Starting Gravity

[ChrisRC1985]

Hey Guys,
I am about to brew my 2nd batch in a week or two.
I never took a starting gravity on my first, so my questions is;

At what point do I take my SG?
I will be brewing a I.PA, any advice on what reading too look for?

Thanks All,

 

[wonderbread23]

You want to take your reading at the same time you're putting the wort into the fermenter (post boil, but chilled). Your OG is dependent on your recipe. Your OG should be whatever the recipe specifies. Typical IPAs are in the 1.060 range.

 

[jetmac]

Hey Guys,
I am about to brew my 2nd batch in a week or two.
I never took a starting gravity on my first, so my questions is;

At what point do I take my SG?
I will be brewing a I.PA, any advice on what reading too look for?

Thanks All,

You can take a gravity reading prior to your boil. This will help tell you your efficiency. Then you can calculate to what volume you should boil down to from there to get the post boil/pre-fermentation gravity. Or the expected gravity at a certain volume. Then you use that gravity versus the final gravity (afer fermentation) to calculate attenuation and ABV.

It's nice to know these numbers. Make note of them but don't get caught up in nailing the exact numbers. Follow your recipe then when you get some brew time under your belt you can do things to help manipulate the numbers. And as you get to know your system and process you can make changes to get more accurate.

 

[daksin]

Just a terminology clarification:
many people use SG for "starting gravity" but SG is actually "specific gravity." Every gravity measurement you take is a specific gravity reading.

More accepted terms are:
"OG" for original gravity. This is the gravity measured at pitching time.
"FG" for final gravity, or finishing gravity. This is the gravity measured after fermentation has stopped, meaning you measured it twice on different days and had the reading be the same.

 

[unionrdr]

Also,to clarify further,Mix your wort & top off water very well in the fermenter. They don't mix all that readily. I pour my chilled wort through a fine mesh strainer,it really aerates it well,besides filtering out hops,break material,etc. Dito with top off water. Then stir it 5 solid minutes to get mixed well. Then take your OG measurement.
Wait 2 weeks after you pitched the yeast to take your 1st FG reading. Wait 3 days & repeat. If the readings are the same,give it 3-5 days to clean up by products of fermentation & settle out more. If it's not down to projected FG yet,(the reading is lower) then give it maybe 2-3 days more & repeat.
Kind of the same as an "If/Then/Else" statement in the BASIC programming language.

 

[ChrisRC1985]

Thanks all!
I will be sure to send some McHales I.P.A your way (And to let you know what my gravity readings were along the way ).