Getting OG - Can't get a reading

[erik81]

I brewed an red ale, dropped in the hydrometer in my test jar, spin it to dislodge the bubble, but my hydrometer never even drops low enough to read on the paper inside the tube. After fermentation, it does drop so I get some type of reading, so I think I have fermented beer.

What could be causing the hydrometer to not even sink enough to get a reading?

Here is the recipe I did:

Red Ale
8 pounds Light Malt Extract
1 pound 80L Crystal Malt
0.5 pound 120L Crystal Malt
1.5 oz. Centennial Hops (60 min in boil)
1oz. Cascade Hops (1 min in boil)
I boiled 3 gallons of water with all the ingredients and then added 2 cold gallons to the fermenter after the wort was cooled. I tried to take a reading before I pitched the yeast. Wort was at 70 F degrees.

Any guidance would help!

 

[vanceromance]

Did you calibrate your hydrometer in water?? It should read 1.0

 

[ajf]

I would guess that you either have a faulty hydrometer, or you have a finishing hydrometer that only reads up to about 1.020. In either case, if you want to get the OG you will need to get another hydrometer or get your old hydrometer replaced.
Assuming that you ended up with 5g wort, and that you used DME, then you should have ended up with an OG of about 1.080. I don't know that you would have ended up with 5g though because you added a total of 5g water, and had 1.5 lb grain (which will absorb some of that water), and you boiled for 60 minutes which will evaporate some of the water. If you ended up with 4g wort, you should have an OG of about 1.100 (again assuming DME).
You also don't want to boil the crystal malts, you want to steep them at about 155F for 30 minutes or so, and then get the grains out before boiling the wort. Boiling grains can cause astringency, but I have done it before, and the beer wasn't bad.

-a.

 

[erik81]

Thanks! It worked this time. I just brewed a strawberry batch and got a reading. Very excited. Thanks for a help!