How come nothing goes as planned.

[joesixpack]

Made my beer last night took the og reading which is supposed to be
1.044 - 1.048 and it was 1.032. What gives? I made sure everything was clean, sanitized and followed the recipe instructions.

I tell ya, if it not one thing it's another. Makes me want a beer.

 

[diS]

What was the process, extract, mini-mash, AG?
If you brew with extract and top-off with water maybe wort and water doesn't get mixed well, so you measured low gravity.

 

[whatsleftofyou]

I'm guessing that this is extract and you did a partial boil? If so, it's probably just because everything didn't mix well enough and you got a more watery sample from the top.

Edit: Ha, diS beat me by seconds...

 

[joesixpack]

So next time should I mix after topping off with water, then take the reading? Also, there was some sludge left in the pot which i didn't dump in. Should I have?

 

[aygov]

Throwing the sludge in is up to you. Some people whirlpool and strain to avoid it and others dump the whole pot, sludge and all, into the fermenter. Personally I favor the latter approach.

 

[Pappers_]

If you are using extract, and you are confident that you have the right volume of water, you can assume that your original gravity was correct. There is really no way to mess that up, unless you use the wrong amount of extract or the wrong amount of water.

 

[Grumpybumpy]

Agreed, you probably didn't mix your water and wort together well enough to get an accurate reading. No worries though, I bet your beer will taste just fine, you just won't know the ABV.

Throwing the sludge in is up to you. Some people whirlpool and strain to avoid it and others dump the whole pot, sludge and all, into the fermenter. Personally I favor the latter approach.

Question about that...

If you have a couple ounces of 1 min hop additions for an IPA, does pouring the whole shebang into the fermenter bring out more aromas from those late additions? That's the reasoning I took for not straining this batch.

 

[AdvGroo]

I like the thread title, I seem to have the same issue. I have done now 3rd brew and I have yet to remember to take my OG reading. Something always seems to go sideways. I have adapted to a new style of measuring my ABV.

 

[Germelli1]

If it is a recipe kit I guaruntee you hit close to your gravities, as long as the volumes were right. As Revvy says, we get this question at least 3 times a day and it just has to do with wort and water being difficult to fully mix up leading to low gravity readings!

 

[DJG42]

did you adjust your hydrometer reading for temperature?

 

[aygov]

If you have a couple ounces of 1 min hop additions for an IPA, does pouring the whole shebang into the fermenter bring out more aromas from those late additions? That's the reasoning I took for not straining this batch.

I'm not entirely sure on that one. I use hop bags for my hops and leave them in until I get my ice water bath set up and then out they come.