When is the best time to take a O.G. reading for a partial boil extract brewer?

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bowlersp

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I've been extract brewing for a while now, not really caring much for much OG/FG readings. Well I finally got a gravity testing kit and have started to make my own stouts/ipa's and would like to start calculating the alcohol % of my beer. I was wondering when is the best time to check for the OG. I am an extract brewer who does a partial boil. most my brews I boil 2 1/2 gallons of wort and then add the rest of the water after I bring the wort down to about 80 degrees.

Should I take the OG reading with the concentrated 2 1/2 gallons of wort or should I add the remaining water so that I have my full amount of wort (5 gallons) and then take the OG reading from that?

Thanks!
 
Top off to the total volume you want in the fermentor. Aerate/mix very , very well. Take your OG reading.
If you haven't mixed the boiled volume and your top off water sufficiently this reading could either be high or low. Higher OG if your sample came from and area of high sugar concentration in the fermentor or low if from a low sugar area.

If you can get the boil kettle volume lower than 80°, do it. Pitching your yeast in wort cooler than the fermentation temperature is better than trying to cool down a fermentation that starts to warm. Less stress on the yeast.
 
Top off to the total volume you want in the fermentor. Aerate/mix very , very well. Take your OG reading.
If you haven't mixed the boiled volume and your top off water sufficiently this reading could either be high or low. Higher OG if your sample came from and area of high sugar concentration in the fermentor or low if from a low sugar area.

If you can get the boil kettle volume lower than 80°, do it. Pitching your yeast in wort cooler than the fermentation temperature is better than trying to cool down a fermentation that starts to warm. Less stress on the yeast.

awesome, thats what i thought. take the reading with the full volume after it has been mixed very well.
 
Just wanted to comment about mixing wort and top off water. Mix the hell out of it, as said above. Otherwise you'll get a false reading which is easy to do and which I've done.
 
I never bother. Too much worrying when the reading is not as expected, when it is almost certainly due to inadequate mixing.

I have accurate volume measurements on my fermenters and calculate my OG.

I always measure FG.
 
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