Og???

[Allstar]

Is it a bad thing if you don't match the OG that is listed in the recipe. I just did a milk stout and my reading was 1.054 and the list OG was 1.062. Is this bad, what could it be?

 

[TTB-J]

Did you do a partial boil? Could be that your top off water was not mixed thoroughly with the wort and you got a sample with more plain water than wort. That's a pretty common problem, I wouldn't sweat it.

 

[Allstar]

Ok I thought it might be something like that but I am new and wasn't sure.

 

[JLem]

besides, you're not that really far off so I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[Allstar]

I really wasn't I just wanted to know. I am hoping to be able to start answering question in a couple months so it is time to start asking a lot of questions.

 

[bonzombiekitty]

Ok I thought it might be something like that but I am new and wasn't sure.

It's not bad, but whether or not you did something wrong at all along the way would depend on exactly what you did.

If this was a full extract recipe and you ended up with the correct volume of wort, then don't worry about it. It's next to impossible to be more than a point or two off from the recipe's expected OG. The wort just doesn't have the sugar evenly distributed through it, which is expected with partial boils.

If you did a partial mash - same sort of deal. The amount of grain you mash in a partial mash wouldn't result in an error margin all that much different than an extract recipe.

If you did a full mash, then I'd say your mashing process may use improvement. But it would really depend on the recipe and what the expected efficiency is. According the hopville, 75% efficiency of 11lb 6oz of 2-row yields 1.062 OG, and 65% yields 1.055. If your recipe was execting 65% efficiency and you were 8 points short, I'd say your process needs adjustment somewhere.

 

[Allstar]

I did a partial boil. It was all liquid extract, but I took the reading as soon as I added the water.

 

[HexKrak]

When I was doing extract/partial mash batches I would stir the heck out of the wort after I added the water to aid in the cooling process and start aeration. I'd take my sample for gravity reading right before adding the yeast and putting it in the closet.

 

[hough77]

I did a partial boil. It was all liquid extract, but I took the reading as soon as I added the water.

Did you calculate the temp of the Wort and hydrometer difference?

 

[bonzombiekitty]

I did a partial boil. It was all liquid extract, but I took the reading as soon as I added the water.

In that case, don't worry about anything. You likely just took a sample from less concentrated part of the wort and/or you didn't adjust for the temperature when taking the reading.

 

[Allstar]

How so you adjust for the temperature when taking a reading?

 

[bonzombiekitty]

How so you adjust for the temperature when taking a reading?

Hydrometers are usually calibrated for, IIRC, 65 degrees F (or is it 60?). The higher the temperature of your sample from that point, the lower the gravity measurement will be.

A quick and easy correction is to add .001 for every 10 degrees over the calibration point, and subtract for every 10 degrees below. That's not totally accurate, but it's more than close enough for our purposes.

You can test to see what temp your hydrometer is calibrated for by just checking at what temperature a water sample measures 1.000