Gravitational Anomaly

[Hoochin'Fool]

Made wort yesterday, hit my numbers spot on for gravity & volume. Cooled wort down to 130 so it wouldn't melt my ferm-bucket, and then let it slo-chill overnight. At same time, took a hydrometer sample and placed plastic cling wrap over the tube to keep wild things out. Once hydrometer had cooled down to 70F (didn't take long), I confirmed that it matched my refractometer reading (1.071). Anyways, this morning I sprinkled my yeast into the fermenter, and was going to add just a pinch to the hydrometer jar*, when I noticed that a lot of "gunk" had settled out of the wort to the bottom of the tube, and the gravity had now dropped from 1.071 to 1.067 -- it's not a big deal, but I'm just wondering if this is a common sort of thing? Are gravity readings with still-cloudy wort usually inaccurate? Temperature was stable.

* reason: can watch the hydrometer as it progresses thru the full ferment without wasting samples!

 

[day_trippr]

It's actually more likely that your original hydro and refract readings were correct and the hydro reading after the overnight rest had slightly stratified.

You needed a tie breaker measurement...

Cheers!

 

[IslandLizard]

Are gravity readings with still-cloudy wort usually inaccurate? Temperature was stable.

It's very possible. Suspended matter can increase gravity and thus readings thereof.

 

[Hoochin'Fool]

It's very possible. Suspended matter can increase gravity and thus readings thereof.

That makes sense, I dump EVERYTHING into the fermenter, even the sludge at the bottom of the kettle. I wish I would have taken another refractometer reading this morning, before pitching the yeast, just to see if that stayed same, or decreased as the hydrometer did. Anyways, the hydro sample is already down to 1.038 or so (too much foam to be very accurate), tho it's not in the swamp cooler, so definitely running faster than the fermenter.