False SG?

[Crohnnie]

Hello, I'm brewing my first beer. I did a a sort of cereal mash with 2lbs of flaked barley and amylase, then added 3.3lbs of LME pale malt, 1lb wheat DME. The SG read 1.030, which seems low considering it's a 2 gallon batch. The temperature wasn't too high above 68f. I'm really confused why it's so low, any ideas?

 

[Tribe Fan]

Adding that amount of extract to 2.5 gallons of water would yield an SG of 1.060. SO either the extract or water was not measured correctly, or the hydrometer is broken.

Testing the hydro on water is easy, and you can re-test the wort easily too. Make sure you have enough liquid in the tube to float it. If you truly have a 1.030 SG, then take a look at how the extract and water volume was measured.

Edit: Make sure the wort is thoroughly mixed and all of the extract is incorporated evenly. Measure the temp of the wort in the Hydro tube so you get an accurate reading (but temp isn't going to cause 30-40 points off).

 

[Crohnnie]

Thanks for your reply. I think the only possible answer is I misused the hydrometer, no? There's just no way it could be so low.

 

[BlueHouseBrewhaus]

Two possibilities come to mind. First is inadequate mixing. This is usually something that happens when using top-off water in the fermenter. If that doesn't apply in your case, you may have been reading the wrong scale on the hydrometer or just reading it incorrectly. Extract is pretty much guaranteed to give you the predicted gravity within a few points.

 

[Crohnnie]

I thought I mixed it correctly, but there did seem to be some kind of debris. I think it's from the barley. I guess it's also possible the extracts weren't able to dissolve fully but I doubt that.

 

[PADave]

Two possibilities come to mind. First is inadequate mixing. This is usually something that happens when using top-off water in the fermenter. If that doesn't apply in your case, you may have been reading the wrong scale on the hydrometer or just reading it incorrectly. Extract is pretty much guaranteed to give you the predicted gravity within a few points.

x2 this topic comes up at least once a week as a new thread.

 

[Chiller_ale]

Bubbles on the hydrometer? Give the hydro a spin to dislodge any bubbles. Hydo touching the side? Make sure it is level.

Also, just set your sample aside while you do other things to let the foam settle.

 

[Crohnnie]

Bubbles on the hydrometer? Give the hydro a spin to dislodge any bubbles. Hydo touching the side? Make sure it is level.

Also, just set your sample aside while you do other things to let the foam settle.

Thanks for the sagely advice, definitely going to try this.

 

[ncbrewer]

I guess it's also possible the extracts weren't able to dissolve fully but I doubt that.

Did you boil this? If so, you would have burned extract onto the bottom of the kettle if it wasn't dissolved.

 

[Crohnnie]

Yeah I boiled it, nothing burned on the bottom.

 

[MagicMatt]

Bubbles on the hydrometer? Give the hydro a spin to dislodge any bubbles. Hydo touching the side? Make sure it is level.

Also, just set your sample aside while you do other things to let the foam settle.

Bubbles on the hydrometer would cause it to read higher than expected, not lower. The bubbles add buoyancy.

The only thing I've found that consistently makes the hydrometer read lower than it should is using too narrow of a sample tube. I tried using the tube the hydrometer came in, and there was such little room around the hydrometer for liquid that it just never rose up all of the way like it should.