GRRR! A non rant rant!

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claphamsa

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Yesterday I made an American wheat! I took a gravity reading post mash I took a temp reading as well... I punched this all into beersmith, and it let me know I was off on my gravity, and the solution would be to add a gallon of water... so I did! checked gravity again, Im on! GREAT!

So I boil for an hour, minor boil over (which is tough in a keggle, when your doing a 5.5 G batch) when everything is said and dont, I run some wort form the chiller into the wine thief to get a gravity sample.... but whats the point? I mean I was correct pre boil, how could the boil mess i up? well it did! I was .012 short! WTF how do you lose that much gravity during boil? :'(
 
You might have had a really weak boil (although with boil over, prob not?). But more likely is that your readings were off at one of the two you took. Either it was a temperature differential in the readings, or a poorly mixed sample.
 
Jackson, I thought of that... but I stirred the pre boil with the the wine thief as i was filling it. and i also measured twice! before and after the dilution.

its not a huge deal, i mean a 4.5% wheat will be just fine, and im gonna add fruit anyways....

just annoying :)
 
I feel your pain my man, I did a brew that I have done many times this weekend with my father. Our normal OG is around 1.07-1.08 (pretty strong beer) we measured it and it was 1.053 :mad: Didnt do a preboil check, dont really ever need to unless im doing a new brew. My only speculation is that we didnt rinse the grain enough (batch sparge, normally we fly sparge) because we came up short on the volume, around 4.25 gallons. And my father added .75 gal to the brew diluting it to the 1.053 I think.

As for your issue your temp adjustment could have been screwed up as well as your grav reading who knows. I have taken preboil readings twice and got very different SG values. Meh, its a wheat, it will still be great like you said.
 
right! i tell everyone brewing is the perfect old man hobby, you can spend as much or as little time on it as you want.. and in the end, even if you **** up, you still get beer :D
 
I hope I'm not asking a dumb question, but did you measure the temperature of the sample, and adjust your gravity reading?
 
yes, I measured the (hot) gravity and the temp, and let beermsmith calculate actual, and how to adjust for me.
 
150 when you measured it? Yeah.. that's high.

I use a refeactometer now for all but OG/FG, but when I used to pull pre-boil samples I'd toss them in the freezer for 15-20 mins and get them down around 75-85 before measuring.

Your adjustment is probably not accurate when measuring a gravity at that temp.
 
so you just let your wort sit there for 20 min after finishing your sparge? or do you go ahead and start the heating, and make adjustments up to boil?
 
Start heating, check on the cooled sample, and then adjust before full-boil if needed.

You really need to get your sample's temp down for an accurate reading. I tried to search some threads on the subject, but iirc the variance for accurate adjustment is only 15-20 degrees from the default (65 on my hydro).
 
Start heating, check on the cooled sample, and then adjust before full-boil if needed.

You really need to get your sample's temp down for an accurate reading. I tried to search some threads on the subject, but iirc the variance for accurate adjustment is only 15-20 degrees from the default (65 on my hydro).

+1, 150 is too hot to get a good reading , OP will probably be fine .
 
actually have a refractometer! came with my kit i got on CL... maybe after 2 years i should bust it out and figure it out :)
 
Or sell it to me! for cheap since you obviously don't need it :D

Chumprock, What are some things to look for for a good brewing specific one? What ranges, features, brand name?
 
Chumprock, What are some things to look for for a good brewing specific one? What ranges, features, brand name?

Well, I purchased after seeing a thread about the ebay sale here a few months back, and then waited for others to get theirs and report back..

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/refractometer-35-shipped-100477/

I figured if people who knew more than me got one and had no problems, I should be ok.. heh.

Edit - Here's the seller's current refractometer auctions. Just dont get the salinity one unless you woul dlike to measure how salty your beer is.

http://shop.ebay.com/merchant/comew...t=0&_trksid=p3911.m270.l1312&_odkw=&_osacat=0
 
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