High O.G.?

[trey.allen]

I have a quick question. My last few batches have been rather low on the O.G. My last batch for example was 1.030. My beertools program said it should be 1.050. The batch before that was low also. I checked my hydrometer against water, and it was 1.000. Is it possible that I am adding too much water? I brew 5 gallon batches. I marked my 6 gallon carboy for 5 gallons. Maybe I marked it too high? I dont know how far I would have to be off for it to read that low?

 

[Pappers_]

First, if your software predicts that your og should be 1.050 and it is 1.030, your og is *low* not high. The closer the number is to 1.000, the lower the gravity.

2. Are you brewing all grain or partial mash or extract?

 

[ajf]

Looks like a low OG to me.

If you're doing extract, and using top-off water, the most likely explanation is that you are not mixing the light top off water with the heavy wort sufficiently when taking the sample for the reading. No problems, the yeasts will do the mixing for you before you need to take a final gravity reading.

-a.

 

[trey.allen]

I'm an idiot, I should have done a little proof reading before I posted. I meant low. I am extract brewing. When I top off my water, its a rather violent process. The water comes from about 6 feet up, and splashes good into the wort. I kinda figured doing that would mix good, and aerate.

 

[CABeerMaker]

I had this problem when I first started too. As I also do extract there isn't much you can do to cause a low OG. After I learned to mix better my readings have been spot on.
RDWHAHB