Brew Day Low OG and Bottle Day low FG causes?

[DieterVonBrauhaus]

Hello,
I have a OCD question for all. I brewed Brewers Best German Alt Beer.
I boiled using WalMart 2.5 gallon bottle drinking water on my electric stove. I did exactly how the recipe calls for, exact temps, exact boil, exact timing for boil.
Boil did rise a little in boil pot but never boiled over. everything went perfect. Cooled right down to 70F within an hour, placed wort in bottle bucket and added bottled drinking water to 5 gallon, put the bottle bucket on kitchen table and ferment bucket underneath I aerated the heck out of it. Took OG, Level was supposed to be 1.048-1.052, I got 1.044. What the??
Pitched Yeast, let it sit in primary for 3 weeks, never touched it.
On bottle day took FG got 1.011, What the?? FG was supposed to be 1.014-1.017
WHY? What causes the low OG and FG readings

 

[BrookdaleBrew]

Temperature makes a difference when taking readings, do you know what temp you took the readings at?

Also, you could get a low OG if you used too much top up water in your fermentor (this would also explain the low FG) or if your boiled wort and top up water didn't mix thoroughly before you took your reading.

 

[JeepDiver]

Your reading are really close enough to not be too big of a concern, but if I had to guess, I'd say you'r measurments on the buckets are a little off. Probably have a little over 5 gallons of volume total, thus the change in readings. You may want to take an accurate jug and fill your bottling bucket up with 5 gallons and see where it falls on the line on the bucket.

 

[BigB]

Taking a hydro reading when the wort was 70 degrees would only account for .001-.002 of the difference. And it looks like you aerated/mixed it well prior to taking the initial sample, so although it is sometimes difficult to mix thouroughly, I would question whether that was the problem here. Another thought, although unlikely, is that your hydrometer is off... check it in 60 degree plain water.....it should read 1.000. Finally, if you used the markings on the bucket for gallon measurements, sometimes those are off. Generally, as brookdale said, too much top off water or failure to mix is the usual culprits.

 

[DieterVonBrauhaus]

I appreciate all the response.
Wort temp was 70F when put it ferment bucket which only counts for -1 difference.
Hydrometer was checked before checking the wort. It read 1.000 in plain water. The top off water was at the 5 gallon line.
The buckets are from Brewers Best starter kit with lines for gallons. Maybe they are off, I will check.
Sure Beer is beer and relax it will make beer...I understand all that. But I want to understand why I can brew so perfectly and come out with low OG/FG in the end.

 

[arch1tect]

Since it's extract it's hard to get the wort and water mixed thoroughly enough to give you an accurate reading. How much water did you start the boil with? If you started with 2.5 gallons and had some boil off you would've had to add more water which would account for the lower gravity on both ends of the spectrum.

I wouldn't worry about it though as it's truly hard to screw up extract brewing. Wait until you enjoy one before worrying.