OG reading

[terry101]

How come I never achieve the OG reading listed with my extract kits? What am I doing wrong?


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[brew_ny]

nothing it is hard to get a good mix with extract

if you put the correct amount in you hit your OG

all the best

S_M

 

[terry101]

Thanks NY Brew. I'm always concerned that my cook time is off. I tend to go a few minutes longer than directed because I don't know if cook duration is time boiling or just cooking


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[McGarnigle]

All you're doing is boiling off the water. Assuming you top off to the right amount, boil time won't matter for OG. (It will matter for hops.)

An exception would be if you boiled it down low enough that some extract stuck to the bottom of the pot.

 

[schokie]

That's why I don't believe any OG reading I take when doing extract. I take one anyway out of curiosity, but I don't put much faith it it if it's off from my calculated OG.

That's assuming a partial volume boil. If you did a full volume boil and didn't top off at all, then that's a totally different issue.

 

[b-boy]

Thanks NY Brew. I'm always concerned that my cook time is off. I tend to go a few minutes longer than directed because I don't know if cook duration is time boiling or just cooking


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The clock starts when your boils starts. It's mostly for the hops. Bitterness vs. flavor can change depending on how long hops boil.

As long as you end up with the correct volume of liquid with an extract your OG should be spot on. The kit's designed that way.

Are your readings high or low?

 

[terry101]

Readings are always low. For instance today's pumpkin ale read 1.045 when kit said it should be 1.068


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[kh54s10]

Readings are always low. For instance today's pumpkin ale read 1.045 when kit said it should be 1.068


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Whose kits are you using? Are you ending up with the correct volume? You are using all the ingredients aren't you?
After topping up with water are you mixing it REALLY well before taking your gravity reading? Is the temperature of your sample near 60F?

To take a 5 gallon kit that should be 1.068 you would have to dilute to 6 gallons or more to get that low.

Being that far off with a kit is almost impossible. The biggest variance you should see is between 1.066 and 1.070 and that would mostly be the range of reading your hydrometer.

Added: check the calibration of your hydrometer. It would be 1.000 in distilled water.

 

[terry101]

The pumpkin kit was from my LHBS. Volumes are spot on. I calibrated a while ago. I'm guessing the mix is off


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