I forgot to get the OG

[paulp]

I was brewing late last night and completely forgot to get a gravity reading before pitching yeast. I'd really like to get the reading but am torn between living with this mistake vs risking contamination by grabbing some of the wort for a hydrometer reading.

Also, I'm not really sure if this will impact the reading by having yeast in the sample.

Are there any other downsides to getting the reading 12 hrs after pitching yeast?

 

[NervousDad]

If it was an extract I wouldn't bother. The only thing you're not going to be able to tell is your ABV. You'll still be able to tell when it's done fermenting. If all grain you won't know what your efficiency was, but that's not really important.

 

[paulp]

It was a partial 10G batch - 16 lbs of DME and about 7 lbs of grain. BeerSmith projects the OG at 1.087 based on 72% efficiency.

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

I personally wouldn't take the reading now. Given that most of the gravity was provided by extract, you're probably pretty close to your number. Being off 3 points on either side isn't a big deal, especially with a beer that big.

 

[paulp]

Sounds like a consensus. Thanks for the advice.

 

[headbanger]

+1, after the 4th or 5th time I forgot I just stopped taking readings all together. My beer always turns out good and I always hit the efficiencies I was looking for when I did measure so I figured there's really no point to it anyway.

 

[paulp]

Interesting. I'm not at that level yet but maybe one day .