Low og! Help!

[evanos]

I'm brewing a Cooper's pilsner (malt and hops come in a syrup-can, add ~500 grams light malt, 300 g sugar) and my OG is about 1.040. From my understanding, target OG should be about 1.044-1.050.

1. Is 1.040 too low to proceed?
2. Will it effect anything besides taste?
3. If it is too low, WHAT DO I DO?! I have sucrose, raw sugar (turbinado), and dark brown sugar on hand.

It's quite possible that the OG is low due to the fact that the recipe calls for 500 grams light malt, but the local brew store sells 1 pound packages (~453 grams).

 

[RedGlass]

Did you correct for the temperature when taking your hydrometer reading?

 

[a10t2]

What's the volume? Did you do a partial boil and top off with water? It's almost impossible to mix the two uniformly, which would cause an inaccurate OG reading.

But assuming the can is 1.5 kg of LME and your final volume is 5 gallons:

(37*1.5*2.2 + 43*1 + 46*300/454)/5 = 39, so OG should be 1.039.