Help with OG

My recipe says pre boil OG should be 1.04. I get 1.011 at 135 degrees and the hydrometer is calibrated at 60. Am I ok? What do I do?

Cool your wort to 60° and recheck it.

Find software that will correct for temperature. I use Beersmith, but I'm sure there is something free online.

There is a temp correction calculator. Here is one online.

http://hbd.org/cgi-bin/recipator/recipator/hydrometer.html

According to Beersmith that would give you an OG of 1.025. Still a little low

Any reading over about 90 degrees is worthless.

cool the sample to 90 degrees or less, then use correction tables for the actual Sg.

Yooper said:

Any reading over about 90 degrees is worthless.

cool the sample to 90 degrees or less, then use correction tables for the actual Sg.

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^This

Cool it down. Spend 40 bucks and buy a refractometer so you only need a few drops...I love mine.

As far as the low numbers....are you doing AG or PM? What size is the batch? If you are doing PM the extract added during the boil could account for the missing gravity points. If its AG and your cooled down sample is still low, we need numbers to help out. What is the grain bill? What temp did you mash at? And how long was the mash?

What was your pre boil volume. If you were over on your measuring of water needed pre boil that will dilute your OG down some. I.E. if your recipe calls for 6.5gallons pre boil and your 7 your Pre Boil gravity will be lower than is called for.

Grain bill was 11.5 lbs, I mashed for an hr, stirring every 15 min, then ran off wort and added sparge water at about a gallon each at a time. This process took me about another hour. My pre boil target was 7.3 gallons, I couldn't have had more than 7.5 gallons when I was done (according to my measuring stick). My cooled hydrometer reading for the pre boil wort was 1.022. Where did I go wrong?

This is a stupid question....You crushed your grain right? That's an awful low number, something is way wrong.

If your pre boil was 1.022 and you boiled for 60 mounted then your post boil cannot be 1.011, it's physically impossible.

Your readings are not taken properly , adjusted properly, or you severely diluted your beer post boil

duboman said:

If your pre boil was 1.022 and you boiled for 60 mounted then your post boil cannot be 1.011, it's physically impossible.

Your readings are not taken properly , adjusted properly, or you severely diluted your beer post boil

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1.011 wasn't his post boil OG. It was his pre boil @135F. His pre boil was 1.022 at cooled temp. He was aiming for 1.04.

theCougfan97 said:

Grain bill was 11.5 lbs, I mashed for an hr, stirring every 15 min, then ran off wort and added sparge water at about a gallon each at a time. This process took me about another hour. My pre boil target was 7.3 gallons, I couldn't have had more than 7.5 gallons when I was done (according to my measuring stick). My cooled hydrometer reading for the pre boil wort was 1.022. Where did I go wrong?

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Did you give it a good stir after adding sparge water(assuming your batch sparging) I usually add sparge water and stir the $&@T out of it then let it sit 10minutes before vorlauf and draining.

GilSwillBasementBrews said:

Did you give it a good stir after adding sparge water(assuming your batch sparging) I usually add sparge water and stir the $&@T out of it then let it sit 10minutes before vorlauf and draining.

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My intention was to fly sparge, I may have done this incorrectly. I vorlauf and drained about 2 gallons then added 2 gallons of sparge, then repeated 1 gallon at a time, with minimal rest in between and no stirring.

I recently started stirring the $hit outta the grain after adding sparge water, and have been nailing my OG

Same here. That, and buying a grain mill have had me hitting my targets dead on ever since.

I had a mash where I fell significantly short on target OG. I found out later it was most likely due to temp loss. I wasn't watching and the temp had dropped from 153 to 135. Not sure how long it stayed below 145 but I doubt there was much enzyme activity during that time. I think my efficiency was about 60%. How well do you trust your thermometer?