Cannot believe my OG reading!

[makislav]

I was wondering whether my Festival's Old Suffolk Strong Ale OG reading is veridical. Here is the recipe:


1 kg of Weyermann CARAFA Special type 1 800-1000 EBC steeped for 30 min
3 kg of Suffolk's LME
1 kg of Dextrose

The manufacturer gives an abv approximation of 6%. There is no way this beer is going there - at most it can be 5'ish after priming.

Unfortunately, I did not take a picture of OG measurement. I did use two hydrometers with the same results though.

 

[frazier]

And - what reading did you get? What's your volume?

My guess is that your expected OG would be somewhere in the vicinity of 1.075. You probably just hadn't mixed the wort well enough. Depending on the yeast (what yeast?) you should easily hit 6% ABV.

Cheers,

 

[makislav]

Oops, sorry, forgot to mention :cross:

My reading was 1.037 to around 23 liters of water!

I guess, giving your conjecture, that I just did not stir it well enough. All the good stuff must have been at the bottom of the fermenting vessel when I took the hydrometer sample.

The yeast is the kit yeast. It has been now in the fermenter for a couple of hours, and I can already here it bubbling.

 

[schokie]

When doing extract I don't even bother measuring the OG anymore. If you've measured your ingredients correctly then I 100% guarantee you'll be within .001 of your estimated OG. Any reading you take is more likely to be wrong than right.

I make a point to stir vigorously after adding top off water, but that's more just to oxygenate the wort rather than ensued good mixing. A solid fermentation will have not issues mixing the wort for you. That's why your FG reading won't have the same issue.

So just assume you hit your estimated OG exactly and proceed as planned. You'll be fine.

 

[podz]

When doing extract I don't even bother measuring the OG anymore. If you've measured your ingredients correctly then I 100% guarantee you'll be within .001 of your estimated OG. Any reading you take is more likely to be wrong than right.

QFT

Only time I whip out my hydrometer when making extract beer is to check if it's hit terminal gravity or not.

With cider, I don't even use my hydrometer because my process and ingredients identical each time and the result is the same each time, after the exact same amount of time.

 

[unionrdr]

I agree that wort & topoff probably weren't mixed well enough. But no matter the brewing style, kit or recipe I always take an OG. Just a good habit to get into in my opinion.