IIPA/Corn sugar - Where'd it go?

I attempted to brew my first ever designed by me recipe yesterday, and failed pretty miserably

Long story short:

Pre boil = 1.044@ 8.75 Gallons
Post boil = 6.5 gallons at 1.055

My recipe called for 2 pounds of corn sugar. I added it in at the 30 min mark because, frankley I didn't know when to put it in, so I guessed.

2 pounds of corn sugar only bumped me 11 points? Is this right?

I guess that would all depend on the size of the batch.

Yeah, something is off. Boil-off should have increased the gravity by more than that, so one of your readings must be wrong.

If your pre-boil is right, you should be closer to 1.074

Well, I checked the gravity going into the fermenter by whirlpooling what was left in my kettle and let it settle (I don't have a screen yet, which us why there is so much sort left over for my 5.5 gallon batch) and opened my valve straight into the Carboy. About mid stream I closed the valve, slipped the tube into my hydrometer tube, filled it up and then continued to fill the Carboy. Extremely pissed at the result, I pitched my yeast, and threw it into my fermentation chamber.

Is that not a good way to check gravity? Dies the sugar float or sink?

Did you let it cool before measuring it? (I have made this mistake)
Your meter will be off if the temperature is not close to what the hydrometer was calibrated at. Usually 65F.

No, but I used a brewing calculator (brewzor) on my phone to find the true sg

phoenixs4r said:

No, but I used a brewing calculator (brewzor) on my phone to find the true sg

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But it's not accurate if the sample is over about 90 degrees, even with temperature corrections. Next time, chill the sample under 90 degrees in the freezer or a pitcher of ice water so you can get an accurate SG reading.

Yooper said:

But it's not accurate if the sample is over about 90 degrees, even with temperature corrections. Next time, chill the sample under 90 degrees in the freezer or a pitcher of ice water so you can get an accurate SG reading.

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Interesting. Well OG was, unfortunately chilled to 78, which means my preboil must have been off and my efficiency sucked.

phoenixs4r said:

Interesting. Well OG was, unfortunately chilled to 78, which means my preboil must have been off and my efficiency sucked.

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Yes, that's what I think too, sorry to say!