What if you topped off BEFORE cooling the wort? A) it would help cool the wort faster B) you would have an easier time getting a good mix of wort and added water since sugars in general are more soluble at higher temps and you would have to wait for it to cool properly before talking a reading...
S. cerevisiae is not really somthing that readily causes human disease. In fact according to the EPA it is only an opportunistic pathogen "S. cerevisiae is not considered a pathogenic microorganism, but has been reported rarely as a cause of opportunistic infections"
In otherwords it is...
I started my beer carrier like a boss (bud light + waking up next to a chick 6'1" 200lbs with scratch marks on my back...:rockin::tank::confused::drunk::D:off:)
Then, not long after, a friend of my introduced me to the real pleasures of beer and of course I was hooked.
So naturally I got...
Higher temps will give you a lower SG reading. Even so those numbers do seem very low... but what do I know I havent even been at this home brew stuff for a year.
See the chart here. Between 32F and 100F the difference is only .005 to .007...