Sg? Og? Fg?

[psujeeperman02]

So I've brewed about 4-5 batches of all grain so far. I get very close to my numbers, which I am perfectly fine with.
I understand the difference between FG and OG.
My question is... How does the whole scale work?
I guess I don't understand that if my recipe calls for an OG of 1.050...and I measure in at 1.048...how does that change the final result? For argument's sake, let's use a Pale ale.
1.048 is closer to 1.000, so does that mean the beer will be lighter, less body, crisper?

Or, if I overshoot my numbers and measure in at 1.055, does that mean it's a darker, heavier, higher ABV beer?

I've read that gravity chart many times, but it still doesn't seem to make any/obvious sense.

And maybe I'm just not sure how to read that chart...but let's take Stone's Enjoy By which is a double IPA. Nowhere does it fall under the color spectrum for imperial IPA on the chart. :confused


Or maybe it's just late and I need sleep....

 

[Happywanderer]

FG is more important for determining body of beer.

The lower a beer attenuates, the "crisper" - dryer it will be. Like champagne or wine.

Being of by only .002 on OG will not have significant impact on body if both were to attenuate to exactly the same FG.

As slightly low OG can lead to a slightly lower FG ... but that depends on many factors (yeast, temp, oxygenation, etc...).

You can have a beer that starts at 1.065 that attenuates down to 1.008 ... that'll be a dry beer (yeah, I'm talking about my last Saison).

OG doesn't have an effect on SRM. I can make a HUGE IIPA with a low SRM.

So - color of beer (SRM) depends on grain bill. The more specialty malts - the darker it will be.

Body of a beer - depends on FG as stated above (and to a degree grain bill)

ABV - depends on OG and FG and yeast and temp and process and oxygenation and... basically ... ABV depends on % that yeast attenuates your wort.

You can have a very low OG - like 1.035. If you use crappy yeast or poor technique or something else goes wrong - you could end up with FG of 1.019. That'll be a "sweet" beer for sure.

Hopefully this helps.

Oh - and mash temps effect body as well Because mash temps can make a wort easier or harder for the yeast to chew through (attenuate). Low mash temps = high attenuation = "dry". High mash temps = low attenuation = "sweet".

Low = 148 ... high = 158 ... happy medium = 152.

http://beersmith.com/blog/2008/02/27/making-full-body-beer-at-home/
http://beersmith.com/blog/2012/12/20/mash-temperature-and-beer-body-in-all-grain-brewing/

 

[flars]

Specific Gravity (OG, SG, FG) does not correlate to the color of a beer. A dark Belgian Dubbel and a clear Belgian Tripel can have a nearly identical OG and FG but are near opposite ends of the SRM or Standard Reference Method color chart.

Specific gravity is just a measure of sugars in solution. Color comes from the malts used whether as grains, LME, or DME.

 

[DrWill]

I may be saying something you already know, but since you asked about the "scale" remember that Gravity is just a measure of density compared to water. A wort with a SG of 1.060 is 6% denser than water. A beer with a FG of 1.010 is 1% denser than water. So since a litre of water weighs 1kg, a litre of 1.060 wort will weigh 1.06kg.

Again, sorry if I'm telling you something you already know, but on the other hand maybe this will help your measurements make sense.