I am wondering why my initial gravity of a stout is at 1.034?

[Elysium]

Hey guys

We have just finished an imperial stout and the initial gravity is at 1.034 (batch temperature was at 22 when we pitched the yeast). I am wondering if that's okay. Because I thought stout's gravity should be at 1.060 or 1.050. We took the gravity at 21 C room temperature.
Is it normal?

I have calculated that the alcohol percentage will be like at 3% this way. If I am not wrong. I am a bit worried about this batch.

 

[Demus]

If your reading is correct, that would be the worlds weakest Imp Stout! Was it partial boil with water added at the end? If so, give the carboy a good shake and check again; it may not be thoroughly mixed...

 

[JLem]

Recipe? Process?

 

[Yooper]

What was the recipe? If you used extract, it's possible that the wort had "heavier" extract at the bottom, because maybe it wasn't mixed all that well with the water. In that case, the OG is what the kit said it would be if you used the ingredients and the correct amount of water.

 

[ChshreCat]

What Yooper said, but I'd go on to say it applies to any partial boil brews. If you're adding water to thick, concentrated wort... you can get stratification if you don't stir the living crap out of it before you take your sample.

 

[Revvy]

Read my thread entitled-"Attention new brewers, yes your original gravity reading is wrong. Don't panic"?

 

[Elysium]

Thanks for all the replies.

The story is that we had to wait like 3 hours before we pitched the yeast. The batch was too warm (it was at 25 Celsius) and it should have been at 21.

We eventually pitched the yeast at 22 and before that we took that reading.

It was made from 3 kilos of extract. We made 5 gallons. Shall I take another reading tomorrow and post it here?

 

[Yooper]

Thanks for all the replies.

The story is that we had to wait like 3 hours before we pitched the yeast. The batch was too warm (it was at 25 Celsius) and it should have been at 21.

We eventually pitched the yeast at 22 and before that we took that reading.

It was made from 3 kilos of extract. We made 5 gallons. Shall I take another reading tomorrow and post it here?

Not needed. Was it only 3 kg of extract (liquid), and a total of 5 US gallons in the fermenter? If so, the OG is 1.047 (low for an Imperial stout, but much higher than your reading). If it was dry extract, the OG is 1.058.

 

[ChshreCat]

Thanks for all the replies.

The story is that we had to wait like 3 hours before we pitched the yeast. The batch was too warm (it was at 25 Celsius) and it should have been at 21.

We eventually pitched the yeast at 22 and before that we took that reading.

It was made from 3 kilos of extract. We made 5 gallons. Shall I take another reading tomorrow and post it here?

If all you had was extract and water with no other source of sugars, there's really no need to open it up and take another reading. If you post the recipe someone could tell you exactly what your OG was because there's no room for it to vary in the process. edit: See, Yooper already did it. heheheh

 

[JLem]

3 kilos of extract in 5 gallons of water does not an imperial stout make. As Yooper has already calculated, you're looking at a maximum OG of 1.058 if you used dry extract. An imperial stout would need to start upwards of 1.075.

Your low reading was a result of an unmixed solution. With a known amount of extract dissolved in a known amount of water, you get a known gravity, regardless of what your hydrometer tells you.

 

[AgingHopster]

Beersmith says you need 9 lb of LME to get 1.079 @ 5 gallons. Convert 9 lb.s and you get 4.1 kilos, not 3 kilos. If I were you I'd boil another 3/4 gallon (3L) of wort with the extra LME your missing (1.1 kilos +0.52 kilos for the extra .75 gallon) you should have had, and add then add that to your carboy (after it cools) and you should be ok. You'll end up with a 5.75 gallon batch @ somewhere around 1.076 OG. Might want to add a proportional amount of hops to the addition as well.

PS your OG isn't so bad for a dry stout unless you hopped it like an Imperial. How much and what did you hop this batch with? If it is very hoppy with this tiny malt backbone it wont be a very balanced beer. Which leaves my above advise your best bet to me.

 

[ChshreCat]

PS your OG isn't so bad for a dry stout unless you hopped it like an Imperial. How much and what did you hop this batch with? If it is very hoppy with this tiny malt backbone it wont be a very balanced beer. Which leaves my above advise your best bet to me.

Or just call it a black ipa and enjoy it as is.