Starting gravity

[Andy_Burbank]

I had a starting gravity of about 1.100. The recipe suggested 1.068.

What could I have done to get it closer to 1.068 at that point?

Also, does being at .100 as opposed to .068 mean it will be stronger ABV?

 

[deadwolfbones]

You can always add some sterilized (previously boiled or bottled distilled) water to lower the gravity via dilution. Yes, 1.100 is 32 points higher than 1.068, so the beer will be quite a lot higher ABV when finished.

 

[S-Met]

Post your recipe? Answer may be there.all grain? Extract? Full boil? Temp at time of gravity reading?
All can affect the gravity. I would hate to suggest a correction when nothing is wrong.

 

[RM-MN]

I'm going out on a limb and make some assumptions about this beer.
1. Since you posted in the beginners forum, I'm going to assume this is a kit beer.
2. If the first assumption is right, I'm guessing that it does a boil followed by topping of the fermenter with water to the 5 gallon mark.
3. If the second assumption is also correct, the answer to getting the correct OG is to stir more. The extract is so dense that it doesn't mix well with the water and depending on where you took the sample you either get concentrated wort (likely what you got) or your OG is very low because you got more water than wort in your sample.

 

[kh54s10]

I'm going out on a limb and make some assumptions about this beer.
1. Since you posted in the beginners forum, I'm going to assume this is a kit beer.
2. If the first assumption is right, I'm guessing that it does a boil followed by topping of the fermenter with water to the 5 gallon mark.
3. If the second assumption is also correct, the answer to getting the correct OG is to stir more. The extract is so dense that it doesn't mix well with the water and depending on where you took the sample you either get concentrated wort (likely what you got) or your OG is very low because you got more water than wort in your sample.

This ^^^ If you made an extract kit, used all the ingredients and ended up with the proper volume your OG (original gravity) was withing a point or so of what the kit said it would be.

Even if all grain it would be almost impossible to miss high by 32 points. So it is either the top up water problem or a measurement error.

Determine which before making any adjustments. I hope you didn't already dilute last night...

 

[ncbrewer]

I'm going out on a limb and make some assumptions about this beer.
1. Since you posted in the beginners forum, I'm going to assume this is a kit beer.
2. If the first assumption is right, I'm guessing that it does a boil followed by topping of the fermenter with water to the 5 gallon mark.
3. If the second assumption is also correct, the answer to getting the correct OG is to stir more. The extract is so dense that it doesn't mix well with the water and depending on where you took the sample you either get concentrated wort (likely what you got) or your OG is very low because you got more water than wort in your sample.

This is very likely. If it is correct, my suggestion would be to not take an OG sample for an extract batch - you already know the OG.