OG off from recipe

[grammatron]

I just finished up brewing what was supposed to be an English strong ale or old ale. I followed the recipe pretty closely, but my OG reading is way lower than the recipe states. It lists 1.093, and mine was like 1.030. First of all, what's the cause of this? Secondly, does this mean my English strong ale is going to be more like an English weak ale?

Another thought...I poured the wort into the fermenter bucket, then added water to it. Could my reading be off from the denser wort being on the bottom and not being mixed in with the water enough? It seemed plenty aerated just from pouring the wort and pouring the water, but I gave it a good swish around too.

This is my first attempt at a bigger beer, so I'm pretty clueless as to what's going on here.

For reference, the recipe is:
.75 lb Crystal
.25 lb Black Patent Malt

4.5 liters (4 cans) Coopers Pale Ale LME
.5 lb black strap molasses

1.5 oz chinook hops

I steeped the grains for 20 minutes, started the boil w/ the extract, added the hops after 30 minutes, then went an hour (90 minute boil total). I added the molasses about half-way through.

 

[casebrew]

I'm guessing that maybe you read the wrong scale on your hydrometer.

Ain't no way no how that an extract recipe can be off that much- you did stir the extract in, not leave it in the bottom of the kettle? Did you leave three cans in the trunk?

 

[grammatron]

All four cans made it in and were thoroughly stirred. I even checked the bottom of the brew pot after I poured he wort out! haha

My hydrometer only has the specific gravity and potential alc %. Even adjusted for temperature only adds like .002 to my reading. Maybe reading these things is trickier than I thought?

 

[IrregularPulse]

This is a very common thread created by extract brewers. If you used all the malt in the cans, and added the proper amount of water, your OG cannot be off. It is difficult to get the wort and water mixed well in the bucket, you just got mostly water in your sample. Just assume the kit's OG when figuring ABV, RDWHAHB

The search feature can be very helpful. there's a 99.999999% chance that the questions you have when starting out are the same we all had when starting out and there are already 100 threads answering them.

 

[grammatron]

I did a search, but, you know, searching for hydrometer, original gravity, or any of the other key words for this question gives you about a million results. And isn't the Beginners Beer Brewing Forum the one to ask these questions in?

I'd wondered about the wort just not being mixed in well enough. Thanks for confirming that.

 

[mmb]

With extract brewing, if you follow the directions and use the proper amounts of extract and water you'll hit the gravity the recipe states if the instruction sheet is correct.

Partial Mash and All Grain brewing, when you do the actual conversion of the sugars and basically make your own "extract", are where you run into issues with the variability of sugar content in the wort.

 

[grammatron]

Yeah, that's why I was so confused. With that few ingredients, I didn't know how I could've gone wrong, haha.

 

[nebben]

yup. Don't underestimate mixing

 

[IrregularPulse]

I did a search, but, you know, searching for hydrometer, original gravity, or any of the other key words for this question gives you about a million results. And isn't the Beginners Beer Brewing Forum the one to ask these questions in?

I'd wondered about the wort just not being mixed in well enough. Thanks for confirming that.

Yes it is the palce for asking questions, but it is the place to read also. We don't mind helping, but some effort on your part is equally appreciated.