hydrometer reading , plz help

[BrutalBrew]

Ok , ive just finished my first brew day.... I am having trouble reading this hydrometer the kit came with. Its a France triple scale. On the SG scale it has only 2 digit numbers. I took a reading of 42, 1 notch under the 40 mark. Now im thinking my reading is 1.042? Im also amusing it just shows the last 2 digits and you just add 1.0__ and what you see is the numbers you fill in the blank. Im brewing a autumn amber ale extract w/ steeping grains from midwest supply. Ive looked ever where and all i come up with is hydrometers that actually spell out the 1.000 number. Im also wondering what my starting SG should be for the wort that I made.

 

[Hex23]

You're probably right. One French company I know that makes hydrometers is "Alla". They are typically really good. Unfortunately, the one I had broke. Assuming you made an extract batch, the gravity is simple to predict. It is based strictly on the amount of extract you added and the ending volume of wort.

 

[formula2fast]

You are reading it correctly. Don't forget to compensate for the temperature that you took the SG at. There should be the additions on the label/instructions that came with it.

As far as what your SG should be, you would need to list your ingredients to figure that out. I am not good/smart enough to do it, but I know there are a ton of really smart guys on here that can.

 

[Dan]

Like Hex said, as long as your volume of wort came in at the predicted level you're coverd. If the volume of wort is low the SG will be a bit high and if the volume was more than expected the SG will be a little lower.

Beer supply places can confuse a person

(SG) Specific Gravity = Sugar in solution

(OG) Original Gravity in beer making anyway is the specific gravity of wort after the boil.

(FG) Final Gravity in beer making is the specific gravity of wort that has completely fermented.


Midwest should have given you an spec list. If they didn't, here are the numbers from their website

Autumn Amber Ale.

Recipe for 5 Gallons
SG: 1.042-1.046
FG: 1.010-1.012

Hope that helps you.

Edit. Sorry about the SG lesson, sounds like you already understand that. The last part of my post in regards to readings are from midwest. SECOND EDIT: I shouldn't do more than a few things at once. The above is now correct.

 

[BrutalBrew]

Its was at 68deg. and I did correct the volume to very slightly over 5 gallons. So it looks like I should be ok. Thanks for info. Can a SG reading be a sign of something going wrong in the brewing process. for example say I had a final reading of 1.050 or 1.030 . or is this nothing but sugar to water ratio?

 

[iv_hokie12]

Could be right. Could be plato. I don't know anything about plato though.

Edit: Nevermind. 42 is sky high on plato.

 

[tsellmeyer]

Essentially, the importance of starting specific gravity for extract brewing is to be able to compare it to your final gravity (after fermentation is complete) to asses alcohol production. You'll take one more gravity measurement after fermentation and calculate ABV in your beer.

 

[BrutalBrew]

Essentially, the importance of starting specific gravity for extract brewing is to be able to compare it to your final gravity (after fermentation is complete) to asses alcohol production. You'll take one more gravity measurement after fermentation and calculate ABV in your beer.

I was just wondering if theres anything else you can use the reading for to indicate some sort of info about anything.

 

[Hex23]

I was just wondering if theres anything else you can use the reading for to indicate some sort of info about anything.

Not really. It's like you said ... it's really just about the sugar to water ratio (which is well controlled with extract brewing). But on the flip-side, be careful with extract brewing and assuming that an off OG reading is a sign of something gone wrong. This is because of a common phenomenon with top-off extract brewing where a lack of mixing can lead to inaccurate gravity readings. It's usually fixed with lots of mixing the wort and re-measuring.

With All Grain brewing it's different though because the gravity of the wort is a matter of mash conversion efficiency. It is often difficult to hit a pre-boil (ultimately OG) gravity exactly so it needs to be measured and possibly adjusted for.

 

[tsellmeyer]

With all grain brewing, starting gravity is an important number in calculating efficiency of your system. With extract brewing, more DME or LME will increase the gravity at a known rate. Because the yeast will ferment through, alcohol production potential will be greater with a higher starting gravity. Also, sterile water added pre-fermentation can manipulate the starting gravity lower and a less alcoholic beer.

 

[tsellmeyer]

not really. It's like you said ... It's really just about the sugar to water ratio (which is well controlled with extract brewing). But on the flip-side, be careful with extract brewing and assuming that an off og reading is a sign of something gone wrong. This is because of a common phenomenon with top-off extract brewing where a lack of mixing can lead to inaccurate gravity readings. It's usually fixed with lots of mixing the wort and re-measuring.

With all grain brewing it's different though because the gravity of the wort is a matter of mash conversion efficiency. It is often difficult to hit a pre-boil (ultimately og) gravity exactly so it needs to be measured and possibly adjusted for.

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