O.G. Jacked up!!

[shadygrove96]

this is my 4th or 5th brew, but for the first time i am doing a recipe kit (mini mash) from AHS.

i did everything exactly how the directions said... i hit all my temps, times and volumes right on... in fact this was the closest to a "perfect" brew session i have had, no major hiccups.

so i cool down the wort (about a 3 gal boil) put half of my additonal water in the primary add the wort and put the rest of my additional water in on top and i took a sample for my reading. the recipe calls for a 1.05 o.g. my sample came out with a reading of 1.03. broke my heart.

so, my temp for the reading was right on and my total final volume was right on... what did i screw up? did i take the sample too soon? is this possible? my only thought is that i didnt let the additional water settle enough before taking my reading sample.

am i going to end up with a water beer?

any thoughts would help. Thanks.

 

[BlindLemonLars]

Stir that bad boy up. I mean, really stir it well! If it's in a carboy, pick it up and shake it like it owes you money. Then measure again.

Chances are the thin water and dense wort stratified into layers. All will be well!

 

[shadygrove96]

it is in a carboy. i checked it out this morning before leaving for work (about 6 hrs in primary) and fermentation has not started yet, should i still shake it up and take a reading? i wont be able to "shake it up" until after work at this point. i already have a good ammount settlement at the bottom.

any thoughts if i shake it up and nothing changes? should i still leave it? should add anything to it?

 

[Nurmey]

At this point, don't do anything. The yeast will find the sugar and make beer! Leave that baby alone for a couple weeks and your beer will be fine. If you start messing and obsessing over it, you stand a chance of ruining a perfectly nice beer.

 

[SeanyP321]

im in the same position - except I got there by adding 5 litres of water that was not meant to be in there (oops).

I battled with the advice to add DME to pump up alc vol...but have just opted to leave it and have a batch that I can drink a lot of!

good luck mate!

 

[shadygrove96]

i will try to stop obsessing over it. i think i will probably end up doing nothing and hope that i had a bad reading and the beer doesnt end up tasting like water.

i will just continue to obsess over it here in cyberspace...

anybody have any ideas as to what may have caused this? its an american red ale, has anybody had an o.g. reading similar to this on a beer like this? if the reading is accurate, an thoughts as to what i can expect in the final product?

 

[jp1316]

I have had this problem a few times myself and the beer always turned out fine. To fix the problem next time just do what Blindlemonlars said, next time before taking your og reading be sure to shake the carboy as much as possible to mix the water and wort together. It really is that simple if you followed the recipe instructions.

 

[The Pol]

We seriously get at LEAST one thread like this a week.

You cannot screw up the OG on an extract or PM brew to any real degree. If your final volume is correct, then your OG is correct. The error is in the measurement. Sugar is very heavy, water is very light, you have to stir this stuff REALLY well before taking a gravity reading.