Missed target OG by a mile!

[Traughber]

I purchased the Pumpkin Ale kit from Midwest Supplies. After reading some reviews and comments of others that have purchased this kit, I made some modifications to the recipe. I increased the amount of sugar from .5lbs to 3.5lbs, instead of 30oz of canned pumpkin, I used 72oz of fresh, and increased spices a bit. I submitted this new recipe to Beersmith, and it calculated a new OG of 1.076. I followed the Beersmith instructions to the tee, and when I took my reading I got a 1.048. I'm sure I'm making some kind of noob mistake and would appreciate some more experienced advise as to what I'm doing wrong.

 

[GrogNerd]

if it's extract and you hit your volumes, you can pretty much guarantee you hit your OG. there's no mash efficiency to throw your reading off because extract has been mashed for you

what happened is called "stratification" and it's from the wort and top-off water not being mixed. your reading was probably more water than wort.

but RELAX! DON'T WORRY! (I have read that somewhere) the yeast don't mind that it wasn't mixed well, they'll find the sugars and make some alcohol for you

 

[BradleyBrew]

How much wort do you have? It doesnt take much to dilute the OG down if you are over your target volume.

 

[Traughber]

if it's extract and you hit your volumes, you can pretty much guarantee you hit your OG. there's no mash efficiency to throw your reading off because extract has been mashed for you

what happened is called "stratification" and it's from the wort and top-off water not being mixed. your reading was probably more water than wort.

but RELAX! DON'T WORRY! (I have read that somewhere) the yeast don't mind that it wasn't mixed well, they'll find the sugars and make some alcohol for you

The stratification explanation makes sense. I did take the reading after using top-off water and before aerating my wort. Thanks for the education.

 

[Traughber]

The stratification explanation makes sense. I did take the reading after using top-off water and before aerating my wort. I did the "shake" method for aeration for about 5 min before pitching my starter. So I think next time I'll take my reading after mixing it. Thanks for the education.

 

[GrogNerd]

when I did extracts I never even bothered with an OG. kit says what it will be, that's what it is, as long as I get the volumes right

besides, that gravity sample is ⅓ of a beer that could be bottled. hell no

and remember - "Relax, don't worry, have a homebrew" isn't just a slogan to us. it's a guiding principle