Is this a really low starting gravity?

My first two brews, both red ales, had a starting gravity of 1.043 and 1.048

My current one, that I described in the thread about my White Labs yeast not working yet, had a starting gravity of 1.023 - does that sound really low to anyone else?

Temperature adjustments are included in all the above measurements.

Depends on your recipe, but with good aeration, you should be nudging 5%ABV, at least on the second brew. What was the recipe?

1.023 is pretty low. I have had some bottom out there. That may be the reason the yeast is not working, or it already has. Its pretty difficult to miss OG with extract are you sure it was that low? Did you mix the top off water in?

What's the recipe? Did you add all the malt?

1.023 is like what...2 lbs of malt in 5 gal sof water???

1.023 seems kinda low to me. the only thing i could think of is that you didn't add all the ingredients. i'm interested to know what th FG is gonna be.

It's most likely he didn't stir well enough after topping up with water. Sounds like it happens every week here.

homebrewer_99 said:

What's the recipe? Did you add all the malt?

1.023 is like what...2 lbs of malt in 5 gal sof water???

Click to expand...

I started off by steeping 1 lb. of coarsely ground Carahell grains for about 20 minutes, then added 3.3 lbs. of Cooper's Light Malt Extract and gently boiled that for an hour. Basically the same procedure I used for my 2nd batch, which turned out fine (starting gravity 1.048) except for lighter ingredients. But the same amounts.

It's fermenting now.... guess I'll have to wait and see.

Any ideas why this happened?

my boils are never gentle. how much H2O did you start with and how much did you end with?
JJ

BeerSmith clocks you in at 1.034 for a 5 gallon batch. That's pretty low...basically a recipe for 3.2 beer. Whenever you use extract, be sure to stir well before taking your OG sample. After fermentation has begun, it should no longer be necessary to stir before a taking hydrometer sample. Also, don't be afraid to boil vigorously - you'll get better hop utilization (if you're adding hops rather than using pre-hopped extracts) and more protein coagulation (clearer beer).