Unusual Gravity

[baudler]

Hello All

I just tried brewing an English Pale last night (it is supposed to be a Bass knock-off recipe). I was getting a reading of 1.025 for my gravity, which seems very strange to me since there is 5 lbs of DME and 1/2 lbs of dark brown sugar for the batch. I was expecting something closer to 1.035. Anyone have any ideas why it is so low with that much sugar? I hope I don't end up with a non-alcoholic Bass knock-off!

Thanks
Baudler

 

[andre the giant]

I made a Bass clone AG batch a month or two ago. I used 8lbs of grain plus 1lb of brown sugar. The OG came out to around 1.045 a bit higher than I was wanting or expecting, but it turned out fine. I don't know how your batch could have come out so low, especially since you used DME instead of mashing. What was the temp of the wort when you measured? Is your hydrometer defective? Maybe test it out on distilled water and see if it's reading close to 1.000?

I use a cheap hydrometer, but it seems to work OK. My beers tend to have OG's around 1.038-1.060 and FG around 1.007-1.015 depending on the style.

 

[cygnus128]

Hello All

I just tried brewing an English Pale last night (it is supposed to be a Bass knock-off recipe). I was getting a reading of 1.025 for my gravity, which seems very strange to me since there is 5 lbs of DME and 1/2 lbs of dark brown sugar for the batch. I was expecting something closer to 1.035. Anyone have any ideas why it is so low with that much sugar? I hope I don't end up with a non-alcoholic Bass knock-off!

Thanks
Baudler

Did you make sure to correct for temperature? Most hydrometers are set up to read accurately at 60 degrees F. Your hydrometer should have come with a correction table or curve to allow you to correct for temp. differences.

 

[baudler]

Thanks for posting guys. I checked my hydrometer in distilled water last night. It was a perfect 1.000 in 72 degree water. It is an old one from my first kit, so maybe I should just buy a new one. The chart does correct for temperature. When I took the reading, the wort was 77 degrees, which the chart says to add .002 for. So I was at 1.023, and after the correction I was up to 1.025. It is bubbling away faster than one bubble per sec, so I think it will end up with at least some ALC content.

Thanks guys!

 

[baudler]

Just an update for everyone. I took the FG which was 1.011. That meas the ABV is something like 1.47. I cant belive it could be that low with all the sugar I used. My fingers are crossed that my hydrometer is shot, otherwise I might be crynig in my beer!

Thanks to all who posted.