Low OG?

[TenorMadness]

I bottled my first batch today, and did the usual final gravity measurement. I was using a milk stout kit that should produce an abv of 5% or so. My FG was in the recommend range at 1.022, but my OG was a bit low at 1.05. This would produce an abv of only 3.68%. What did I do wrong?

I tasted the beer as I was bottling and didn't detect any obvious warning signs. It just tasted a bit watered down. Maybe the lack of carbonation contributed to that.

 

[antony]

I think there's too many things that could've "gone wrong" & without more info, it'd be hard to guess. Was it an extract kit? Did you add top off water (without stirring well)? If that's the case, maybe your initial reading was off. More info & I'm sure someone will have an idea where to start...

 

[TenorMadness]

It was a Brewer's Best extract milk stout kit. I did add top off water. I didn't stir much, to avoid getting too much air in the wort.

What other info would be useful?

 

[Subdivisions]

That's probably why your low OG. Mix it well or your gravity sample won't be accurate. You want to get as much oxygen as possible into the wort at this point. The yeast need it to reproduce. It's after fermentation is done that you want to avoid oxygen.

I'd say you probably had a higher OG than what you read. Just leave it be. It'll all work itself out.

 

[thejuanald]

It was a Brewer's Best extract milk stout kit. I did add top off water. I didn't stir much, to avoid getting too much air in the wort.

What other info would be useful?

That's probably it. Also, you do want to aerate your wort as much as you can before you add the yeast.