Bad OG (Hydrometer) Readings?

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paulnb9

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I brewed my second batch of beer yesterday and for the second time seem to be getting an OG reading that doesn't seem correct. The first batch, I took the reading by pouring a small amount out of the carboy immediately after the wort and H2O were in. The second batch, I took my reading the same was but poured my H2O in before the wort to get a better mixture, thinking this might have been the cause of my first "off" reading. Didn't seem to make a difference. My reading on my wheat beer was 1.020. That seems low to me. Does anyone have advice for a beginner on how to get an accurate OG and even on how to get accurate readings from the carboy down the road?
 
If you are doing partial boils then it takes a fair bit of effort to mix the top-up water thoroughly. Gravity readings from the top of the fermenter can be extremely low otherwise. (BTDT, and learned the lesson recently.) It's a little easier to ferment partial boil batches in a bucket since you can stir like mad for a minute or two. I'd say shake it, but "carboy" sounds like glass and I'd hate for you to lose a foot in the process or something.
 
I deviated from the recipe I bought to make it interesting but it never gave me an estimated OG. I'm trying to take the reading at 68 deg F. but adjusting for temp when it gets close enough.
 
Since I am doing partial (2 gal) boils, I thought about using the same scale when taking my hydrometer reading (eg. 2 cups wort : 3 cups H2O). It seems that this might give me the reading I'm looking for without taking the thinner mixture off of the top. Has anyone done that or think it would work?
 
We get this question every day

It's a pretty common issue for ANYONE topping off with water in the fermenter (and that includes partial mashes, extract or all grain revcipes) to have an error in reading the OG...In fact, it is actually nearly impossible to mix the wort and the top off water in a way to get an accurate OG reading...

Brewers get a low reading if they get more of the top off water than the wort, conversely they get a higher number if they grabbed more of the extract than the top off water in their sample.

When I am doing an extract with grain recipe I make sure to stir for a minimum of 5 minutes (whipping up a froth to aerate as well) before I draw a grav sample and pitch my yeast....It really is an effort to integrate the wort with the top off water...This is a fairly common new brewer issue we get on here...unless you under or over topped off or the final volume for the kit was 5 gallons and you topped off to 5.5, then the issue, sorry to say, is "operator error"

More than likely your true OG is really what it's supposed to be. And it will mix itself fine during fermentation.

And just use the number it says in the instructions as the true OG, because it will be.
 
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