Og

[bjshay10]

Every time I take an og it is 10-20 less then it should be. The final is always spot on. What could I be doing wrong

 

[wolfstar]

What is the temp of the wort when you do OG?

I always spin the hydrometer with a VERY GENTLE push down to release any bubbles that may be clinging to the side of the hydrometer, do you?

Is there any liquid (star-san, water) in the hydrometer test tube when you add the wort?

Some folks here (me included) would suggest if you are doing partial mash or extract brews that call for adding water before piching, that you ad water to reach the intended OG, not just to the 5 gallon mark on your bucket. By shooting for a 5 gallon brew exactly, you may over or undershoot your intended OG if you weren't dead on in the brewing process.

hope this helps, others will have more to ad...

 

[BluBruShack]

Wolf had a good point about the temperature of the beer. Not sure if this is the case but your hydrometer will read differently at different temperatures. Typically you will need to add points to the measured OG.

Hope this helps

 

[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 revcipes) 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.

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.

 

[bjshay10]

Thanks for the help