First AG x2 = 1 question

ahansen · Nov 15, 2009

So I just finished my first AG batch... well, actually I did 2. First batch, everything went well (thanks for the tips - almost made a mistake when measuring water which would have left me way light). Anyhow, batch 1 turned out perfect - OG was on the money and its safely tucked away on the shelf in the basement where it's a nice 67 degrees..

Second batch is where the question comes up. I flat ran out of daylight, it started to sleet and I still had to clean up the deck (which is now covered with StarSan). Anyhow, my wort was 77.3 degrees in the bucket and I measured the OG at 1.062 whereas I had a target of 1.071. I know the batch will turn out fine, but I was wondering if the OG will rise as the temperate goes down and if so, is there any formula that I can use for the future?

Thanks for all the tips and for reading this thread...

alcibiades · Nov 15, 2009

http://www.brewcalcs.com/

the temp correction calculator is on the left hand side.

Rick500 · Nov 15, 2009

That'll make it about 1.064, adjusted for temperature and assuming your hydrometer is calibrated for 60F.

Here's a calculator you can use:
http://www.brewersfriend.com/hydrometer-temp/

ahansen · Nov 16, 2009

Got it - thanks for the link. Any idea what would cause a lower OG? My water, grain and adjunct was on the money. I pulled 1 .4oz of hops out of the mix, but that shouldn't take it down that much. Maybe it was just murphy?

phatuna · Nov 16, 2009

There could be a lot of reasons why you were off, but if you were really spot on with everything, you should be on.

If you were not spot on with everything, it could be your crush, mash temps, sparge temps, water ratio, you may have weighed the grains incorrectly, you may not have had good conversion, did you mix mash and sparge well?

Did you take hydrometer readings of all of your runnings? Did you test the wort to see if you had full conversion? Did you boil off the correct amount of water and end up with the amount your recipe called for?

As you dial in your system, you will become more and more aware of where your inconsistencies are. Just try to document everything to find where you are loosing efficiency.