OG too high?

[ElTejon]

So, did my fourth brew, Imperial Nut Brown. Got my wort chilled to 64 degrees in 20 minutes. I was so pleased (and over confident) that I pitched my yeast before checking my OG. Checked my OG and it was 1.100 ! I was afraid the yeast addition was giving me a false high OG so I didn't add any more water (had a full 5 gallons). Will the yeast give a false high reading or could my gravity be that high? Will it cause any problems? Within 24 hours had vigorous fermentation and it smells great. Should I just relax and have a home brew?

Rick

 

[kh54s10]

If you added top up water you probably got a sample from part that was not mixed well. Did you take your reading at 60 degrees. Hydrometers are accurate at 60. If it is not 60 you need to make a calculation to get the true reading.

If this was an extract kit and you didn't do something seriously wrong I would suspect the reading was off and the OG was OK.

OK. So, RDWHAHB

 

[Revvy]

We get this question 3-4 times every day, so you're not alone. And in reality, nothing's wrong.

It's a pretty common issue for ANYONE topping off with water in the fermenter (and that includes partial mashes, extract or all grain recipes) to have an error in reading the OG...In fact, it is actually nearly impossible to mix the wort and the top off water in a way to get an accurate OG reading...

Brewers get a low reading if they get more of the top off water than the wort, conversely they get a higher number if they grabbed more of the extract than the top off water in their sample.

RM-MN has a great analogy;

This phenomenon is easy to see if you have a glass measure cup, some dark honey, and water. Pour in half a cup of water into the glass container, then dribble in some honey. Notice the honey sinks right to the bottom? It's more dense because of the sugar it contains. Now use a toothpick to stir the water above the honey. This will simulate using a spoon in a 5 gallon container. Did you get the honey mixed in? Not likely. If you drop in some dry yeast, it will find the honey and begin eating and the activity of the yeast will mix the honey in just fine.

When I am doing an extract with grain recipe I make sure to stir for a minimum of 5 minutes (whipping up a froth to aerate as well) before I draw a grav sample and pitch my yeast....It really is an effort to integrate the wort with the top off water...This is a fairly common new brewer issue we get on here...unless you under or over topped off or the final volume for the kit was 5 gallons and you topped off to 5.5, then the issue, sorry to say, is "operator error"

More than likely your true OG is really what it's supposed to be. And it will mix itself fine during fermentation.

And just use the number it says in the instructions as the true OG, because it will be.

So the answer is, relax and do nothing.

 

[Dr Malt]

I would say relax and have a home brew.

I have not compared OG readings without and with yeast added, but I would suspect the yeast would not make much of a difference if you took the reading right after their addition and they did not have time to start metabolizing wort components. Just my 2 cents.

Dr Malt

 

[ElTejon]

Thanks everybody. I tend to be anal about my hobbies, especially when it comes to beer!

Rick

 

[Wortface]

Had same problem, but just wondering if this will effect the final product. Will half be strong and the other half be watery

 

[RM-MN]

Had same problem, but just wondering if this will effect the final product. Will half be strong and the other half be watery

Typically what happens is that the wort is not well mixed and you took a sample from the high gravity extract. This won't affect the beer because as soon as the yeast start working they will mix up the wort and water for you. Your beer will turn our all the same.