hydrometer reading wrong

[sashurlow]

I am brewing a batch of pumpkin rye and it came out at 1.030 at 3 gallons of water to one jar of rye LME (3.3lb). I'm thinking it should be higher. I also made some wheat with 3 gallons for 3lb of DME which also came out at 1.030. The kicker is that my tap water came out at .0990. I work in a clinical lab and know that distilled water should be 1.0
Is it possible that the paper roll inside my hydrometer shifted and is now reading wrong?

 

[Teromous]

Yes it is possible that the hydrometer was tapped too hard and the paper slid down the neck throwing it out of calibration.

 

[doug293cz]

Hydrometer scales are linear, so if you know how far off it is with water, you can just add/subtract that offset from your reading.

Brew on