Low OG yet again. What am I missing?

Just brewed batch #3 last night, and the OG was waaaay below what the recipe predicted - predicted: 1.056 actual: 1.019. This happened with the first batch I did, too - way low OG. I don't know about the second batch because I was a tool and forgot to take a reading before pitching. In both cases, the OG was adjusted for temperature accordingly. I tested the hydrometer with plain water and it was basically spot on 1.000.

Any suggestions as to WTF is going on?

FWIW, the first batch is kegged and carbed and tastes pretty darn good, so it's not the end of the world or anything. I'd just like to know why the numbers don't add up!

Thanks!
Erik

what was the recipe?

You need to tell us what you used and how you brewed.

You have to screw up big time with extract to be so far out.

Knew I was gonna be asked that!

The one I did yesterday was the IPA from Papazian's book.

It was 5.5 lbs DME
1 lb crystal
.5 roasted barley
2 oz Northern Brewer (whole)
3/4 oz ??? can't remember now what the finishing hop was. Cascade, maybe.

roast barley for 10 min at 350*, crack, add to crystal, steep for 30 min at 155, remove grain, bring to boil, flame off, add dme and hops, boil 60, finishing hops with a minute or so to go, cooled to ~125-130*, strained into fermenter preloaded with 2 gallons cool water, top off to 5 gallons, sample into hydrometer tube, drop in thermometer, when sample hit 70 replaced thermometer with hydrometer.

There ya have it!

Sorry to be confrontational but what you are saying is impossible.

If you add 5.5 lbs of dme to 5 gallons of water then you are going to get an OG of around 1040.
There is no way you can get 1019 unless you add much more water or much less malt.

What you did sounds spot on to me.

Something sounds a miss. Just a wild guess but I'd suspect you might be reading (or using) your hydro wrong. If you have a US hydro then it's likely to be set for 60°F rather then 70°F but it shouldn't throw you out by that much.

I'd also say if you are out that far you beer will not taste good.

Ok, I figured it out. You didn't mix well enough when you added the wort to the fresh water in the fermenter. The heavy gravity wort sunk to the bottom so you were measuring mostly water. You have to make sure the wort and water are fully integrated before taking a gravity reading.

Jester369 said:

top off to 5 gallons, sample into hydrometer tube, drop in thermometer, when sample hit 70 replaced thermometer with hydrometer.

There ya have it!

Click to expand...

yup...there you have it as Bobby_M pointed out

orfy - you're not being confrontational at all, I really appreciate your input! I knew it wasn't possible either, that's why I figured I'd ask here I did, BTW, adjust for the 70* reading

Bobby_M, I think you are right - now that I think back, it's quite possible I took the sample BEFORE I shook the crap outta the carboy prior to pitching.

This just means I have to brew more beer so that I can get it right next time!!

Thanks guys!

It's still beer. Just assume you hit the target OG because that's how extract works.