Thoughts/help??? Why OG so low?

I brewed this one Sunday I steeped the grains at 158f for 30 min in 1 and a half gallons of water. Add water to get to 3 gallons and brought to a boil and began. If you can decipher the format of the recipe notice how the software said my estimate OG should have been 1.057 why when I brewed do I come way under at 1.043 OG? I took the gravity reading correctly and calculated for Temperature. Just would like to know what would Bring your OG down during the brewing process? Also I took a stab in the dark when it came to the 1/2 pound of cara pils, what grains and how much do others use for a light color Super bitter IPA?

2 hop IPA


Style: American IPA
Type: Partial Mash Calories: 186
Rating: 0.0 Efficiency: 70 %
IBU's: 113.75 Boil Size: 3.00 Gal
Color: 4.6 SRM Batch Size: 5.00 Gal
Boil Time: 75 minutes
Estimated Actual
Brew Date: - 09/11/2011
OG: 1.057 1.043
FG: 1.014 1.014
ABV: 5.63 % 3.80 %
Serve Date: 10/23/2011 / /

Fermentation Steps
Name Days / Temp Estimated Actual
Primary 21 days @ 62.0°F 09/11/2011 09/11/2011
Bottle/Keg 21 days @ 74.0°F 10/02/2011 -

Grains & Adjuncts
Amount Percentage Name Time Gravity
3.30 lbs 45.21 % Munton's Extra Light LME 25 mins 1.037
3.00 lbs 41.10 % Briess Pilsen DME 75 mins 1.043
0.50 lbs 6.85 % Cara-Pils/Dextrine 75 mins 1.033
0.50 lbs 6.85 % Sugar, Table (Sucrose) 75 mins 1.046

Hops
Amount IBU's Name Time AA %
1.50 ozs 80.76 Magnum 75 mins 14.00
1.00 ozs 13.38 Mt. Hood 20 mins 6.00
0.50 ozs 15.61 Magnum 20 mins 14.00
0.50 ozs 0.00 Mt. Hood 0 mins 6.00
0.50 ozs 4.00 Mt. Hood 10 mins 6.00

Yeasts
Amount Name Laboratory / ID
1.0 pkg Safale S-04 Fermentis 0001

Additions
Amount Name Time Stage
2.30 g Whirlfloc Tablet 15 mins Boil

Carbonation
Amount Type Beer Temp CO2 Vols
2.83 oz Table Sugar - Bottle Carbonation 74.0°F 1.90

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My guess is that you didn't mix your wort well enough and the denser wort was on the bottom, leading you to take a thinner lower gravity sample.

We get this question 3-4 times every day, so you're not alone. And in reality, nothing's wrong.

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.

And just use the number it says in the instructions as the true OG, because it will be.

So the answer is, relax and do nothing.

That was not it I did the ice bath to chill then toss in bucket topped off to 5 gallons shook the whole thing 2 min thin pulled put a sample before I pitched my yeast

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Thanks revvy good to know everything is all right I will take you advice and drink one of my metallic tasting nut brown ales I brewed 5 weeks ago!

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Jtd6628 said:

That was not it I did the ice bath to chill then toss in bucket topped off to 5 gallons shook the whole thing 2 min thin pulled put a sample before I pitched my yeast

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Click to expand...

You say that's not it, but it was indeed it. You topped off and then took a gravity sample without mixing well enough.

Yeah most likely.

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