10 degrees F above 60 degrees and how well was your wort stirred. You may have hit a more syrupy bit.

i just double checked, an at 60* my hydro read 1.000 in water, so its good, guess I just got too much malt in there or maybe the rice syrup doesn't = dry rice extract 1:1. I don't really care if it has a little higher ABV, but how will the taste be effected, if at all?

If the wort was not mixed thoroughly you'll get an out of whack reading To High/To Low depending on the sample. Once the yeast get to it, it will reconcile. IF you've already pitched your yeast I would assume that the graity is in the range the recipe says to expect and relax.