og really low...please help

[reiffer75]

Just brewed a brewers best pumpkin porter extract kit...brewed exactly to instructions x-cept added 15 oz.can of pumpkin pie mix @ flame out. My og was WAY low (1.010) which is lowet than the specified fg......should i be concerned?

 

[nukebrewer]

Are you sure you read your hydrometer correctly? Even if you left out a decent amount of the extract your OG wouldn't be that low. Re-check your gravity and make sure you're looking at the right scale and temperature correcting. If your indications still say it's 1.010, could you post a picture of what you're looking at? Maybe we can tell if you're just reading it wrong or if you really have a low OG.

 

[DrummerBoySeth]

Just brewed a brewers best pumpkin porter extract kit...brewed exactly to instructions x-cept added 15 oz.can of pumpkin pie mix @ flame out. My og was WAY low (1.010) which is lowet than the specified fg......should i be concerned?

Probably not. If you used all the extract and the right amount of water, then it is impossible to "miss" your SG like you can when brewing all-grain. The "set" amount of sugar in the extract, and the "set" amount of water mean that you cannot mess it up. It is very common for the extract to not fully mix with the brewing water and cause gravity readings that are WAY too high, or WAY too low. If your sample was mostly water with the extract not fully integrated, then the reading would be extremely low (like your reading was). Sometimes people have the opposite problem, and the gravity sample is mostly extract with not enough water incorporated into it. This causes SG readings that are ridiculously high.

Pitch your yeast, control fermentation temperature, and enjoy your beer. It will most likely turn out just fine!

 

[duboman]

Probably not. If you used all the extract and the right amount of water, then it is impossible to "miss" your SG like you can when brewing all-grain. The "set" amount of sugar in the extract, and the "set" amount of water mean that you cannot mess it up. It is very common for the extract to not fully mix with the brewing water and cause gravity readings that are WAY too high, or WAY too low. If your sample was mostly water with the extract not fully integrated, then the reading would be extremely low (like your reading was). Sometimes people have the opposite problem, and the gravity sample is mostly extract with not enough water incorporated into it. This causes SG readings that are ridiculously high.

Pitch your yeast, control fermentation temperature, and enjoy your beer. It will most likely turn out just fine!

This is exactly correct!

 

[reiffer75]

Thanx guys...trying to bring a friend into this hobby and missing my og by this far is mot helping

 

[reiffer75]

*not

 

[DrummerBoySeth]

Fear not. If he got to help, and the beer turns out good, you will have made another brewing addict, I mean, Homebrewer!

 

[reiffer75]

Hopefully there is good action in the blow-off tube tomorrow so i dont look like a fool....never missed my OG this bad before

 

[teddy4xp]

I still don't see how it's possible to have an OG that low, It had to of been mis-read. What is it going to finish at? Even if it goes to 1.001 then its only 1% alcohol. Did you leave something out? Did they forget to include something in the kit?

 

[BrewKnurd]

Let me guess. Partial boil, topped off with water? You didn't miss your OG. The sample you pulled from your fermenter was mostly the top off water, with all the good stuff at the bottom. You're fine.

If you added at least 2 pounds of extract, there is no mathematical way for you to have 1.010 as an OG. It would violate physics.

EDIT: Ah, i see drummerboy already addressed this.