I just pitched my first lager yeast.
I prepped my starter and let it incubate for about 2 days. The total volume of the starter was about 1/2 gallon, so I boiled my brew down to 4.5 gallons instead of 5, so that when I pitched, my volume would equal close to exactly 5 gallons.
I messed up and forgot to take a gravity reading before I pitched the yeast, so I took the reading immediately after pitching. The target OG was 1.055-1.057, but my reading was ~1.044 ± 0.001.
My question is, since the .5 gallon of starter fermented for 2 days, would the presence of that volume of fermented liquid be enough to affect my gravity by at least close to the 0.011 difference I'm seeing? Or, how much could it affect it, maybe a smaller amount?
Also, assuming that the reading is really closer to the 1.044 mark (say 1.047 after considering the added volume), what kind of a difference is that going to make in the outcome? The target alcohol should be 5.5%, how will this affect it? Maybe .5% at the most, I guess... ? Thanks!
I prepped my starter and let it incubate for about 2 days. The total volume of the starter was about 1/2 gallon, so I boiled my brew down to 4.5 gallons instead of 5, so that when I pitched, my volume would equal close to exactly 5 gallons.
I messed up and forgot to take a gravity reading before I pitched the yeast, so I took the reading immediately after pitching. The target OG was 1.055-1.057, but my reading was ~1.044 ± 0.001.
My question is, since the .5 gallon of starter fermented for 2 days, would the presence of that volume of fermented liquid be enough to affect my gravity by at least close to the 0.011 difference I'm seeing? Or, how much could it affect it, maybe a smaller amount?
Also, assuming that the reading is really closer to the 1.044 mark (say 1.047 after considering the added volume), what kind of a difference is that going to make in the outcome? The target alcohol should be 5.5%, how will this affect it? Maybe .5% at the most, I guess... ? Thanks!
