sg levels suuuper low!

[mattlamers]

Hey, I just started brewing my first batch and got a reading of roughly 8.5. SHould I bail on it or wait it out? What effect will this have on the beer?

 

[NordeastBrewer77]

no way to say without knowing more about your recipe. what was it? what was the expected OG? was it a partial boil?

 

[H-ost]

8.5??? Are you reading the correct scale on the hydro?

 

[NordeastBrewer77]

8.5??? Are you reading the correct scale on the hydro?

it's brix

 

[mattlamers]

23 lters, blond ale, 1 can of malt extract, 1000gs of sugar, just sprinkled the yeast. I a apologize for the vagueness.

 

[NordeastBrewer77]

23 lters, blond ale, 1 can of malt extract, 1000gs of sugar, just sprinkled the yeast. I a apologize for the vagueness.

yeah, can't really tell you much based on that. how far off of the expected OG are you?

 

[mattlamers]

the recipe says by day 3-5 I should be around 1.020, but I believe it mentions that I should be dropping to the sg, not rising toward it.

 

[NordeastBrewer77]

not sure what you're really talking about. OG is the gravity before yeast is pitched, FG is the gravity after fermentation is complete. what gravity reading are you referring to, and how far from the expected gravity are you? your vagueness makes it very hard to help out,

 

[mattlamers]

I apologize. I did not calculate correctly. My reading is 1.085 and should be down to 1.020 in 3-5 days.

 

[NordeastBrewer77]

ok, just give it some more time. beers don't always finish up that fast, especially bigger beers like yours. i'd recommend 2 weeks at least, in primary. either way you go, make sure you have stable FG readings over 3 days, and those readings are on par with the expected FG before packaging or racking to another vessel.

 

[mattlamers]

Thank you

 

[NordeastBrewer77]

no prob! good luck with your brew.

 

[BrewKnurd]

are you sure its not 8.5 Brix/Plato as a starting gravity and a 2.0 Brix/Plato for a final gravity? 1.085 would be huge for a blonde ale. Also, if you have a 3.3 lb can of extract, which is kind of typical, then your sugar + extract would give a 1.034 specific gravity for 5 gallons. and 1.034 is equal to 8.5 Brix/Plato.

 

[NordeastBrewer77]

are you sure its not 8.5 Brix/Plato as a starting gravity and a 2.0 Brix for a final gravity? 1.085 would be huge for a blonde ale. Also, if you have a 3.3 lb can of extract, which is kind of typical, then your sugar + extract would give a 1.034 specific gravity for 5 gallons. and 1.034 is equal to 8.5 Plato.

i think thats what he was saying. he started using brix in the OP. it all jives though, i just think it needs more time.

 

[BrewKnurd]

i think thats what he was saying. he started using brix in the OP. it all jives though, i just think it needs more time.

Agreed, it just sounded like he had talked himself into thinking it was SG.

 

[NordeastBrewer77]

Agreed, it just sounded like he had talked himself into thinking it was SG.

yep. i think he's good though, it's still a young brew.