Specific Gravity

[YeastFeast]

Hi,
I made my first batch of beer today. It was a Brewer's Best American Amber that called for a OG of 1.050-1.054. When I took a reading before pitching the yeast, it read 1.042. Will this be an issue?

Thanks for your comments/advice!

 

[MarcusKillion]

Evidently you added too much water or forgot to add in a LME or DME ? Well any way if you forgot to add in the lme or dme then add it . If you added too much water to make it to your 5 gallons then you must leave it as you will ruin your hop additions by boiling it down .
I have done a lot of these kits and they always come out right . Did you come out with too much wort i.e. more than 5 gallons ?
Did you steep the grains at proper temp ?

Any way if say you added too much water then it will only make the beer a little less bold and less alcohol . It is not a deal breaker .

 

[brewkinger]

What temp was the sample at when you tested, I assume with a hydrometer?

 

[Bearfoot]

Welcome to the world home brewing! The first batch is a special experience...not one that is easily forgotten.

Your OG of 1.042 will not cause any problems worth worrying too much about. Your beer will turn out a little 'smaller', that is, lower in alcohol and perhaps not quite as sweet. Session style beers are quite popular nowadays!

The recommended OG of 1.050 to 1.054 is what you should have gotten with the ingredients provided; perhaps there was some malt extract left over in the container or your water levels were a bit off.

Best of luck with the brew. Don't fear mistakes, they're far more valuable than success.

 

[YeastFeast]

Evidently you added too much water or forgot to add in a LME or DME ? Well any way if you forgot to add in the lme or dme then add it . If you added too much water to make it to your 5 gallons then you must leave it as you will ruin your hop additions by boiling it down .
I have done a lot of these kits and they always come out right . Did you come out with too much wort i.e. more than 5 gallons ?
Did you steep the grains at proper temp ?

Any way if say you added too much water then it will only make the beer a little less bold and less alcohol . It is not a deal breaker .

I know I put in the lmd and dmd and steeped the grain at proper temp. I pretty sure I added too much water. The strange thing is I'm actually still short of 5 gallons. Oh, well, glad I didn't completely ruin it.

 

[YeastFeast]

What temp was the sample at when you tested, I assume with a hydrometer?

I pulled my wort out of its ice bath when it hit 70 degrees. May have been a little cooler than that by the time I recorded my result with the hydrometer? Didn't take another temp reading at the time of my reading.

 

[Calder]

Don't worry, you got what was indicated in the recipe. Unless you left out some extract, or made it to the wrong volume, you cannot miss.

What probably happened is that everything didn't mix completely. It takes a lot of work to mix everything, and many people have had this problem. The heavier sugars drop to the bottom, so when you take a sample from the top, it reads low. Don't worry, the yeast will find the sugars and mix it all for you.

It is pretty hard to not get the right gravity with using extract. Just assume you got the average of the recommended OG.

 

[kh54s10]

If you used all the ingredients and ended up with the proper volume. You gravity was probably really close to what the kit suggested. I assume you used top up water with the kit. It is not unusual to get an uneven mix and getting either a high or low false reading.

Hydrometers are usually calibrated for proper reading at 60 degrees. At 70 degrees the difference would only be near .001 -.003 different.

If you ended up with less wort than called for your gravity should be higher, not lower.

 

[unionrdr]

It's most likely that you didn't get the wort/top off water mixed well. After straining the wort into the fermenter to get out gunk & aerate,I stir roughly 3-5 minutes to mix them well. This gives a more accurate OG reading.

 

[YeastFeast]

It's most likely that you didn't get the wort/top off water mixed well. After straining the wort into the fermenter to get out gunk & aerate,I stir roughly 3-5 minutes to mix them well. This gives a more accurate OG reading.

I definitely didn't mix that aggressively . After I siphoned and poured the water in the carboy, I just lifted the carboy and swirled it for 15 seconds or so. Had no idea thorough mixing was that important. Thanks for the tip.

 

[Calder]

You should be shaking the carboy like crazy. Not to get the wort mixed, but to get as much air in solution as possible. The more oxygen you can get into solution, the healthier the yeast will be.

 

[YeastFeast]

You should be shaking the carboy like crazy. Not to get the wort mixed, but to get as much air in solution as possible. The more oxygen you can get into solution, the healthier the yeast will be.

All good to know. Too bad the kit instructions don't say anything about that! Guess I'll learn by experience and reading everything I can on this forum!

 

[Calder]

You can't shake too much. My normal advice is to shake the fermenter as much as you possibly can to get as much air in solution as you can. Once you have done as much as you think you can, do it again.

O2 is extremely important for a healthy ferment. The bigger the beer, the more important it is. Some people bubble pure O2 through the wort to get as much as they can.

 

[YeastFeast]

You can't shake too much. My normal advice is to shake the fermenter as much as you possibly can to get as much air in solution as you can. Once you have done as much as you think you can, do it again.

O2 is extremely important for a healthy ferment. The bigger the beer, the more important it is. Some people bubble pure O2 through the wort to get as much as they can.

Won't miss this step next time! Thanks.