I made a light lager today. In the pot I put 3.3lb of light malt extract and 6 1/2 cups of corn sugar in 2 gallons of water. After it was done I cooled it in the sink for about ten minutes and then pour it into the fermenting bucket. I added 3 gallons of cold water. I then took a starting gravity and it was 1.022. I then mixed it up a bit and took another reading. It was 1.026. The wort was 85F. Why is it so low?
Why is my gravity reading low?
- Thread starter koerd85
- Start date
Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:
Dondlelinger
Well-Known Member
hydrometer is broken?
Urban
Well-Known Member
hmm usually extract that doesnt read the correct gravity is becuase its not mixed well enough. What were you expecting 1.056 or so? stir it up again and recheck? what temperature is it? temperature can affect hydrometer readings
We get this question every day
It's a pretty common issue for ANYONE topping off with water in the fermenter (and that includes partial mashes, extract or all grain revcipes) to have an error in reading the OG...In fact, it is actually nearly impossible to mix the wort and the top off water in a way to get an accurate OG reading...
Brewers get a low reading if they get more of the top off water than the wort, conversely they get a higher number if they grabbed more of the extract than the top off water in their sample.
When I am doing an extract with grain recipe I make sure to stir for a minimum of 5 minutes (whipping up a froth to aerate as well) before I draw a grav sample and pitch my yeast....It really is an effort to integrate the wort with the top off water...This is a fairly common new brewer issue we get on here...unless you under or over topped off or the final volume for the kit was 5 gallons and you topped off to 5.5, then the issue, sorry to say, is "operator error"
More than likely your true OG is really what it's supposed to be. And it will mix itself fine during fermentation.
It's a pretty common issue for ANYONE topping off with water in the fermenter (and that includes partial mashes, extract or all grain revcipes) to have an error in reading the OG...In fact, it is actually nearly impossible to mix the wort and the top off water in a way to get an accurate OG reading...
Brewers get a low reading if they get more of the top off water than the wort, conversely they get a higher number if they grabbed more of the extract than the top off water in their sample.
When I am doing an extract with grain recipe I make sure to stir for a minimum of 5 minutes (whipping up a froth to aerate as well) before I draw a grav sample and pitch my yeast....It really is an effort to integrate the wort with the top off water...This is a fairly common new brewer issue we get on here...unless you under or over topped off or the final volume for the kit was 5 gallons and you topped off to 5.5, then the issue, sorry to say, is "operator error"
More than likely your true OG is really what it's supposed to be. And it will mix itself fine during fermentation.
Golddiggie
Well-Known Member
Most likely culprit is incomplete mixing of the additional water and wort. Temperature adjustment for 85F is only .003, making 1.042 really 1.045...
Listen to Revvy too... If your water volume into the fermenter is on target, and all the ingredients are to the recipe, then you should hit the correct OG, or come damned close to it.
Listen to Revvy too... If your water volume into the fermenter is on target, and all the ingredients are to the recipe, then you should hit the correct OG, or come damned close to it.
