OG sample difference

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dhoyt714

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Yesterday I brewed a hefe (great recipe I might say) and with a hydrometer reading I got 1.044 at 70 degrees. I left the sample out overnight and now it only reads. 1.033 . How does the sample differentiate that much with no variables taking place?
 
What does "I left the same out after work" mean? Is it possible there was a time lag where some wild bugs got in and started working?

Or maybe was the initial reading on a not-homogenously-stirred wort?

Or did maybe your hydrometer get damaged between readings somehow (like a crack in the glass, taking on liquid)?

EDIT: BTW, did you pitch the yeast after the first reading? (Just checking!)
 
No yeast was added to the sample, although it is pretty warm out, 85 degrees.
 
I've left hydro samples out to ferment wild before... I've gotten something like 70% attenuation in the past just from whatever is floating around in my basement.

Probably not what is happening here, but something to consider.
 
Yeah it was still floating. Jus kind if strange. I even pulled a sample out of the fermenter after fermentation had stated and it was at 1.030.

Evaporation could have occurred, my main concern is that iam getting proper extraction.
 
Yesterday I brewed a hefe (great recipe I might say) and with a hydrometer reading I got 1.044 at 70 degrees. I left the sample out overnight and now it only reads. 1.033 . How does the sample differentiate that much with no variables taking place?

I'm baffled you think there are "no variables" at play here. You left it out overnight. There are lots of different things that changed in this scenario over the 8+ hours you left that there.

The most likely cause of your lower reading (without knowing anything about your process) is the settling of trub, larger proteins, and anything else that may have been suspended in your original sample. If the sample increased in temperature at all, that would also lower the gravity. This is an awful large drop, but I'm not seeing many other causes of such a large change, unless there's more information about this process you want to reveal.

I'm assuming you pulled a sample from the last of your transfer, set a vial out with your hydrometer in it, measured 1.044, left the vial with the hydro in it overnight, and then saw a new reading in the morning. Or did you do something different?
 
Exactly,I left the sample out with the hydrometer in it overnight on the counter.
 
Exactly,I left the sample out with the hydrometer in it overnight on the counter.

Is this all grain, too? I suspect it is.

Since it's a weizen, which is generally very high in protein, larger sugars, and trub, my guess is still just a lot of gunk settling out. Did you notice a fair amount of trub compacted at the bottom of the vial, under the hydro?
 
Yeah it is all grain, with coriander, orange peels and rosemary. Definitely a lot trub. I did notice some trub under the hyrdo so I swirled it around. This is the best explanation so far.
 
Update-

I pretty sure that I made might have taken the hydro sample with yeast in it, which would explain the sharp drop in gravity. Kind of funny.
 
There's that missing bit of important information I was hoping for. Given that it roughly matches the gravity your carboy was at, I'd say mystery solved.
 
Thanks again for help! Would a brew really ferment that quickly? Happy brewing!
 
Ive seen a lot of posts about different readings at different times, and I have experienced this before as well. I believe wort can stratify after a given time even though it is a homogenous solution.

In my next brew, which is next Tuesday, I plan to experiment with this phenomenon. I will take samples of the pre-boil non-mixed, mixed with my paddle, and after boil has started (when I normal take my pre-boil reading, as I feel this is then everything is homogenous), and the same post-boil.

For post boil, I will pull my OG sample before killing the boil, one after the boil is killed, but stirring up the wort, one a few minutes after the stirring collection, and the a 4th sample after the wort has settled a bit.

Hopefully this will give some insight on if wort stratification does in fact occur, and if so, when.
 
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