Original Gravity Seems Low

I am brewing a 5-gallon batch of an extract wheat beer (bought the kit from Austin Homebrew Supply).

I followed instructions to a T, but my original gravity reading was 1.037 (actually 1.036 but adjusted based on the calibrated temperature of the hydrometer), while the instructions for the beer say it should be 1.043. Is this difference of .006 going to be a problem? I've done some basic batches before but this is my first time taking hydrometer readings.

My intuition tells me that if I added too much water, it might explain the lower OG. But after boiling/hopping/cooling the wort, the instructions said to fill it to 5.25 gallons w/ cold water, which I did. Wondering if I should have backed that off a little..?

Thanks!

Your top-off water may have not been mixed in completely, but 006 is nothing to worry about. Happy Brewing!

If you are using one of the Ale Pales the measurements for liquid volumes are fairly inaccurate. I have found that when I fill to 5.25 gallons I always undershot my extract OGs so I started topping off to 5 gallons on the bucket and the OGs read as expected. One of these days I'm gonna fill an ale pale with a trusted measuring device and see what the deal is.

IffyG said:

One of these days I'm gonna fill an ale pale with a trusted measuring device and see what the deal is.

Click to expand...

Today is "one of these days"!

But yeah, if you followed the instructions, your gravity is fine.

No worries!

Good to know! Thanks guys

IffyG, glad you experienced similar things. I have brewing equipment from AHS, and take my gallon-readings from the side of the plastic fermenter bucket. Maybe it is slightly off.. I'll probably just fill to 5 gallons next time too. A slightly stronger beer never hurt anybody anyway, right?