Question on original gravity

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keith6292

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I am very new to brewing and especially all grain brewing so I appreciate any help people can offer.

I followed a recipe for a stout. The recipe says the estimate og should be 1.050 and I measured it at 1.040. Is this something I should be concerned about? Is there anything I can do to hit that target of 1.050?
 
Could be a lot of things to have the OG come in lower. Would need all the details of your brew day to perhaps zero in on one or two reasons.

The first possibility is to light of a crush on the grains leading to a lowered efficiency.
 
Could be a lot of things to have the OG come in lower. Would need all the details of your brew day to perhaps zero in on one or two reasons.



The first possibility is to light of a crush on the grains leading to a lowered efficiency.


Flars makes a great point. More info is required.

Recipe
Water volumes and boil time.
To name a few
 
Extract or all-grain? If it's extract, and you used the correct volume of water then you got the correct OG (it would be impossible to miss, the sugar is already present in the extract) but often times the wort stratifies, with less dense wort on top and sugar-rich denser wort on bottom. This is especially common if you do a partial boil and at the end add extra water to top up to your final volume.
 
I bought the grains already crushed.

Brewday:

I mashed the grains at 150 degrees for 1 hour.
Drained to boil kettle and sparge with 160 degree water until I have 26 litres of wort.
Brought wort to a boil.
Added 60 min hops.
Boiled for 60 mins and began cooling wort.
Cooled wort to 67 degrees and then pulled a sample for the gravity reading.
Hydrometer shows 1.040 (instructions say it should be 1.050).

Like I mentioned I am new to this. Does it make much of a difference between 1.040 - 1.050?

What can I do to change the reading?
 
I bought the grains already crushed.

Brewday:

I mashed the grains at 150 degrees for 1 hour.
Drained to boil kettle and sparge with 160 degree water until I have 26 litres of wort.
Brought wort to a boil.
Added 60 min hops.
Boiled for 60 mins and began cooling wort.
Cooled wort to 67 degrees and then pulled a sample for the gravity reading.
Hydrometer shows 1.040 (instructions say it should be 1.050).

Like I mentioned I am new to this. Does it make much of a difference between 1.040 - 1.050?

What can I do to change the reading?


Roughly speaking, 1.040 vs 1.050 means 4% ABV vs 5% ABV. Likely also throws off the balance of the beer a little. The dryness of alcohol can counteract the sweetness of malt. Less alcohol means the malt will shine through a little more. Probably not enough to be worried about.

You cannot change the reading; only the wort. If you add about a pound of DME it should bring up the gravity 9 points (0.009) assuming my math is correct.
 
Generally, the number one reason for lower than anticipated gravity is that the grain is not crushed real well. Always start with that possibility.

After that - some other possibilities:
*Make sure your volume is the same as the recommended volume of the kit.....ie, if it is a 5 gallon kit and you make 5.5 gallons of wort - you are going to have a lower sugar concentration.
*Mash pH can effect extraction of sugar
*If the grain is not stirred in well enough, there can be dry spots or "doughballs" that decrease efficiency.

*One thing that is a good idea when you are first starting out, keep 2-3 1lb bags of light DME on hand. Take your gravity at the beginning of your boil and calculate what you are going to end up with for a gravity...... if you are going to hit your mark - great. If not, throw in a pound of light DME with 20-30 minutes left in the boil to account for it. Sometimes it takes a while to get used to your own process and system and to work all the bugs out. This is a good way to be ready for any miscues.
 
Thoughts:
Like already mentioned, the crush quality plays an important role in the OG reading.

150 is low for mash temperature in a stout (usually 155-157). This May or may not have had a part in the low reading.

The sample that you pulled to check gravity... Did you cool it before testing? Ideal you want the sample to be around 68 degrees to test it. The hydrometer is calibrated at that temp. That could explain the discrepancy.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew
 
Thoughts:


The sample that you pulled to check gravity... Did you cool it before testing? Ideal you want the sample to be around 68 degrees to test it. The hydrometer is calibrated at that temp. That could explain the discrepancy.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

^^This is a good point too.
 
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