Ok, I have done 6 beers now, first two Better Beer kits, Russian Imperial and IPA. Both of them turned out great SG was right around the low end of the kit's instructions. The last four, two listerman's and 2 Better Beerand the SG's have been over .010 low. The Scottish and Pale Ale were both over .015 lower than the instructions said they should be. They tasted good, but you could tell they were weak. The Winter Warmer, was lower by .007 and my next Russian was .018 lower still in fermenter. The only thing I can think of that has been different these last few times has been the boil has never gotten that intense. I have been boiling in a 5 gallon pot with 2 gallons of water. First couple the wort got close to boil over, but the low ones have not gotten close like that. They just boil along, without really getting that high. This last RIS, I left the burner on high the entire time and the wort just rolled along, but never really rose much in the pot. What could be causing my low readings. I know kits are usually low but I got within range the first 2 times but not since.
SG's too low
- Thread starter FrankB
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wonderbread23
Well-Known Member
As long as you measure out the proper amount of extract, and hit the proper final volumes, it is pretty much impossible to miss your gravity on a extract kit. The most likely culprit was insufficient mixing of heavy wort and top-off water which leads to inaccurate hydrometer readings.
Yup!!!!
It's a pretty common issue for ANYONE using extract and then topping off with water (and that includes partial mashes) 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"
it doesn't matter what your reading was.....the "real reading" in an extract batch is what it said it would be in the recipe or beersmith....Whether or not you mixed it up enough before you took the reading it mixed itself up fine during fermentation.
So unless you had a final volume a gallon or so higher than 5 gallons....you recipe will be fine and at the OG it was supposed to be,
I bet your OG is EXACTLY what it is supposed to be.
And during fermentation the wort and water will mix up just fine on it's own.
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