Problems with OG on Brewers Best Porter!!!!Need Help

[andoniu83]

Hi Everyone:

I just started a fermentation on a Brewers Best Porter and had a discrepancy with the OG that I measured and what the kit instructions said it should be.

Instructions said to top off to 5 gallons, however, I topped off at 5 1/4, my mistake. Also, when I took the OG, I forgot to take the temp. of the batch to ensure I was taking the OG at the hydrometers correct calibration temp. The batch was cool to the touch so I am figuring it had to be around 80 degress.

My OG was a 1.042 and the instruction said I should be between 1.050-1.054.
What do you think could be the problem?

Moving forward, do I assume that my OG should be at 1.052 and I made a mistake by measuring when the temp. was to high, or do I continue to use my actual reading of 1.042?

After pouring the wort into the primary fermenter , I didnt stir it until after adding the yeast, but I took the hydro. reading before adding the yeast. So could not mixing have caused the off reading?

Fermentation has already started and airlock has been bubbling for two days.

Any advice would be great

 

[RM-MN]

After pouring the wort into the primary fermenter , I didnt stir it until after adding the yeast, but I took the hydro. reading before adding the yeast. So could not mixing have caused the off reading?

You got it. It's hard to incorporate the top off water with the wort and it gives lots of people problems with the reading. If you get the quantity of water even close, with extract it's pretty hard to miss the OG (unless you forget to put in part of the extract).

 

[pkeeler]

Unless you spilled extract or wort in large amounts, most likely your OG was 1.047-1.051

 

[wolverinebrewer]

A vote for what RM-MN said.
Another tip that can help you is you should aerate more than you did. An easy way to do that, assuming you have two containers is to pour the wort back and forth from one container to the other a few times. In between pours, add your yeast. You will get tons of foam this way and your O2 levels should be adequate for a good ferment. My method of pouring is: BK-bucket-BK-add yeast-bucket. And take your hydro reading between your pours.

 

[Benthic]

I can think of a few things that could have thrown you off:

• First, you topped to 5.25 gal instead of 5 gal. Correcting for that means your OG would have been 1.044 instead of the 1.042 that you got. Incidentally, while we're talking about volume, how did you measure? The gallon marks on the side of most buckets are notoriously off. So, if you haven't already checked that, it would be worth looking into.
• Not stirring the wort. Wort can and will stratify, especially if you top with water. Stirring with a sanitized spoon or paddle before taking your gravity reading would probably have changed things and given you a higher OG reading. (No way to know how much though.)
• Temperature correction. Not correcting for temperature lowered your reading by 3 or 4 points. (So that would have brought your 1.044 up to 1.048) Of course, you're wort OG was what it was, it's just that your reading was artificially lower.

All in all, I wouldn't be too worried. The extra 1/4 gallon of water is really the only thing that will have lowered your OG. The other two are just issues that influenced your reading, but didn't really change your OG. I'll bet you're not actually as far off as you think you are. There's no way to know though. Just remember these things for your next batch.

Brian

 

[andoniu83]

Thanks for the advice.....i'm less worried now....haha...but never not worried