Slight dilemma on very first brew

[bigjason6]

Hey everyone, I think I might have made a slight mistake... I made up a batch of the brewers best kolsch kit. I did everything by the books with the boil part except that I used a little extra water in the pot. Then when I transferred the wort to the fermenter, all the sediment kinda went with it. Now here's the thing that has me worried, when I took the first gravity reading, it came out to 1033 when it should have been around 1042 to 1046... I decided to pitch the yeast anyways and see where it goes. Do you guys think I'm screwed and should just start over or should I keep it going? Thanks!

 

[res291que]

Most of the sediment should drop out, as far as gravity goes you will probably just have a low alcohol beer.

 

[Doomsday]

yea you didnt hit your target gravity but thats alright, nothing crazy is going to happen.

There are ways to increase gravity but since you pitched the yeast I wouldnt bother.

 

[RM-MN]

I think you have an extract kit and only boiled part of the wort, then topped off with water. If so, you hit your OG almost exactly but the water didn't mix well with the wort which is much denser and difficult to get to mix. Don't worry about it, many of us have had that same problem (not really a problem at all) and made good beer.

 

[H-ost]

+1 to RM-NM

Not mixing well enough before taking a sample for gravity still happens to me on the occasional brew day.

 

[BradleyBrew]

I'm confused... how do you miss your target OG when using extract besides having a boil over or using to much water to top off? Are you sure you are reading the hydrometer correctly? Have you tried the hydrometer in water to see if its accurate. I know mine is not and have to adjust accordingly.

 

[prrriiide]

Also, did you remember to adjust for temperature when you took your grav reading?

 

[DWavs]

I think you have an extract kit and only boiled part of the wort, then topped off with water. If so, you hit your OG almost exactly but the water didn't mix well with the wort which is much denser and difficult to get to mix. Don't worry about it, many of us have had that same problem (not really a problem at all) and made good beer.

I agree...

 

[Hang Glider]

I'm confused... how do you miss your target OG when using extract besides having a boil over or using to much water to top off? Are you sure you are reading the hydrometer correctly? Have you tried the hydrometer in water to see if its accurate. I know mine is not and have to adjust accordingly.

This - Stratification - (same as RN-MN says) - if the top-off water was not very thoroughly mixed in, the sample may be low, as the heavier is nearer the bottom. No worries, the yeast will mix it all up, but that can certainly be the reason.

Also, did you remember to adjust for temperature when you took your grav reading?

Many folks forget this one -- Temps impact density measurements all the time - gotta adjust -

 

[bigjason6]

You guys hit the nail on the head! Thinking back, after I topped off, I just gave it a quick stir and it might have been still a bit warm...