When I brewed my Bavarian Hefeweizen the other night my OG read only 1.042. It is supposed to be about 1.050 according to my recipe. I did notice that because of how syrupy the LME was that I couldn't get the whole jug poured in. Would that have an effect on it? Any other reasons?
Low OG
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jerryteague
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ness22 said:
Depending on how much LME was left behind, it might make your OG a little low, but not as much as what you measured(unless you left alot in the container). Was this a full boil, or did you add top off water to it? If you added water after the boil, it could cause your OG reading to be off if the wort wasn't completely mixed. Partial boils are notorious for giving wrong readings.
Did you heat the container of LME before you poured it into your boil kettle? You might want to try that next time. I usually put my LME container in a sink of hot tap water to about 3/4ths of the way up the sides of the container. It makes pouring a lot easier. After you empty the LME into the boil kettle, rinse it out with the wort that's already in the pot to get everything out. If this was a kit, the OG on the instructions is what it should be. You'll be fine, the yeast will do their thing, and you'll have beer in a few weeks. Oh, i can't forget the obligatory RDWHAHB.
An inch is a LOT of LME to leave behind. Follow the advice above to get the most you can out of the can.
There are many ways to aerate, and shaking is one of those ways. You can use oxygen and a stone (search the forums, you'll find more on this). The method I used last time was a 28" paddle attached to my drill. I let that whisk around for a minute or two while altering the depth I was stirring at. That seemed to do a pretty good job but I can't measure the actual oxygen content so it might be all froth and no aeration.
As for "the wort mixed well after doing a partial boil" - so far I have done partial boild ranging from 1.5 to 4 gallons. When you are done with the boil you usually need to add it to cold water in your fermenter. This is where you want to make sure the wort and the cold water are well mixed to get better readings.
There are many ways to aerate, and shaking is one of those ways. You can use oxygen and a stone (search the forums, you'll find more on this). The method I used last time was a 28" paddle attached to my drill. I let that whisk around for a minute or two while altering the depth I was stirring at. That seemed to do a pretty good job but I can't measure the actual oxygen content so it might be all froth and no aeration.
As for "the wort mixed well after doing a partial boil" - so far I have done partial boild ranging from 1.5 to 4 gallons. When you are done with the boil you usually need to add it to cold water in your fermenter. This is where you want to make sure the wort and the cold water are well mixed to get better readings.
