Taking OG and FG with hydrometer

[AMW345]

It's not hard, but I'm a little OCD about taking measurements.

On my last batch of beer, I had about 2 Gals of wort that I then added three gallons of water into, then I took the OG reading. The problem is that the reading was low (or off) due to there being too much water that I had just added.

My question is this, should I take the hydrometer reading before adding the 3 Gals of water to my next batch? OR Should I add the additional water and be careful to mix it more thoroughly before taking the reading?

 

[hoppymonkey]

The problem with OG readings for extact is that is next to impossible to mix them well enough to be completely accurate. The good thing about about extract is that you can calculate it just fine without a SG reading. DOn't sweat it.

 

[mattne421]

you'll definitely want to take it after topping your wort off with the water. otherwise you'll end up with a really high OG. I usually take a gravity reading after i aerate it so that way its nice a mixed up

 

[AMW345]

Follow up question: I just brewed my second batch of homebrew, a red ale. It was extract and partial boil. I made sure to mix the wort with the water I topped it off with, and I came back with a reading of 1.068 at 68-70 degrees. Just trying to get a feel with you experienced brewers out there, does that sound closer to correct?