First Brew

[stevek]

hey first brew here, i had a couple questions about the starting gravity.

I had 3.3lbs of malt extract and 2lbs of dry malt extract and 8oz of crystal malt. I brewed with 2 gallons of water and after the wort cooled to 75F I siphoned about 2 gal into the fermenter, added water to the fermenter to reach 5 gallons. with this, the expected starting gravity is 1.044-48. but actually it was about 1.029-30.

how much will that effect the alcohol content(finishing gravity is 1.012-15)?

now that the beer in the the fermenter is there anything I can do to raise the gravity(adding more extract and yeast)?

to brew a batch with the right starting gravity next time, what should I pay particular attention to?

 

[JMSetzler]

It sounds like you didn't mix up the wort and the top-off water well enough. This is a common issue. Just mix it up a little better next time and your gravity reading will come out nearer to your expected numbers.

 

[Rick500]

Yeah, I'd chalk it up to a measurement error. It's practically impossible to not hit your starting gravity with extract, unless you put too little in, or put too much water in.

Same thing happened to me with my first extract batch. Turned out fine though.

 

[stevek]

Cool, thanks for the replies.