OG confusion. Any ideas?

Brewed a Dark IPA yesterday that I have made before. First batch PBG = 1.050. This time, with the same grain bill, we got 1.072. Incredible right? More like impossible.

By the time I took the sample we were already 30 minutes into a 75 minute boil and decided to calculate a correction by adding some more boiling water. I didn't want to overshoot so I added another 3/4 gallon (on the modest side - I already knew it was going to be stronger.)

We sort of jumped ahead with the water addition and then decided to plug our grain bill data and PBG into multiple online efficiency calculators (and triple checked) and my efficiency was 122%. Once again, impossible.
I know I didn't get a bunch of extra grain from my source because I nailed all of my temperatures exactly. I think the skewed number is due to my new stainless steel elbow pick up tube. I believe that I got some concentrated wort in it then maybe an air bubble kept it from mixing with the continuously thinning wort.

So the water correction was done hastily, knew the 1.072 gravity was impossible, and now we were afraid we just diluted the hell out of the wort. We took another sample, got it to 60 degrees and the gravity was then 1.050 and at about 7 gallons left (goal of 5.5 gallons.) Not too far off with about 25 minutes left to go in the boil. I revved up the heat on the boil to reduce down our volume to get closer to our goal of 1.060-1.062.

Here is where it gets stupid. After an extended boil period (added about 15 minutes on a very vigorous boil) I ended up slightly over 5.5 gallons so I assumed that my OG would be close to goal. However, after cooling (and dropping ~ 1.5 gallons) gravity was only 1.052. Still impossible in my opinion.

I am just really confused about all of this. I checked the calibration on my hydrometer in water and it was spot on. Any ideas? Divine intervention of the worst kind? Wort gremlins?

Brewed a Dark IPA yesterday that I have made before. First batch PBG = 1.050. This time, with the same grain bill, we got 1.072. Incredible right? More like impossible.

By the time I took the sample we were already 30 minutes into a 75 minute boil and decided to calculate a correction by adding some more boiling water. I didn't want to overshoot so I added another 3/4 gallon (on the modest side - I already knew it was going to be stronger.)

We sort of jumped ahead with the water addition and then decided to plug our grain bill data and PBG into multiple online efficiency calculators (and triple checked) and my efficiency was 122%. Once again, impossible.
I know I didn't get a bunch of extra grain from my source because I nailed all of my temperatures exactly. I think the skewed number is due to my new stainless steel elbow pick up tube. I believe that I got some concentrated wort in it then maybe an air bubble kept it from mixing with the continuously thinning wort.

So the water correction was done hastily, knew the 1.072 gravity was impossible, and now we were afraid we just diluted the hell out of the wort. We took another sample, got it to 60 degrees and the gravity was then 1.050 and at about 7 gallons left (goal of 5.5 gallons.) Not too far off with about 25 minutes left to go in the boil. I revved up the heat on the boil to reduce down our volume to get closer to our goal of 1.060-1.062.

Here is where it gets stupid. After an extended boil period (added about 15 minutes on a very vigorous boil) I ended up slightly over 5.5 gallons so I assumed that my OG would be close to goal. However, after cooling (and dropping ~ 1.5 gallons) gravity was only 1.052. Still impossible in my opinion.

I am just really confused about all of this. I checked the calibration on my hydrometer in water and it was spot on. Any ideas? Divine intervention of the worst kind? Wort gremlins?

I think you figured out the 1.072- with a sparge it's possible to get some wort stratification unless you stirred it well. But it seems like either your intraboil 1.050 reading was too high or more hopefully your 1.052 reading was too low. After all, if you believe the 1.050 with 7G reading=350 points, then boiling down to 5.5G would give you 1.064, just where you want. My only other guess is how "slightly" over 5.5G were you? I really hope your 1.052 reading was incorrect.

That happens to me when I use the refractometer,so now I pull a sample with my pyrex measure cup and chill it to 60 then use the hydrometer. So now all measures are equal.

I really am hoping that my final reading was just dead wrong but too late to tell now. With temperature and everything else being constant (60 degrees) and getting the same results twice I am just horribly confused. I'm sure it will still be drinkable but really disappointed me since I am starting to aim for consistency. In case my ABV was going to be too low to balance out the malt and hops, I added half a pound of light pilsen DME (which I really didn't want to do) to add about 0.004. It can only help in my opinion.

Since hydrometers are pretty cheap I'll probably pick another one up to have for comparison sake. Thanks for your input/thoughts on the matter!

There was clearly some measurement error induced somewhere, possibly stratification or temp correction related. How are you 1) pulling a sample, 2) measuring gravity and 3) correcting for temp?

With a calibrated hydrometer and a refractometer (that you trust and know how to use properly*), it is possible to get a decent estimate of the implied pre-fermentation OG.

*important


http://www.northernbrewer.com/learn/resources/refractometer-calculator/

See the section "Approximate ABV and Original Gravity from current Brix and Gravity converter".

1) initial PBG sample was taken from the kettle spigot, 2nd reading also taken from spigot, 3rd reading taken from tube going into ferment or while pump was running. 2nd check if OG pulled with a sanitized turkey baster from fermenter before yeast starter was pitched.
2) measure using a standard glass hydrometer in a graduated cylinder.
3) All samples were cooled in a freezer until at 60 degrees (warmed back up with outside temp being 90+ if needed.) - my hydrometer is calibrated at 60 degrees.